Light it up folks!

Bike lights have sure come a long way, baby.  No more fiddling around with brackets & screwdrivers (unless you really want to) – you can now brighten up your ride in seconds with a couple colourful, rubberized & powerful LED wrap lights.

Although things are improving, I’ve been amazed at the number of folks that still don’t seem to care about or understand the importance of using bike lights when riding at night.  There’s a good reason it is a legal requirement of all cyclists – making yourself visible to drivers, pedestrians and your fellow riders decreases your chances of being in, or causing, a collision. Period.

While it’s always important to do our part as cyclists to be visible on the road, it becomes vital in inclement weather – snow and rain significantly reduce driver visibility and dramatically increase your chances of getting clipped because… “I just didn’t see you!”

But my lights keep getting stolen!
Yes, bike lights tend to be easy to steal and theft is often an excuse for not having them.  That said, I’ve found a great system that can work for anyone.

• Both my front and back lights come on and off in a snap, and then hook nicely onto my caribeener with my keys.
• I put the lights on when I unlock my bike, and take them off when I lock it back up again.
• The keys & lights then get clipped onto my bag/belt-loop so that they’re always where I can find them, and ready to go.  Highly recommend!

So, no lights? No excuse! Please do us all a favour and pay a quick visit to your local bike shop.  You might even find the awesome lights that I just picked up – they come with a usb cable so that you can recharge them through your computer!!

Just back from three days away in cottage country (my only escape this year), I went to resume my daily check on the only garden I’ve ever been responsible for – to my dismay, someone had smashed the rear windshield into fragments of tempered glass that were now seeded in the exposed soil and amongst the lush plants in the trunk. Not happy. Who would do this?

The Garden Car has certainly taken some hits over the years, but this time I found myself particularly upset.

Anyway, local artist Joshua Barndt and I quickly fashioned and applied a rough patch with the materials at hand – and today Jake & Sameena, a couple of lovely P.S. Kensington volunteers, joined me to remove the remaining glass shards, scrub off the graffiti, repair a tree branch, and install the windshield repair that should last through the winter.

From the photo below taken this evening, you can see that the leaves of the Burning Bush tree in the centre are beginning to turn. They’ll soon match the burgundy wall behind, and the duct tape window frame

All repair materials were sourced at Active Surplus!

Still waiting for the online piece to have an edit included so that the digital archive reflects my true statement and not some manipulated words for a self serving hack.  #NationalPostFail (Update from Sept 19 – link to letter to editor is now included in the original piece online)

Re: Kensington Gets Glimpse Of Potential Big Box Store, Sept. 16.

It should be noted that the quote attributed to me as co-ordinator of the Kensington Market Business Improvement Area (BIA) was very misleading and, in fact, the opposite of what I tried to clearly explain in my extensive discussion with the piece’s writer.

A big box store being proposed in such close proximity can certainly be seen as a threat to the thriving, open-air, multi-generational, and much loved Kensington Market area and business community. That said, this development is in its earliest phase, and a public consultation process, convened by Councillor Mike Layton, has just begun between the developer and the adjacent residential and business communities. I believe that if we have any hope of working together to invite businesses into this development that are complementary to the area, rather than in direct competition with existing businesses, we should all, developer and locals, act like good neighbours and try to work together in good faith.

The same applies as we try to address and minimize the additional impacts this mall will have on local traffic, noise and parking. But perhaps I’m being too optimistic in thinking there is any way to make this work – given the fierce independence of this long-standing community, and the vast number of citizens who will stand to defend it, we may simply end up with a battle to stop this development all together.

Yvonne Bambrick, co-ordinator, Kensington Market BIA, Toronto.

The Next Eco Warriors

Edited by Emily Hunter
Foreword by Farley Mowat
Reviewed by, Yvonne Bambrick for Alternatives Journal
(Originally posted May 9, 2011)

The Next Eco Warriors is a powerful collection of first person accounts of environmental struggles being fought by young activists from around the globe. Although they vary widely in focus, strategy and outcome – from oceans, to mining, to deforestation – the central theme concerns every living being on Earth. There is a very real fight happening right now to save an angry and dying planet before it’s too late.

Through her opening and closing words in this collection, editor Emily Hunter demonstrates clearly that, as the daughter of Greenpeace founder Robert Hunter, she is living and breathing her father’s lasting environmental legacy, while also making the case that our next generation of eco-warriors has come of age to be smarter and even more determined than its predecessors. The stakes are higher than ever and these young people are fighting for our lives.

While reading of the endless environmental violence detailed in this collection, I was often reminded that much of humanity has a fundamentally flawed and ego-based perspective on life and all that sustains it. Many, if not most, see humans as “apart from”, as opposed to “part of” the planet and all life upon it. As we have historically viewed unknown human cultures as lesser and exploitable, so to do we judge, abuse and misinterpret the language and lives of the fauna and flora essential to the fragile connective tissues and sustainability of Earth’s land and sea and air.

The Eco-Warriors in this book are people who have made this link, have had their eyes opened to the web of natural systems and the role humans are playing, and can no longer sit idle while humanity stampedes ahead in the name of progress and growth and “the economy”.

“…in realizing our interconnectedness, we need to unlearn the individualism we’re taught in this country (US). We need to relearn the responsibility of community.” Enei Begaye, p. 238

These stories tell of remarkable catalyst moments that seeded activism. Several highlight the COP 15 Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen as a pivotal period that not only highlighted the urgency with which we must address climate change, but that we must mobilize millions of citizens around the globe to fight for the defining cause of our time.

