Hans on the Bike
@hansonthebike.bsky.social
760 followers 110 following 440 posts
Writes about casual cycling. Canadian Governor General’s Award, Mayor’s Office Award for cycling advocacy, Bruce Timmermans award for cycling advocacy twice. Most likely the only Dutch cycling advocate mentioned in the Ontario and Saskatchewan Hansards.
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hansonthebike.bsky.social
Sparks Street, #Ottawa , October 14
hansonthebike.bsky.social
I was waiting for the Halloween references!
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
timtierney.ca
Fix It, Don’t Toss It! Last Repair Café of 2025
Got a broken gadget, torn shirt, or wobbly lamp? Bring it to Vanier’s Repair Café and give it a second life!
Join the skilled fixers from the Ottawa Tool Library as they offer free repairs for electronics, clothing, small appliances, jewelry, and more
hansonthebike.bsky.social
Our Balsam Fir in #Ottawa developed a so called Witch’ Broom, a strange deformity. I don’t fully understand how that happens, even after reading the Wikipedia entries. #tree #Nature
A lump of Deformed branches that look like the bottom of a broom in close up A hand holding out a cluster of tiny branches sprouting from a Balsam Fir branch A hand holding out a cluster of tiny branches sprouting from a Balsam Fir branch, seen from the bottom
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
stateofthecity.bsky.social
Praise for Montreal's bike-share system, from TIME. Worth a holiday thread on a couple of operational + political aspects of Bixi's history that are intriguingly left unsaid.
cultmtl.com
“Montreal revolutionized the bicycle-sharing trend. The tech behind BIXI became the backbone for bike-sharing programs in London, New York, Chicago and dozens of other places, turning two wheels into a genuine option for navigating cities.”
BIXI named among top 25 inventions of the past 25 years by TIME magazine
TIME magazine has released a list of the top 25 inventions of the past 25 years, and Montreal's bicycle-sharing system BIXI is on it.
cultmtl.com
hansonthebike.bsky.social
#ottbike in #Ottawa
arieltroster.com
Lessons learned from TO and Montreal: you need to treat bike share as a public service and invest in it. A private for-profit model doesn’t work. Ottawa is way behind on this, but I am looking forward to working with @shawnmenard.bsky.social, @seandevine9.bsky.social and others to make it happen.
jasonthorne.bsky.social
“How Bike Share went from death’s door to one of Toronto’s fastest-growing ways to travel” in the Toronto Star www.thestar.com/news/gta/how...
hansonthebike.bsky.social
There’s Amsterdam Noord, Amsterdam Zuid en De Wallen (Red light district) on Google maps.
hansonthebike.bsky.social
Mmm, a drone show at the EY centre next to the airport?
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
en.ottawa.ca
In case you missed it, here are a few items #OttCity Council approved on Wednesday, October 8:
- Bold plan to address housing crisis
- More repairs for affordable housing, no extra cost
- St. Laurent Boulevard getting major upgrade
- Working towards the LRT upload!
Visit: https://bit.ly/4nAbKYC
A partially constructed, six-storey residential building that is missing exterior cladding.

Closeup of a building’s new vinyl window with wood-like paneling showing beside it. 
Close up of a partially completed installation of red paving bricks beside an asphalt roadway.
The front of a white and red train, set to depart an above-ground station on a sunny day, with tracks ahead shown in the frame.
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
glengower.ca
Once again, speed cameras work.
(This is data from Ottawa, published in 2024.)
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
glengower.ca
(Almost) a week without driving - a recap!
open.substack.com/pub/glengowe...

#weekwithoutdriving

Thanks to @bikeottawa.bsky.social & all of the local organizations who encouraged residents to participate!
hansonthebike.bsky.social
If #cycling is not a good enough reason to move to the #Netherlands, than the collapsed price for potatoes might be.
A steep line is a graph sees the price for potatoes falling from 62.50 euro to 5.50 euro for 100 kg.
hansonthebike.bsky.social
The number of fines went op bc we installed a lot more cameras. That the average speed actually went down, as is the purpose of the cameras, is shown in this image by @strongtownsottawa.ca
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
pbickerton.bsky.social
Old post but the oldest water main at that intersection is only 35 years old! yikes
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
glengower.ca
Some more photos from our Robert Grant Ave pre-opening yesterday. Thanks again to everyone who joined us!
#weekwithoutdriving
hansonthebike.bsky.social
We have that too on several of our windows and don’t even notice them anymore
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
glengower.ca
We’ve had a few hundred people out so far to check out the pre-opening of Robert Grant Avenue in Stittsville. #weekwithoutdriving
hansonthebike.bsky.social
How would life be without the option of driving yourself somewhere? A #weekwithoutdriving challenges people to not use the car and use other means of transportation instead. Logically, I biked for a week. Here's how it went. With cameos of @jleiper.bsky.social and @seandevine9.bsky.social #cycling
A Week Without Driving - Hans on the Bike - Cycling in Ottawa and beyond
A week without driving is an awareness initiative about what it is to not being able to drive a car. Any other transport is allowed.
hansonthebike.com
hansonthebike.bsky.social
We have drained battery issues in winter after a few cold nights already. I could write a blog about all the contradictory advice we receive.
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
ontariotrafficman.bsky.social
My challenge every week is to find somewhere to drive to. I try to drive my car at least once every two weeks to keep the 12V battery topped up.

Nearly all of my trips are more convenient by bicycle
Reposted by Hans on the Bike
cassiesmith.bsky.social
Thanks for sharing Hans!
hansonthebike.bsky.social
How would life be without the option of driving yourself somewhere? A week without driving challenges people to not use the car and use other means of transportation instead. Logically, I biked for a week. Here's how it went. @nondriver.bsky.social #Ottbike #Ottawa #BikeTooter
A Week Without Driving
I wanted to participate in the week without driving (#WeekwithoutDriving) because I was impressed with a talk I attended last year by Anna Zivarts, author of ‘When driving is not an option’.
hansonthebike.com
hansonthebike.bsky.social
How would life be without the option of driving yourself somewhere? A week without driving challenges people to not use the car and use other means of transportation instead. Logically, I biked for a week. Here's how it went. @nondriver.bsky.social #Ottbike #Ottawa #BikeTooter
A Week Without Driving
I wanted to participate in the week without driving (#WeekwithoutDriving) because I was impressed with a talk I attended last year by Anna Zivarts, author of ‘When driving is not an option’.
hansonthebike.com