kar0ling

If-you-see-something-say-something strikes again.  Sick and tired of motornormativity, I'm setting event notifications straight. Don't just tell people where they can park when they attend your event. Have some hope for humanity and believe we can step out of our death machines and get around in a more human way. Especially for an event that is pitched as a picnic. This is what they sent: So this is what I wrote:  I know you already have a lot of details in this message. I know that realistically, most of your attendees will come in private vehicles. But can you please add notes for bus and bike travellers the next time you send a message like this? What constructs our view of “normal” is not only what we personally see and interact with but also how our world is talked about. When “where do I park?!” always gets top billing in event information whereas “which bus can I take?” and “is there a safe place to leave my bike?” are never even addressed, it reinforces the impre...

According to Strava, I did 587 bike rides covering 3,807.3 km in 2025. Additionally, I did 81 walks covering 238.2 km in 2025. For comparison, in 2024, I did 643 bike rides covering 3,824.7 km and 75 walks covering 260.4 km. Neither of these were “normal” years for me as I spent 3 months in Europe both times.  2024 includes a few days of tourist traipsing around Istanbul and a 30 km walk from Amsterdam to Utrecht in solidarity with the people of Gaza. In 2025, I did an epic 70+ kms of biking around North Holland, but otherwise went absolutely nowhere many days, living at a retreat centre where my work was just steps away from my sleeping quarters. By contrast, in 2023, it was 761 bike rides covering 4247.4 km.

Dear CityNews Winnipeg You need to do better than “he said she said” on speed limits.  It’s incumbent on your journalists to explain, and not merely hold up the statements of city spokespeople against those of provincial spokespeople as though to ask readers to catch one of them in a lie.  The province is being disingenuous by insisting they don’t need to act because each municipality can set their own speed limits. There's more to the city’s argument that “street signs are expensive” than you have made plain.  Give your viewers the benefit of the doubt that they can handle a bit of explanation instead of a quick drop of soundbites to foment passionate but ignorant opining. Thank you. https://winnipeg.citynews.ca/2026/04/22/winnipeggers-call-for-lowering-speed-limit-after-fatal-crash/

 Depending which forecast you consult, it's either going to be cool with a chance of rain tomorrow or an April snowpocalypse.  But today it is spring, so I put air in the tires, wore my spring jacket and cool weather hat and took omafiets for a whirl today. Cut a full 10 minutes off my fastest commute time on the fatgirl.  We'll see what tomorrow brings.

In June of 2024, a man was just riding his bike to work. Early in the morning when traffic should be low to nonexistent. Wearing a helmet and a reflective vest.  A racing driver lost control and plowed him over.  Anyone who bikes in this city was grieved and outraged.  This stretch of roadway is designated as a bike route. There's a little green sign with a bicycle icon to tell you that. The wide road that invites speeding certainly doesn't. How does a person even drive 159 km/hr on a sleepy residential street within city limits? (Because the street is too damn wide.) For about as long as it has existed, the cycling advocacy organization has identified this stretch of roadway as a route in critical need of remediation to make it safer.  So, within a week, temporary safety measures had been rolled out. Reduced speed limit signs were erected, poly posts narrowed the roadway and speed cameras made sure folks took it seriously.  Ha ha ha ha ha ha. No. 20, 40,...

 This week saw all three bikes in use.  Tuesday night, Idid not listen to the little voice that suggested I ask if I could bring my bike in tothe lobby at Cinematheque. I was really late for the movie already and I don't know how to use the elevator while the stairs are tall and high so it is prohibitive to carry her up.  When I came out 1 hour and 40 minutes later, I swung my bag off my shoulder to put it on my rack only to discover the rack was gone, my cables were dangling loose from being cut and the front fender was loose.  After bellowing in rage and cursing loudly and repeatedly, I began a cold and angry walk home. A short chat with a homeless guy huddled in an alcove (beginning with a probably unwise "did you take stuff off my bike?!") cooled me down a bit as I realized how grateful I was to have a warm home to go to with food in the fridge to eat and no relationship drama preventing me from seeing beloved family members. The futility of the theft still makes...

A little letter to the FreeP: Thank you for the work of your newsroom. Hearing how PostMedia has taken over Canada, including the major newsrooms in the largest Canadian cities, I'm proud scrappy little Winnipeg has maintained an independent free press.  If I may be so bold as to offer some suggestion/critique... The constant air quality warnings and drought conditions we're experiencing are deeply worrying. What is equally disturbing is the general conversation around it which acknowledges the unpleasantness, blindly hopes it's temporary, and moves on, without addressing the climate change at the root of the conditions – and most importantly, that it is crucial we act in as many ways as we can as quickly as we can to do things to address it. Notably, pressuring our politicians that more pipelines are not the direction to go.  Public transit is an important climate mitigation as well – getting people out of wasteful private vehicles into more efficient buses and onto ...

