Video | Utility Cycling

30 Days of Biking

Posted on 01. Apr, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Although National Bike Month isn’t until May, if you are already rearing to go for some inspiration to ride more, check out 30 Days of Biking. No, this isn’t an April Fool’s post. 30 Days of Biking begins April 1 and lasts until the end of the month, and it’s a lot more fun than funny. The idea is to bike somewhere everyday for 30 days. You don’t have to bike everywhere – though that would be cool – but you just need to get in at least one bike trip per day. Actually, this event is great for me, because here in Tucson, our month-long festival of biking – called Bike Fest – is actually in April. May starts to get pretty, well, warm around here. Anyhow, check out 30 Days of Biking and take the pledge! I learned about this from Bike Shop Girl, who just took the pledge, and I am too! Happy Spring!

30 Days of Biking from 30 Days of Biking on Vimeo.

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Mountain to Mountain on MoveShake

Posted on 29. Mar, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Can a bicycle be a vehicle for social change? If you had any doubts that it can, watch this video about Shannon Galpin, the founder of Mountain to Mountain. Shannon has made the headlines many times for her amazing story becoming the first woman to ride a bike across Afghanistan while advocating for women’s rights. She’s now featured in a film on MoveShake, and she’s also helping form a national women’s cycling team in Afghanistan and making a film about it. Check out a snippet of her story below and find more on MoveShake.

Inspired? I know I am. Let’s all strive to be that drop in the bucket that works to make the world a better place!

MoveShake from RED REEL on Vimeo.

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Bike!

Posted on 22. Mar, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Happy Friday and Happy Spring. I’m in a light hearted mood. It’s hard not to be after a week of lovely bike commutes around Tucson. Ahh, the calm before the summer. Anyhow, here’s the perfect video to fit my mood via Velo Vogue. It’s a lovely montage of – well – bikes. All kinds of bikes. The video was created by Trevor Gill and Christopher Paetkau. From Gill’s Vimeo page about the video:

We’re all part of the club
Whether you see life in pedals and spokes
Or, you’re just out for a Sunday ride
It’s about freedom
It’s not revolutionary
It’s human powered

You’ve always been a cyclist
Keep moving

Agreed. Enjoy!

BIKE! from Trevor Adam Gill on Vimeo.

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More National Bike Summit

Posted on 15. Mar, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Streetfilms has another good review of the recent National Bike Summit, which covers the theme of “Bikes Mean Business.” Bicycling is good for the economy in a number of ways, and many of the people who appear in the video emphasize this important fact. Given that federal funding is going through a bit of an upheaval, it’s important to show members of Congress the important contributions bicycling can make to the economy. The video is a nice review of the Bike Summit, and if you look carefully at about 8 seconds in, you can spy Ted Johnson of our sister site Commute by Bike perusing some Bike Summit materials. And be sure to check out his coverage of the Bike Summit here, here, here, and here.

National Bike Summit 2013 from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

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Women’s Cycling on the Rise

Posted on 09. Mar, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Women’s cycling is on the rise in the U.S.! This week, as part of the National Bike Summit, which you can follow details from on our sister site Commute By Bike, the second annual National Women’s Bicycling Forum took place. Streetfilms captured a number of great responses from the forum in the video below. There’s so much great momentum to encourage more women to ride this year, and it’s nice to see the bicycle industry expanding to include more women in all aspects. Ladies, let’s ride!

National Bike Summit 2013: Women Are Biking More…How Do We Keep the Momentum Going? from Streetfilms on Vimeo.

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Bike Powered Music

Posted on 22. Feb, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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This video comes via one of our sister site Commute by Bike’s readers. It’s a great example of long distance utility cycling. 25 Bay Area cyclists rode their bikes with camping gear, food, and the like 200 miles to the Gaia Fest, a music festival in northern CA. When they arrived, they set up a pedal powered stage and helped to keep the lights and music going! The ride was hosted by Rock the Bike, and the video will be showing at the Portland Bike Film Festival. But more importantly, it sure looks like a lot of fun and the perfect utility cycling adventure! Enjoy.

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A Bicycle Made from Cars

Posted on 14. Feb, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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I’m all for creative recycling, especially when it comes to bikes. So as you can imagine, I was pretty excited to see this video over at Bike Hugger. The video shows the creation of Bicycled Bike, which is a bike created out of old car parts. As you can see, an old car can turn into a lovely, new bicycle. Check it out!

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Bike Barometer

Posted on 07. Feb, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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I couldn’t help but share this clever DIY bike barometer. If you are a fair weather cyclist who happens to live somewhere with decent public transit (e.g. London, in the designer’s case), this little toy can help you decide whether to take public transit or ride your bike. The barometer was designed by Richard J. Pope of Optimise for the Common Case, and I spotted it over at Lifehacker. The barometer gathers data from weather stations and local public transit to give you a weighted estimate of what mode to utilize. Check it out!

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My Recycler

Posted on 01. Feb, 2013 by Melanie Colavito.

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Here’s a heartwarming story and video for your Friday viewing pleasure. Grist recently had a story about young Vanis Buckholz who learned about recycling on Earth Day when he was 7 and was prompted to launch a business, with the help of his parents, called My Recycler. Vanis uses his bicycle and bike trailer to pick up recyclables from his customers, and his parents help drive him to more distant customers. He has been very successful and has been able to start donating 25% of his earnings to a charity that helps underprivileged youth called Project Hope Alliance. What an awesome example of the endless possibilites for bike businesses for young and older entrepreneurs alike! And way to go, Vanis!