While I have strived for my work to have a positive impact on the planet, I’ve often felt that my efforts were too insignificant, small and localized. This book makes it abundantly clear that it actually takes many hundreds of thousands of efforts, small, medium and large, individual and collective, within and outside of governing systems, to have an important and transformative influence on society if we are to actually slow climate change.

Although the stories presented in this collection tell of success, they also recount actions that raised awareness and connected community but failed in their purpose: Carcinogenic chemicals continue to be sprayed onto communities; poorly managed garbage incinerators are expanded to burn unsorted community rubbish full of recyclable material; the seal hunts, shark finning, and dolphin kills; and shamefully wasteful global practices that go on despite evidence of inhumane actions and sustainable alternative options.

“The reality is heroes don’t win the revolutions. It is ordinary people doing the extraordinary…. only when we take up the battle is there truly a fighting chance for that world.” Emily Hunter p. 253

We rarely if ever hear of environmental actions being undertaken outside of North America and the European Union. Ms. Hunter’s collection is truly global in its reach and all the more inspiring for it. This powerful collection of stories of great human spirit is accompanied by a resource guide and a website and growing online community.

Be warned! Reading these stories will likely compel you to take action if you are not already doing so. While aimed at young people, even the most dedicated environmental champion will learn from the individuals profiled in this book. It will not only provide new insight into our global struggle for survival; it offers encouragement and evidence that one person can play a profound and vital role in this battle, all while having fun, falling in love, developing practical skills and building community.

(Book published by Conari Press, San Francisco, 2011. 253 pages.)

Yvonne Bambrick is a life-long year-round cyclist/photographer, and recently served as the founding executive director of the Toronto Cyclists Union, her hometown’s first city-wide cycling advocacy organization. When not pedaling around town, she’s also the co-ordinator of Pedestrian Sundays in Kensington Market and the Kensington Market BIA.

Here are some photos from the conference at Hart House, and the cycling and walking tours that took place on day two. I shot most photos of our bike infrastructure tour while riding along.

All other conference & tour photos can be viewed here on Flickr.

Since I was planning to proudly wear my bike riding pinko button to Saturday’s ‘Respect for Toronto’ rally, and bringing along my camera, I thought it might be interesting to take photos of some of the other self-identified ‘Pinkos’.

Here are the few pix I’d like to share from the rally. It was a gorgeous day and thousands of Torontonians marched together to City Hall to demand the Respect we were promised by our new mayor, something many think he’s shown little of since taking the position.

In an effort to help avoid the heartbreak of bike-theft, I thought I’d share these tips for keeping your trusty steed safe and sound.

QUICK TIPS:

• It generally costs you more to replace a bike than to invest in a good quality lock – it may be worth taking a second look at yours…  (I love my thick, cloth covered, Abus chain – super strong, and gives me the flexibility to lock to more than just a post & ring.)

 

• As Eric of Curbside says, “Never buy a cable lock. It’s like locking your house with a screen door.”

 

• Consider using two different kinds of locks, one chain, one U-lock.  This will make your bike harder to steal quickly since different tools are required…

 

• Unless you absolutely need them, do not use quick release on your wheels or seat.

 

• Nice seats are easy targets so lock ‘em down with an extra seat lock, or use a quick release and take it with you every time you lock your bike. (Check out the awesome bike chain seat lock in the photo above!)

 

• If using a u-lock, the bigger a gap you leave when locking, the more likely your U-lock can be busted open with a bit of torque. Keep it tight.

 

• Avoid leaving your bike outside overnight.

 

• Personalise your bike:  I love my flower covered basket   Aside from being pretty and making me more visible, it’s also a theft deterrent.  In general, it is men who steal bikes… girly flowers can help.  Boys can certainly do something similar – use your imagination!


 

• Take a photo of your bike and mark down key identifying information such as the registration number (usually on the underside of the bottom bracket – flip her over and take a look).  If your bike is stolen, you have the details handy and can prove it’s yours should it be recovered.

 

• Use these details to register your bike with the Toronto Police Services Bicycle Registry.  If they recover stolen property they can only return it to you if your bike is in the system.

For more theft prevention tips, and to register your bike with TPS, visit http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/bike/

Finally, without putting yourself in harms way, if you notice someone messing with a bike, say something – even a joke will do.  We can all help each other by participating in a bit of ‘Neighbourhood Watch’ style community support.

Ride on.  And please share this note with any cyclists you know.

This week marks the start of my new role working with the new-ish (late 2010) Kensington Market BIA as their first Coordinator. I’ll be working with the community on a number of area projects (graffiti/murals – (possibly) a farmer’s market that complements rather than competes with local green grocers – BIA website – On-street bike parking – public seating – …), and will continue to serve as Coordinator of our now 8th season of Pedestrian Sundays, alongside Shamez Amlani, and with the help of several new BIA volunteer board members. There will be many opportunities to get involved in this much loved community celebration and I’d love to hear from anyone who’s keen to come hang out and help out!

Our annual Pedestrian Sundays Community Meeting (6:30 to 8pm) is coming up in late April (date TBC).

Follow @pskensington and join our FB Group for updates about upcoming street events in the market.

Really excited to now be working even more closely with my favourite neighbourhood in Toronto!  More info soon.

Great new logo!

In addition to my appreciation for the hard work and finished product of the amazing Vancouver-based Momentum team, I’m also happy to have been included for comment in one of their feature articles, This is the Bike Lifestyle, alongside friend, colleague and ‘bike-lifestylist’, Eric Kamphof from Toronto’s Curbside Cycle, and NYC Streetfilms Director of  (awesome!) Video Production, Clarence Eckerson Jr.

My bike is looking good in this pic! Got it from Eric's shop - the guy to my left.