A response to Winnipeg's Executive Policy Committee regarding their endless delays on making modifications to Wellington Crescent after a cyclist was killed 6 June 2024.  A piece of context that is needed is that this stretch of roadway was identified by the bike advocacy organization as a crucial stretch with inadequate protections for more than a decade before the vehicular murder occurred. Every day, I open the news in the morning, and the frequency of times death due to road violence is one of the items is shocking. What's even more shocking is how blasé this carnage is treated.  Why do we accept these deaths without question? But folks like to focus on the positive, so I'm coming here to be positive. And I'm writing to you from the Netherlands, where I'm feeling really positive about riding bike. To address the road carnage, you're recommending a bike lane on Wellington. I support the recommendation to fund a bike lane. I support reducing the speed l...

Dear Winnipeg elected officials  The North East ride of the Bike to the Future series was supposed to be today, but it was  cancelled because of unsafe air quality.  These rides are meant to raise awareness about the climate crisis, yet the crisis itself has shut these rides down twice this year. If the air isn’t even safe to bike in, how can we keep ignoring the need for urgent change? We can't keep making things worse.  Cancelled bike rides may not seem like a reason to install more lanes but in fact it is: we must reduce car dependency. We must have alternatives. There must be safe and easy walking, biking, and transit choices.  This is a time for courage, not compromise.  Instead of delaying plans for one crucial bike lane, we should be roaring ahead on implementation of multiple active transit projects, no matter how much drivers complain.  When will the elected representatives of Winnipeg make decisions appropriate to the level of crisis we ...

Monday was the day!  Commutes during that first week of days of April were 90% percent dry pavement with just a few slippery treacherous spots so I was seriously questioning keeping The Fatgirl on the road. All the bike folks on the Discord were keeping their studs for the morning ice though, so I heeded their wisdom. Friday I almost switched on a whim to Omafiets but realized it wasn't an easy thing to do as none of my panniers I had on the go would fit on the rack.  The first 100 metres of my commute were 90% ice so I was glad I stayed with The Fatgirl. But as the weather stayed warm all weekend, I decided it was time. Greased up the chain, wiped off the dust and took the Skyline for a spin.  The first ride after winter is always disorienting: the handlebars are so narrow; the bike feels a bit tippy, and I can roll for so long with just a few rotations of the cranks. Another lovely feature of the summer bike is being able to trip the garage door. I don't know if it's th...

Image skimmed from Plain Bicycle’s e-shop. Don’t you wish you had one of these? Wouldn’t a nice government rebate help? Dear Minister Jagmeet Singh I saw your online petition regarding tariffs on Teslas – and I agree and all – but as for the $10,000 rebate for buying a Canadian-made EV instead (does such a thing even exist?), can I suggest something that would have a far greater impact on reducing Canada’s transportation emissions?  A cash rebate on the purchase of an ebike.  Maybe something like $2,000 on the purchase of an ebike; $3,000 on a cargo bike. The numbers may not be quite right. Maybe they’re a little low. Maybe they’re a little high. You have people who can figure out the correct amount. But the point is, for a much lower dollar amount that you are giving away on EVs, you could have a much bigger impact on greenhouse gases.  EVs still do tremendous road damage and cause tire shed – more than ICEs mostly likely due to their greater weight.  EVs...

I love my fatbike for its sturdiness, but it's not a comfortable bike. My omafiets has spoiled me with its upright riding posture; I find myself pushing back from my handlebars, hanging on with my fingertips. It took several years before I noticed the trend: every November or December, I'd start to experience shoulder pain. There would be massage appointments, even physiotherapy if it were bad enough.  In spring, suddenly, the pain would evaporate.  It was the year I had extreme shoulder pain after two days spent hammering up floor tiles in a bathroom that I finally put the pieces together: the straight bars on my bike -- that give me wrist discomfort from the first rotation and pull my tense, cold shoulders down -- are hurting my shoulders.  The nearly $100 price tag on the Salsa bars nearly dissuaded me, but when I compare it with the cost of allied health care appointments, it made sense.  After one happy winter with my bent bars, my bike was stolen unbeknowst to ...

— Presented to CoW’s Executive Policy Committee — I’m a downtown resident and have used a bicycle as my primary mode of transportation year round since 2009. I’m here in support of Item No. 4 Speed Limit Reduction on Wellington Crescent . Full stop. From where it starts to where it ends. And on Kingsway. And Grosvenor. And Stella. And Flora. And Manitoba. And Magnus. And… and... and.... Many previous delegates have demonstrated how such a change is both in compliance with City of Winnipeg’s own documents, plans and policies and how, overall, making changes to both laws and infrastructure to prioritize human life over commuter convenience serves a building more livable city for all residents. Frankly, I’m offended that I need to be here. And I’m offended that all this effort is being expended over merely reducing the speed limit, not even spending money to adjust the infrastructure yet. I’m offended that all this effort is being expended over just one street in a privileged nei...

