This brings back memories. I visited Montreal in the mid-70s and came across a street rally organized by Le Monde à Bicyclette. The activists were wearing really cool T-shirts with a picture of a bike and the words: LE CYCLISME URBAIN, CA EXISTE MAIS OU SONT LES PISTES?
One of the lingering regrets in my life is that I never managed to get one of those shirts. I found a Wikipedia article about the group (in French, I'm afraid): https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Monde_%C3%A0_Bicyclette_(association). An impressive group; they had a grandeur of vision that should inspire us even now. ----- Original Message ----- From: "bikies" <bikies@lists.danenet.org> To: "bikies" <bik...@danenet.org>, "Jym Dyer" <j...@econet.org> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2016 8:53:57 PM Subject: Re: [Bikies] Make Your Own Bike Lane These types of guerilla actions go back to at least the mid 1970's. Google "Bicycle Bob" Silverman of Montreal and the tactics of Le Monde à Bicyclette in the 70's and 80's. Here is a recent article from April 2016 to get you started. Bob's health is failing and his story needs to be re-told and live on. http://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/cycling-in-montreal-qa-with-pioneering-activist-robert-bicycle-bob-silverman Cycling in Montreal: Q&A with pioneering activist Robert "Bicycle Bob" Silverman Is it true you once spent time in jail for painting a bike path on a city street? There was no bike path so we decided to paint our own. In 1975, we painted Marie-Anne and St-Urbain Sts. It was a warm night. We had about 10 people with rollers and no one was caught. The second time we painted the street, in 1980, I was arrested. A squealer called the police. I was arrested and there was a trial and I was convicted. I got a fine of $25 or eight days in jail. I refused to pay and went to Bordeaux prison. They let me out after three days. Arthur Ross, Pedestrian-Bicycle Coordinator City of Madison, Traffic Engineering Division 215 Martin Luther King, Jr., Blvd., Suite 100 PO Box 2986 Madison, WI 53701-2986 608-266-6225 ________________________________________ From: Bikies <bikies-boun...@lists.danenet.org> on behalf of Jym Dyer via Bikies <bikies@lists.danenet.org> Sent: Thursday, September 22, 2016 7:37 PM To: bik...@danenet.org Subject: Re: [Bikies] Make Your Own Bike Lane > This tradition of guerrilla bike lane protection may have its > roots in this action in Seattle: http://www.seattlebikeblog.com/2013/04/04/guerrilla-road-safety-group-politely- installs-illegal-bike-lane-protectors-on-cherry-street/ =v= San Francisco has a long history of its own guerrilla bike lane activity: https://www.flickr.com/photos/jym/3210388058/ I think the more immediate inspiration was a New York-based group with the very similar Department of Transformation name. There are a number of us who spend time in both cites. ;^) <_Jym_> _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list Bikies@lists.danenet.org http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list Bikies@lists.danenet.org http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org _______________________________________________ Bikies mailing list Bikies@lists.danenet.org http://lists.danenet.org/listinfo.cgi/bikies-danenet.org
