Erik de Vries
@erikwdv.bsky.social
Bikes, dad jokes, urbanism, and cats. Occasionally beer and baseball. Victoria and Ottawa are home.
I say “outdated,” because - for better or for worse - air travel has become accessible to many due to competition. This flight to Calgary from Victoria costs almost exactly as much as a cab ride from downtown Victoria to the airport.
November 15, 2025 at 4:03 AM
I say “outdated,” because - for better or for worse - air travel has become accessible to many due to competition. This flight to Calgary from Victoria costs almost exactly as much as a cab ride from downtown Victoria to the airport.
Ottawa 2.0: there’s still a bit of non-privatized green space you can use for 3.0.
November 9, 2025 at 6:44 AM
Ottawa 2.0: there’s still a bit of non-privatized green space you can use for 3.0.
I’m sure this feels like it matters a lot but I’m just wondering how somebody reading this in 1925 or 1825 or 825 would respond.
November 9, 2025 at 6:40 AM
I’m sure this feels like it matters a lot but I’m just wondering how somebody reading this in 1925 or 1825 or 825 would respond.
When back in Ottawa last week, I was struck by how everyday and expected it is to have cars parked on the sidewalk there.
November 1, 2025 at 6:08 PM
When back in Ottawa last week, I was struck by how everyday and expected it is to have cars parked on the sidewalk there.
All in all, it’s just another
November 1, 2025 at 3:41 AM
All in all, it’s just another
The finalists for Most Dramatic Wall Moment From The Last 40 Years award
November 1, 2025 at 3:38 AM
The finalists for Most Dramatic Wall Moment From The Last 40 Years award
Vancouver is SO melodramatic once fall starts.
October 1, 2025 at 11:28 PM
Vancouver is SO melodramatic once fall starts.
This argument reminds me of having to clean my plate when I was a kid because there were children starving in other countries.
September 29, 2025 at 6:34 PM
This argument reminds me of having to clean my plate when I was a kid because there were children starving in other countries.
Oh, this new path along Ross Bay is just a delight. I had seem some complaining on the Oak Bay FB group that there isn’t enough room for cars, but they did just fine when they slowed down - which I suspect is part of the point. Amazing work by @victoria.ca.
September 20, 2025 at 8:43 PM
Oh, this new path along Ross Bay is just a delight. I had seem some complaining on the Oak Bay FB group that there isn’t enough room for cars, but they did just fine when they slowed down - which I suspect is part of the point. Amazing work by @victoria.ca.
What a jarring difference between the first paragraph in this clipping and those below! Imagine a story about a city’s traffic problems that included a section about how freely cars are moving at the local raceway.
August 14, 2025 at 7:13 PM
What a jarring difference between the first paragraph in this clipping and those below! Imagine a story about a city’s traffic problems that included a section about how freely cars are moving at the local raceway.
This one’s ChatGPT. Greetings from Tukom.
August 8, 2025 at 3:43 AM
This one’s ChatGPT. Greetings from Tukom.
I told Gemini to have another try to fix the errors in the last one.
August 8, 2025 at 3:06 AM
I told Gemini to have another try to fix the errors in the last one.
Our neighbourhood is ridiculously charming.
July 31, 2025 at 3:15 AM
Our neighbourhood is ridiculously charming.
This video helpfully illustrates how and why bike infrastructure makes everything safer. Nobody except carhuggers thinks that the main problem in traffic safety is the moral purity of cyclists (the cyclist in the video is clearly not rigidly obeying every law).
July 15, 2025 at 3:54 PM
This video helpfully illustrates how and why bike infrastructure makes everything safer. Nobody except carhuggers thinks that the main problem in traffic safety is the moral purity of cyclists (the cyclist in the video is clearly not rigidly obeying every law).
Weird. Looks like the resort was accommodating her medical condition by offering eggs and fish instead of bacon and sausage.
July 11, 2025 at 8:24 PM
Weird. Looks like the resort was accommodating her medical condition by offering eggs and fish instead of bacon and sausage.
All she had to do was send the all-inclusive resort’s manager a copy of her doctor’s note prescribing bacon and sausage as a treatment for her ulcerative colitis.
July 11, 2025 at 7:55 PM
All she had to do was send the all-inclusive resort’s manager a copy of her doctor’s note prescribing bacon and sausage as a treatment for her ulcerative colitis.
Here’s one. I also have a short video.
July 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
Here’s one. I also have a short video.
Carbrain is incredibly powerful. Who cares if people walking on the sidewalk (which is what “pavements” means in the UK) are forced out into the road? The important thing is that drivers have space to park their cars!
July 10, 2025 at 3:45 PM
Carbrain is incredibly powerful. Who cares if people walking on the sidewalk (which is what “pavements” means in the UK) are forced out into the road? The important thing is that drivers have space to park their cars!
Americans in the streets vs those respectfully at the edges of the streets.
July 5, 2025 at 2:03 AM
Americans in the streets vs those respectfully at the edges of the streets.
What a week to choose to spend in Ontario!
June 23, 2025 at 1:47 PM
What a week to choose to spend in Ontario!
I don’t even remember the circumstances that gave rise to this optimistic #ottbike wayfinder in Ottawa in 2009. Lots of things have improved since then, but the hard job of connecting new bits of infrastructure is largely not done.
June 20, 2025 at 1:32 PM
I don’t even remember the circumstances that gave rise to this optimistic #ottbike wayfinder in Ottawa in 2009. Lots of things have improved since then, but the hard job of connecting new bits of infrastructure is largely not done.