—Presented at a CAWG event in Altona— In Living More with Less , Doris Janzen Longacre shares a story about envelopes from Marie Moyer, a missionary in India, who was studying Hindi with Panditji. Marie writes: “From his philosophic mind, which probed the meaning of events and circumstances, I learned more than Hindi.” Just before her teacher’s arrival one day before Christmas, she’d received and opened a pile of Christmas cards and discarded the envelopes as he walked in the room. She writes: “He sat down soberly and studied the situation, then he solemnly scolded me: ‘the reverberation of this wasteful act will be felt around the world’.” Marie was stunned. “What do you mean?” she asked him. “Those envelopes,” he said, pointing to the wastebasket. “You could write on the inside of them.” “Chagrined”, Marie apologized and rescued the envelopes with the help of Panditji, who “caressed each one” as he pulled it out of the garbage. This forever changed Marie’s relationship to pape...

“We know we need to cut emissions,” he said Monday at an outdoor news conference at Royal Roads University in the suburban Victoria-area community of Colwood. “We know we need to reduce pollution and one of the best ways of doing that is to get more clean cars on the road.” Last week's federal budget placed an emphasis on transitioning to the green economy, which included expanding the availability of zero-emission vehicles and charging stations, Trudeau said. https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/greenpage/trudeau-expected-to-make-announcement-on-electric-vehicle-infrastructure-576385262.html Dear PM Trudeau Yes, we need to cut emissions, but no, one of the best ways to do that is NOT to get more clean cars on the road; it is to REDUCE the number of cars on the road and get those drivers into buses, trains, trams, and onto bicycles or just using their feet. Please do invest in electric vehicles but put that priority BELOW investing in public transportation an...

May 2 has got to be one of the latest dates I’ve switched bikes. Took the Skyline out for a whirl tonight. The potholes are ridiculous this year, there’s a lot of sand and debris after an awfully snowy winter, and there was so much precipitation this spring too that puddles were pervasive, so I’ve been hanging on to the fatgirl to handle the treacherous streets. The first thing I notice about switching bikes is the different weight. The fatgirl has a really light frame — all the weight is in the massive tires. On the Skyline, the narrow wheels are fairly light — it’s the old steel frame (and the plastic milk crate reinforced with a heavy piece of wood) that gives this vehicle its weight. The next impression is the handlebars. The fatgirl’s are extra wide. I think the skyline’s are a tad on the narrower side than average. The first few rotations feel really wobbly. But first, the seat height! This was actually a new one. My seat had started peeling and I tried to fix it with tape, ...

 The past twelve months have been extraordinary in so many ways. One of the good ways, at least for active commuting, was mild weather. An early snow storm in October had me rushing to get the fatgirl tuned up for winter, then it warmed up again and barely called for the fat tires before Christmas.  Now it's barely mid-March, yet after several days of mostly bone dry pavement, I started to feel sheepish pushing Bullwinkle around the city, so I switched back to the Skyline today.  It is still mid-March though, so I'm anticipating the fatgirl will probably come back again for a few days before spring is here to stay.

I did not want to make multiple trips, nor have to cover the same ground twice. Additionally, it was later in the afternoon, so looming closing times meant I only had so much time to fit in all my errands. They all had to happen in one trip, carrying capacity be hanged. The just-in-time stop at the thrift store provided things I was looking for (curtains) and unexpected treasures I wasn’t (glass spice jars with hinged lids). Geography dictated it was grocery shopping next. It being coronatide, we’re all trying to keep out of each other’s way. A woman accidentally cuts me off by the yogurt, but we both smile and laugh good naturedly at each other. Later, outside, I back into her with my bike having failed to notice her behind me while I fiddled and grumbled with my lock. Again we smile and laugh with each other as I try to disavow that it was payback. My bike was heavy laden by the time I locked it to a flimsy bus sign pole in front of the German meat shop. I decided to take a risk: m...

My bike has been parked all over the city: lashed to suburban trees, downtown bus stops and everything in between. It’s generally my policy to take everything off the bike that I want to be there still when I return. A few the times I’ve lapsed. Things have been stolen off my bike when parked where I should have anticipated theft potential. But I’ve had things not stolen off my bike where I would have expected it. In general, I don’t assume any place is entirely free from the possibility of theft given sufficient opportunity or enticement. But there are places one thinks it’s less likely. The Canadian Mennonite University campus is one place I wouldn’t expect a non-valuable item would walk away. So, I was surprised to experience bike theft there. After a season banging over Winnipeg’s potholes tied to the rear rack of my bike, the old plastic milk crate just gave up. Every arm of the plastic lattice-bottom broke, leaving the walls of the crate hanging low over the rack. In spr...

Of course my tongue is planted firmly in cheek with this hyperbolic statement…and I more than half believe it. But not for the reason you think. Sure, cycling is good because it reduces fossil fuel consumption, promotes cardiovascular health, puts you in touch with nature, and the latter two are good for emotional health. Riding a bike, you may or may not know, is humanizing. In apartment elevators, most people studiously avoid making any kind of contact with each other, but when I am that annoying person taking her bike on the elevator, more often than not, my fellow traveller is impelled to strike up a conversation. From “Nice weather, eh?” to “What do you think of the green paint on the bike lanes? My partner was involved in that. Does it work?” In winter, we all want to hunker down in our cars and separate ourselves from the elements, but I can’t tell you the number of times people have rolled down their windows to talk to me. BFB (before fat-bike), it was mostly swearing, but sin...