Blog du Wren

Happy Bike to Work Day

Montreal, Canada - Despite not really having a job and being 3000 miles away from my bike, I'm stoked to say that I got to participate in Bike-to-Work day, an "annual event held on the third Friday of May across the United States and Canada that promotes the bicycle as an option for commuting to work"^wiki.
       Luckily, Montreal is about as bike friendly a city as you could hope for (except for the severely potholed roads*). There are bike lanes, bike lights, bike racks everywhere, and, at least as far as I have seen, bikers everywhere.
     Perhaps one of the most unique contributions to biking culture here in Montreal is Bixi (the Bixi? le Bixi?), a city-wide bike sharing program unveiled 1 year ago and spreading to other communities. As part of my work agreement(-ish), I've got myself access to Bixi bikes for my time here.
     In short, this is how Bixi works: there are MANY stations around town where you can check out a bike (with your

[extremely reasonably priced] subscription). You then have 30 minutes to return the bike to any other station in town. You can do this as many times as you like. So you ride from your house to the grocery store, return the bike to a holder, and get out a different bike for the ride home. Same for commuting to work.
The bikes aren't your normal road, touring, or mountain bike. They have 3 gears inside the back hub (so no derailleur issues), a luggage rack on the handle bars, and front and back lights run off non-friction based generators. They are a comfortable ride, but not for hard-core cycling; they are definitely utilitarian (as they should be).
Yep, it's bikes everywhere you look. And I've got more bike fun to look forward to. Along with exploring the city by [Bixi] bike, I'm really excited to check out Per's bike making shop. Maybe I'll get a little custom frame work while I'm there. Yeehaw!

Friday May 21 2010

File under: travel, transportation

Toggle Comments (2)

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on Sat 22nd May, 2010 08:06 pm PDT Sean said:
I was always told the roads are jacked up in Quebec because the government contracts to the lowest bidder, they use shortcuts and shoddy work/lower quality materials, etc... plus the extreme winters. You'll see potholes EVERYWHERE in the province, not just in cities.i wish Bixi was there when i was there. sounds awesome!
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on Sun 23rd May, 2010 06:07 am PDT Saxtor said:
When I was driving from Burlington to Montreal, I felt the long rural, 2-lane "main highway" was one of the more harrowing I had ever encountered. It was narrow, people were driving and passing at a breakneck speed, trucks hugged the middle line and you were dodging potholes like a slalom course.
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