[vimeo 76207227 w=500 h=281]
Biking in Toronto means dodging cabs that don’t signal and closely watching parked cars for doors that might be about to open and could catapult you up and into the air. We have little in the way of dedicated cycling infrastructure. In fact, our incompetent mayor actually celebrates the removal of bike lanes.
Despite all this, Toronto has a fairly robust cycling culture. There’s no shortage of bearded hipsters riding around on fixies with a U-lock in their back pocket. However, it’s nothing in comparison to the city of Groningen in the Netherlands, where over 50% all of trips are made on a bicycle.
If you’re into cycling or want to be converted, I recommend you take 15 minutes to watch the above video. The hoards of cyclists are interesting to see and they provide good background on how Groningen got to where it is today. Hint: It involves dramatic measures from a leftist city government.