Spring tune-up A poem by Pascale Marchand Come March, with the warmer weather and softer winds, I switch from the Hamilton Street Railway (HSR) as a mode of transportation to my bicycle. Having heard of the backlog of bicycle repairs from last season, I made sure to get my bicycle tuned early this year. In the last week of February, Downtown Bike Hounds attended to my cruiser.My bike was set.But what about me?Every spring, my joints... [Read more]

Niv Shimshon is an ideal storyteller-- he loves listening to the experiences of his community, and sharing stories as they were told to him, word for word. When I first found Niv’s work online, I was moved by his BIPOC Voices project and wanted to speak with him about his work.  A week later in mid-March, we met virtually for a casual interview to discuss how the BIPOC Voices project came to be, and the... [Read more]

Black Girls Do Bike: A Cycling Powerhouse with Heart Meet Monica Garrison, the founder and creator of Black Girls Do Bike (BGDB) in Pennsylvania. Garrison has been an avid cyclist since she was a kid, and bikes have always made her feel invincible. One day after a summer of biking, Monica noticed that she had seen very few women of colour on the trails. When she went online to search images of Black female riders,... [Read more]

In 2019, we launched our ERI Connector initiative: a summer that brought 5 people together to be the ERI’s ambassadors for equitable access to bike share in their communities. Our Connectors played, educated, advertised, and engaged with many different people- and with their help, we reached more people in need of access to bike share and cycling than ever before! With snow blanketing the city this week, we decided to look back on our pre-pandemic,... [Read more]

Wow. What a year it has been. I’m sure most of us can agree that we’ve never seen anything like it in our lifetimes thus far. For me, it feels as if February this year was last week and ten years ago all at once- a feeling that increased as I looked out my window this morning to see a winter wonderland; a scene reminiscent of the weather in March when many of us retreated... [Read more]

When the Everyone Rides team started working from home as COVID swept through Canada in March, we knew this year would be unusual. What we didn’t know then was exactly how many moments of connection, warmth, and solidarity we would find in our beautiful city.  The ERI team felt an extraordinary sense of gratitude as Hamiltonians rallied to save bike share during our emergency call for support in May. We watched with pride in July... [Read more]

Keeping Six, a Hamilton harm reduction organization aiding people who use drugs, responded to criticism from advocates on October 21 after tent encampments downtown were forcibly removed by Hamilton Police in the pouring rain. The organization, alongside doctors, the Hamilton Community Legal Clinic (HCLC), and Ross and McBride LLP, won an injunction in late July preventing police from displacing homeless Hamiltonians living in tents during COVID-19.  Photo credit: Teviah Moro, Hamilton Spectator  By September, Hamilton... [Read more]

When Justin Larrivee and Adrian Alphonso first brought up the idea of an Indigenous- centered trail ride in Winnipeg, Manitoba, they were unsure of the response they would receive.  They didn’t have to wonder for long: the duo’s first ride, centered around Winnipeg’s historical murals, monuments, and trails, drew over 20 people on the very first Traditional Trails ride in 2018. Cyclists looked on attentively as Alphonso and Larrivee stopped at each location to tell... [Read more]

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Thea (Manager at the Everyone Rides Initiative), asking if I would be interested in volunteering- I’d be taking over Thea’s share of card deliveries during their much deserved vacation. During the pandemic I have been responsible, adhering to physical distancing, wearing my mask, and limiting my immediate circle. All this to say, I’ve been going a bit stir crazy without human interaction, even though I have... [Read more]

Meet Midhat: McMaster University and DeGroote School of Business Alumni, and one of the directors on Hamilton Bike Share's board. In her role as director, Midhat holds the office of the secretary, keeping our documentation organized and up to date. Midhat is passionate about equitable access to bikes for all, and loves creating opportunities for people to experience the joys of cycling in their daily lives. She has found that Bike Share allows riders access... [Read more]