Join us for an evening at Bespoked Bicycles, watching the inspirational film Cycling Without Age.

Cycling Without Age is a film about the power of feeling the wind in your hair, no matter where you are on life’s journey. It follows John, a retired teacher, and his merry group of volunteers as they use pedal-powered rickshaws to give adventure and joy to those who have lost the ability to pedal themselves.

Learn more about the film

Doors at 5:30pm, film starts at 6pm.

This event is free to attend. Please RSVP below so we know how many to expect!

On Saturday, September 28th, I rode the Fall Fundo. It is a fundraising event for Old Spokes Home and it raised a lot of money this year! They provide free and reduced priced bikes to those in need. Over the years I have been in a few Fundos, each of which have been very different. I did the 100k ride my first time out, and was lost for much of the time, although I did eventually catch up with some people. I rode the last ten miles with Glenn and his partner Mary. Glenn used to own Old Spokes Home. He sold me my first Vermont bicycle 45 years ago when he worked at Skirack. I rode one year when it was raining during the entire event. I was miserable and I got lost. I decided never to do a rainy Fundo again! Last year I did the 50k route and it was a tough ride, with two difficult hills. I wrote about it in a blog post.

Join us for a casual, conversational ride around Burlington. We stick together as a group with the help of volunteers to navigate the city streets safely and confidently.

The pace will be casual, but the dress code is formal! Wear your fanciest attire - or perhaps ride your fanciest tires? Ride bikes, make new friends, jam out to our music, all while gaining confidence riding on the city streets.

Meet at 6pm at the Local Motion Trailside Center, 1 Steele St, Burlington, VT. 

See route here

This summer I turned 69. I am in the evening of my life. I hope the last part of my life will be as filled with light as this photo! I have had many years of biking and distance swimming. I have done a couple of centuries and a climb to the top of Smugglers Notch. My riding has taken me on thousands of miles of roads, mostly in northwestern Vermont. I have done many open water swims, including a four mile swim in Lake Champlain.

On a warm afternoon in Montreal’s Mile End, I step onto Rue Bernard and find myself immersed in something quietly radical: a street reclaimed for people. To my left, a half dozen café terraces bustle with chatting patrons awaiting their food. To my right, bursts of public art and spontaneous performances animate the walkway. There are flowers, shaded seating nooks, green spaces, and more.

And all around me: no cars. Not one.

On Saturday, August 16th, Colchester resident Michael Pickering was killed after being struck by a car on Mallets Bay Avenue. This is a tragedy for everyone involved — and it was entirely avoidable.

It was avoidable because Mallets Bay Avenue is a dangerous road.

I grew up in a working class neighborhood in Providence Rhode Island. My parents never owned a car and unlike other families in my neighborhood we went for walks. Sometimes we walked to a park or to a local grocery store where I could get an ice cream cone for ten cents! We were often accompanied by King, the neighborhood dog. Many of those walks were pleasant but sometimes I walked with my father to the liquor store where my mother expected me to prevent my father from buying hard liquor. We walked at night and I became obsessed with the shadows of street lights. As I walked between street lights the shadow of the pole in front of me got shorter and shorter while the one behind me got longer and longer. My father asked me why I kept looking behind us as we walked but I did not tell him.

This past spring, our Outreach & Logistics Specialist Daniel Liguori took part in a League Certified Instructor (LCI) training down in New Haven, CT. LCI training sessions are run through the League of American Bicyclists, which is a nation-wide group that is making biking an easier and safer option for more people.

Ever stop to think about the little ramp at the end of a sidewalk?

Curb cuts might seem ordinary nowadays, but when they first came around they were anything but.

Before curb cuts, people who used wheelchairs or other assistive devices would have to find a driveway and roll their way down the street to cross an intersection. This was —obviously—unsafe.

Riding my bicycle creates a special kind of knowledge. On a bicycle I am exposed to many aspects of the environment that would be closed off to me in a car. This is not always positive! Wind, snow, cold and rain are uncomfortable and traffic can be dangerous, but I would always rather be on a bike than in a car. In John Berger’s book Pig Earth, he describes the life of peasants in the French countryside. The peasants have an extremely intense awareness of the land because they depend for their survival on the food they can grow and gather. Indigenous people often have a very refined sense of their environment. Although they may well love the land, their knowledge of it is very practical. They can perceive things that are invisible or inaudible to other people. Traditional Polynesian navigators can sail from one island to another guided only by wind, smells, and an acute perception of the water. In a similar way, a cyclist must be aware of their environment to navigate and survive. Every time I get on my bike I have to watch and listen to traffic, keep an eye out for potholes and adapt to changing weather.