Tag: World Bicycle Day

The Beauty and Grit of Cycling


I will write a short post about World Bicycle Day. You can read more about it here.

But I was reflecting on this day. Two words come to mind when I think about a bicycle: Beauty and Grit.

The bicycle provides beauty on many different levels.

It’s a simplistic machine that uses the power of the human spirit to accelerate it.

It’s an environmentally, financially sustainable mode of transportation, allowing someone to get to point A to point B, cost-effectively without burning all those carbon emissions from an automobile.

It’s a physical and mental health prescription, increasing muscle strength and cardiovascular fitness. It also increases your creative thinking and calms a person down.

Its also economically empowering by leveraging transportation costs for lower-income households. I can personally attest to this, as its been the difference between a modest lifestyle and crushing debt if I had a car (which I don’t).

It’s also a toy, as a mode of escapism and bringing back childhood memories.

Its also glamorous as you can decorate your bike however you like, and ride with whatever clothes you want.

Meanwhile, the bicycle is also gritty.

It’s a gym, allowing someone to keep in shape without spending lots of money on fancy gyms.

Its also a tool in strengthening personal development and discipline. One can get up at 4 am and 5 am almost every morning, go for a quick 10 km ride, and then do the same thing at night to go along with your commute. David Goggins once said, “Mental toughness is a lifestyle .”It includes cycling in the dead of -30 winters, 30C summer heat, and heavy downpours. It helps callus the mind and strengthen it. Goggins said it best: “Never let people who choose the path of least resistance steer you away from your chosen path of most resistance.”

Regardless of what lens you look at, in the beautiful or gritty lens, no other machine can capture these two words than the bicycle.

All Photos by Adam Johnston

The Reasons Why I Cycle


Going hand in and with Canadian Environmental Week and World Environmental Day on June 5th is World Bicycle Day on June 3rd.

Created the United Nations General Assembly in April 2018, to honor bicycling as a more environmentally-friendly form of transportation, World Bicycle Day is gaining traction as a global movement as people are looking for cost-effective ways to mitigate climate change while seeking ways to keep fit.

A year into the pandemic, bike sales have hit the roof, causing shortages, while creating new opportunities to stay in shape, travel to work, and save money by not paying money for gas.

As I refuse to buy and drive a car, cycling is to me in my life as the bicycle is my vehicle.  While there are many reasons on this World Bicycle Day I can go on why I ride a bike everywhere, here are the main reasons why cycling is my main mode of transportation.

  • Financially smart choice: By choosing cycling as the method to get around my debt is minimal with some credit card debt and my monthly mortgage payments. That is it. No car loans to pay.  I can put money towards things I need including future home improvements, courses to improve my skill set, donating to charity, treating myself to the occasional book or soccer magazine. My standard of living, is pretty decent given my limited financial capacity, and that large part is due to choosing active transportation, with the assist going to public transit on occasion.
  • Support the fight against climate change: Yes, this is a big one for me. With scientists hammering home the point of the need to mitigate global warming to 1.5C, transportation emissions are one of the biggest why reasons globally we are currently at nearly 420 ppm. Cycling, besides walking, is the cleanest and most efficient mode of transportation.  My commuting trips from Elmwood to St James (where one of my jobs is), ranges from 55 minutes to 70 minutes between late March until November (depending on various factors including traffic and wind, etc) to 65 to 85 minutes during the winter on my fat bike. While some may consider it long, often the time to ride my bike to work is still more effective than taking public transportation, which takes about the same time. Given the need to rapidly decarbonize the economy, cycling helps to play a key role in the fight against climate change and helping achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Ultimately cycling is the best form of climate action as bikes are powered by humans, and your money goes to local bike shops instead of large automotive companies or big oil.
  • It’s a part of my fitness regime: Ok, this one is a no-brainer. While I was cycling often when living with my parents, when I bought my house, last year, I relied on biking even more for cardiovascular exercise with my commutes as I got rid of my YMCA membership.  On average when I am commuting to my St James job on the bike, I am getting 32 km daily of cycling, burning over 850 calories. Factor in other small trips daily including grocery store runs, quick 10 km sprints, or excursions to East St Paul, It’s not uncommon to get in 40 km daily. Add in resistance bands and some weights as strength training instead of going to the YMCA, and I have not missed a beat.
  • Provides a Mental Release and Peace of Mind within Solitude: I know people just don’t get me for going for 10 km bike rides all year long at 11 pm down the North East Pioneers Greenway. Some say to me I am nuts that I do this. But hear me out, Cycling has also been a good mental health prescription, given the circumstances, I am in. Often I work seven days a week, where I have to deal with customers all day long at both jobs, specifically at my call centre job in the evenings.  It’s often where I face a lot of times frustration and yes even anger due to dealing with such mundane issues. Yet, cycling allows me an opportunity to break those frustrations, clearing my mind, and allowing me to challenge myself to see how far and fast I can go within a limited amount of time when I do my late-night cycling sprints. It’s a calming feeling personally which boosts my morale such challenging days.

I also believe cycling allows me further solitude in these unique times we are living in. It allows me mental peace of mind much needed being on my own. Cycling allows me piece of mind of the importance of celebrating being myself.

  • Being Hard Core: Yes, without a doubt, cycling is hardcore. Year-round biking commuters are some of the hardest, resilient people you will know. Cycle in rain, snow, hot, cold, windy, no wind. I have done it all. In the wintertime, I participated in the Jack Frost Challenge in February, which involved getting physical activity during the dead of winter. The individual target was 130 km. I was able to surpass that, thanks to cycling many days to work in the coldest week this year. Meanwhile, I have ridden my bicycle often in suppressive heat past 30C the last summer, on 15 km rides with buckets of sweat coming down. Sure I know cycling may not be as attractive as owning a GMC pickup truck, and cycling in -40C weather is not as comfortable as being in a warm car with the heater blasted on. However, by cycling in all types of weather, you build further resilience in your daily routine, which gives you the tools to get through the daily grind of life.

From financial efficiency, climate action, keeping fit, being mentally well rounded, and hardcore, are reasons why I cycle. These have become a part of my everyday life. I hope they do for you too. As a society, we need to change attitudes regarding cycling here in Winnipeg. While cycling infrastructure has improved in the past 15-20 years. However, there is a real need to dramatically improve what we have here. It’s not good enough to have a diamond lane here, an active transportation trail there. Accelerating cycling infrastructure in Winnipeg is what’s needed.

But to ensure this happens, we need the political capital to make Winnipeg a top-notch Canadian cycling destination.

Supporting and getting out to vote political candidates who understand the social, economic, and environmental benefits of cycling will help provide the political capital to ensure we do have the cycling infrastructure needed for future generations to come, so we can have everyone moving on two wheels. After all, Winnipeg has nowhere to go put up after we finished dead last for the amount per kilometers of bike lanes in the largest Canadian cities, according to a report put out by the Climate Reality Project earlier this year.

Happy World Bicycle Day.

All Images Credit to Adam Johnston