slide through car free week

Car Free Hamilton 2008

no parking!

Funny how if you park a big-ass SUV in a parking spot and go off for an hour, no one thinks twice. But put a quarter in the meter and hang out with friends and meet other people, and you become a threat to the general welfare...

Here (pictured, above) grease and oil stained parking spaces are transformed from a waste place to store a vehicle, into a people place. People stopped by even before the sod arrived (it was late) and moved a table and chairs onto the parking space to enjoy their fair trade coffee from My Dog Joe.

A pinata of a Hummer was filled with prizes, including some bike reflective leg-bands and a kids' bicycle horn from local bike shop Pieriks, some coffee coupons from My Dog Joe; also on hand were city cycling maps and Hamilton waterfall maps, which were popular with passerby.

Photo: Sarah Kam

big year for car free

47 cyclists showed up for the critical mass bike ride Friday, including a tall boy riding a tall bike (above). 250-300 people came out Thursday to the Gage Park movie night; 12 people to Recycle Cycles bike repair on Tuesday, our first ever Bridge Party on Pearl Street pedestrian bridge drew about 50 people, largely residents of the area. Monday's bus and hike to Sherman Falls had 20 soles (that's be 10 people) making the trip: it's been a good good week so far, with fine weather and lots of word of mouth action getting people out.
So, with today and tomorrow winding up the week (and the weather changing...) it's time to get out and celebrate some more: Car Free Parking Meter Party at the parking lot in front of My Dog Joe (1020 King Street West in Westdale) today (Saturday) from 12 noon to 3pm (a pinata full of prizes awaits you); and Sunday at 10am meet inside the Student Centre in front of the Union Market for the guided hike of Cootes Paradise with Brian McHattie.

Send your car free week pictures to tlchamilton@gmail.com

bridging communities

The Pearl Street bridge became BBQ central as Gord kept the party-goers supplied with hot dogs and corn on the cob, while kids and adults created a bond with train engineers who noticed the people on the bridge and exchanged waves, while tooting their horns as they passed below.

Several pages of a petition to rebuild the pedestrian bridge at Poullete street west of Locke Street were signed, and will be delivered to ward one councillor Brian McHattie so he can navigate the needs of pedestrians in his ward through the maze of city hall politics.

Bridges bring people together, knitting neighbourhoods closer, and actions like the bridge party help people connect in a friendly environment, creating a renewed sense of community.

Sign the petition to rebuilt Poullete, and get out to walk more, hot dogs or not...

it's car free week

Posters are out there: are you? It's Car Free Week in Hamilton and events are underway. Experience Hamilton without internal combustion, and blow your mind:

Car Free Week Mapped: here
Event you missed: Monday, September 22, 2008

• Bus and Hike to Sherman Falls (5:15pm corner of King West and Sterling), and
• Car Free drinks at the Phoenix (McMaster) 8pmTuesday, September 23, 2008

TONIGHT!

• Bike Repair Basics at Recycle Cycles 6pm (19 Pearl Street North)
• Women Only Bicycle Repair at MaCycle (Wentworth House Basement, McMaster) 6pm(pre-registration required for both tlchamilton@gmail.com 905-525-9140 ext. 26026)

REST OF THE WEEK:

• Wednesday, September 24, 2008Bridge Party in Kirkendall - 5:30pm at the Pearl Street Bridge (at Canada Street)
• Thursday, September 25, 2008Car Free Drive-In Movie at Gage Park Bandshell - films at duskFriday, September 26, 2008
• Friday September 26th, Critical Mass bicycle ride (Hess Village 5:30pm) and then,
  
