Bike Culture – TWC Interactive

Building a Community-Based Bike Share System

Adwitya Das Gupta September 1, 2012

In the summer of 2013, The Working Centre is planning to unveil a new community-bike share project for Waterloo Region. Larger and more adaptable to different needs than our Community Access Bicycles (CAB) pilot project last summer, this community-based Bike Share System will be a unique addition to the ongoing work cities across Canada are pursuing to address environmental sustainability, increase social inclusion and enhance economic well-being.

The project aims to create a highly affordable and scalable bike-share system that is responsive to local issues by developing a community-based approach:

Recycle Cycles – Learning to Speak Bike

Christian Aagaard September 1, 2012

Recycle Cycles handled nearly 4,000 repairs and recorded almost 5,000 hours of volunteer time last year. But the numbers skip to the end of the story. You have to lift the roof off 37 Market Lane, the new home of Recycle Cycles in downtown Kitchener, to get a real feel for the place and what it does.

Women and Bikes Project Adds to Growing Exchange

Rebecca Mancini September 1, 2007

It was a fine June day and as the bicycles were lined up, the six women were raring to go. A determined group, these women were taking on the challenge of a race stretching about 10 km in total. Riding straight and hard for one hour over dirt roads filled with holes and mud puddles, the women arrived back tired but triumphant. It was the first time in Ugunja, Kenya that women had raced on the Ugunja roads and highways. They were sure to have attracted attention as they were making history. Two days later, people of all ages gathered in Waterloo, Canada to join in a parallel friendly ride to Kitchener, celebrating the partnership between The Working Centre and The Ugunja Community Resource Centre (UCRC). It is a partnership that has grown through exchanges of people and ideas.

Recycle Cycles Gears Up for Summer

Kari Kokko June 1, 2005

With spring finally here, Recycle Cycles is a vibrant hub of activity as people work to get bicycles ready for summer riding. Every week there are many faces in the shop, some new and some familiar, all busy cleaning and greasing, patching and adjusting. Two days a week are devoted to helping people repair their own bicycles. So far in 2005, over 200 bikes have been worked on in the shop.

Recycle Bike Camp: What an Experience!

Chad McCordic September 1, 2003

After returning to school from my summer at The Working Centre, I was immediately thrust back into the lineups, hassles, and general unpleasantness of life at university. Slowly but surely, I began to let my work with The Recycle Bike Camp become a passing memory in the haze of an incredible summer.

How to Build a Lasting Relationship …with Your Mountain Bike

Chad McCordic June 1, 2003

Imagine you’re ten again, with fewer worries on your mind and more possibilities ahead of you. Adolescence is just a cloud of doom off on the horizon. Your life is so carefree that the flat rear tire on your ten-speed mountain bike happens to be the most burdensome woe you’ve experienced in recent history.

Bicycling in the Waterloo Region – A Viable Option

Karin Kliewer June 1, 2002

The impact of the automobile on human health and the environment is clear. Increasingly cities, municipalities and governments across North America are starting to promote transportation planning that reduces personal vehicle use. A move in this direction is especially relevant here in the Waterloo Region where we have developed a well-known reputation for poor air quality. In a study done in May 2000, Kitchener was rated the highest out of 24 Canadian cities for concentration of ground-level ozone and fifth for particulate matter, corning in ahead of cities like Toronto, Windsor and Hamilton.

Recycle Cycles

Chris Kuhl June 1, 2002

Recycle Cycles is located at 43 Queen Street South in downtown Kitchener. Not everyone can afford a car or wants one; and that’s why Recycle Cycles provides affordable recycled bikes, advice from experienced bicycle mechanics, and the use of tools, as well as a chance to volunteer and learn about bikes, and an opportunity to be a part of a larger community.

You Have to Like Bicycles

Doug Smith June 1, 2001

You have to like bicycles. No matter how complex designers try to make them, they remain really simple. Two wheels on a frame with a crank in the middle and you just pedal.

Pedalling Together, Reclaiming Bicycling

Karin Kliewer June 1, 2001

As summer approaches Recycle Cycles moves into its second year at The Working Centre’s 43 Queen Street location. Already, it has been a busy spring around the shop and on any public day (Thursdays and Saturdays 12-4 pm) the space is bustling with the activity of those who participate in using or providing bicycles as transportation in our community.

Tag: Bike Culture