I wanted to let you know that I have just started a blog called Byke Bytes in the Vancouver Observer. I have just published a post there that reviews the high points – the magical moments! – in Vancouver cycling in 2010 – please check it out at http://www.vancouverobserver.com/bikebytes/2010/12/30/magical-moments-vancouver-cycling-2010.
The downside of this is that the Vancouver Observer is not a cycling-only site, so I have to put up with some rude comments from those strange anti-cycling zealots. Oh well … my consolation is that, as a cyclist, I most likely will outlive all of those car-bound grouches!
In any event, Happy New Year! Here’s to a great cycling 2011. My main resolution is to move closer to my goal of being completely car-free. As someone once said, the first 90% is tough, but it’s NOTHING compared to the last 10%.
I’m a great believer in New Year’s resolutions. I think the New Year is a great time to take stock: to acknowledge one’s successes in the past year, and to plan for more in the next. A few years ago I made a New Year’s resolution to get back to the gym. To make sure it happened, I sent out an email to all my friends at the moment the New Year started, looking for a workout buddy. I ended up with five, of whom four dropped out pretty quickly. The fifth one lasted for the best part of a year – we met every single Friday and did bench presses. By the end of that year, I had achieved my heaviest bench press ever – while in my 40’s! (I won’t mention what it was, because it wasn’t very impressive – but the point is, it was impressive to me.) That experience made me a true believer in the value of New Year’s resolutions.
What’s YOUR New Year’s Resolution? I would love to be inspired by some great cycling resolutions.
My new years resolution has been the same thing since 2005: To go swim laps day before work. Still I only manage a few times a year, lol… I’ll get it eventually.
Er, that should say “to go swim laps every day before work”
Maybe aim for every Monday instead? Then you have a chance of making it … Every day before work is like impossible …
Good pniots, especially on gender and time disparity. On the class/cyclist issue, I think those are actually three distinct groups of cyclists who have different needs and do it for different reasons. The ones biking in the city who want to ride are the yuppie types I was referring to who are biking as a lifestyle choice. The day laborers are more likely captive users who would probably rather be driving a BMW but can’t afford one and the roadies are probably recreational cyclists who ride 40 miles on the weekend outside of the city. They’re not all just cyclists . The ones that have historically gotten the most attention are the recreational cyclists on the $3000 bikes. The ones who are now getting all the attention are the urban yuppies (eg, why are all of New York’s bike lanes in Park Slope and lower Manhattan?). The needs of captive users are often overlooked, is my guess.
Excellent article in the Observer by the way!
Thanks Alex! Unfortunately their s/w only lets you put the video at the top or the bottom of the post – I would rather have put it in the middle …
The last New Year’s resolution I made was to stop making New Year’s resolutions. So far my track record is clean… 😉
Good on you, Sean – as they say, start with small successes! 🙂
I don’t make specific resolutions at New Years, but I find I’m reasonably successful giving myself “challenges” throughout the year. The problem with NY resolutions for me is that I can only really succeed at acquiring one new (good) habit at a time. If I make two resolutions, one of them is doomed from the start, and the other will likely fail along with it.
My routine for the new year is not so much a “resolution” as a habit–one that I’ve rarely missed.
What happens in the rest of the year varies, but I find this ritual–the changing of batteries and zeroing of computers–announces my intention to ride into another year … and there have been a few now 🙂
Happy New Year!
I like that, Raymond. Think I need to review how many km’s I cycled last year, and start the New Year off with intent to do more this year – starting today, as the weather looks good (although very very cold – but that’s what thermal underwear and balaclavas were invented for).
As of Tuesday at noon, your article is top-most story on vancouverobserver.com! It was a bit further down before, but it has been promoted up to the top now.
@Alex P – yes, that was SO cool. the post got into the top 5, then right to # 1 for a while. For a while there, they were even featuring it at the top of the blog list. Now however, it has disappeared completely from the front page. Scary how fast that can happen … oh well, let’s hope that people keep going to http://www.vancouverobserver.com/bikebytes/2010/12/30/magical-moments-vancouver-cycling-2010 !
Great article and Best Wishes for your future endeavours with the Observer!
Thanks Paddyanne! I plan to write just 2 posts a month for the Vancouver Observer, so I still have lots of energy for my own blog.