• Friday September 26th, You Never Bike Alone www.youneverbikealone.com/ 7pm, Melrose United (86 Homewood Avenue -corner of Locke Street, parking off Stanley)Suggested Donation: $5 Includes Complementary Fair-Trade CoffeeChild-minding available ages 3-12, $1 per child http://www.melroseunited.ca/events/movies.php
• Saturday September 27, 2008Instant Patio in Westdale (Parking Meter Party) in front of My Dog Joe (1020 King St. West), 12 noon to 3pm
• Sunday, September 28, 2008, Guided Car Free Nature Hike in Cootes Paradise with Brian McHattie10am Union Market in McMaster University Student Centre(pre-register with tlc)

water cycles

Continuing the TRAILER PARK theme of bicycle trailers, here is the flatbed construction designed by John Milton for the time he was a contractor doing house renos, all without a motor vehicle - John handed it off to me for use as a canoe trailer when he switched careers, and it served me well until a break in the main beam finally rendered it out of service.

The combination garnered lots of looks as I made my way down the streets to the nearest river access, and some approving comments when I pulled into the beer store on the way home...

In practical terms, it is much easier and less messy to attach the canoe to the trailer than it is to tie on to a car rooftop - no climbing under the car on greasy pavement to secure the ropes, less lifting, and you can just toss your paddles, lifejackets and other gear in the canoe and go. Talk about efficiency!

These days I've taken to walking the canoe the three kilometers using portage wheels, so I don't even have to worry about my bicycle being left unattended at river's edge. The strap on wheels fold up and fit in the canoe so you can leave no trace of your journey behind.

(Send your bike-trailer photos and comments to tlchamilton@gmail.com)

car free poster

A new 11x17 poster for car free week by local artist and tlc volunteer Gord Pullar - if you can help distribute some, please get in touch with tlchamilton@gmail.com and we can get some copies to you, or send you a file to print. At very least, plan on coming to some of the fantastic and diverse events celebrating life without a car in the city.

haulin'

This Cargo Cart is a versatile little puppy: you can attach it to the seatpost of your bicycle with a clip on the handle, or use it as a hand cart - it can haul a lot, and a bungee chord can add some stuff to the top on the lid. I use this regularly to carry 40 pounds of water from an artesian well in the Dundas Valley, but it can do groceries, trips to the beer store, and even stand-in as a make-shift wheel-barrow to carry soil.


It's an all terrain vehicle for the human powered. Beats a bundle buggy in mud anyday. Snow banks crumble under the 20 inch bicycle tires. I borrow mine from Mac Green at McMaster. I'm not sure where they ordered them from, but I found this Canadian site that makes them here.

car free week mapped

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car free week 2008

www.tlchamilton.org

Monday, September 22, 2008

• Bus and Hike to Sherman Falls (5:15pm corner of King West and Sterling), and
• Car Free drinks at the Phoenix (McMaster) 8pm

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

• Bike Repair Basics at Recycle Cycles 6pm (19 Pearl Street North)
• Women Only Bicycle Repair at MaCycle (Wentworth House Basement, McMaster) 6pm
  

(pre-registration required for both tlchamilton@gmail.com 905-525-9140 ext. 26026)

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Bridge Party in Kirkendall - 5:30pm at the Pearl Street Bridge (at Canada Street)

Thursday, September 25, 2008
Car Free Drive-In Movie at Gage Park Bandshell - films at dusk

Friday, September 26, 2008
Critical Mass bicycle ride (Hess Village 5:30pm)

Friday September 26th

You Never Bike Alone
www.youneverbikealone.com/
7pm, Melrose United (86 Homewood Avenue -corner of Locke Street, parking off Stanley)
Suggested Donation: $5 Includes Complementary Fair-Trade Coffee
Child-minding available ages 3-12, $1 per child

http://www.melroseunited.ca/events/movies.php

Saturday September 27, 2008
Instant Patio in Westdale (Parking Meter Party)
in front of My Dog Joe (1020 King St. West), 12 noon to 3pm

Sunday, September 28, 2008
Guided Car Free Nature Hike in Cootes Paradise with Brian McHattie
10am Union Market in McMaster University Student Centre
(pre-register with tlc)