Bike Sense

This episode is an appetizer for the array of Active Transportation superstars who will be showing, telling, and inspiring us at the BC Active Transportation Summit in Victoria, Oct 28-30th.

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The Galloping Goose and Lochside trails feel like a cycling paradise until they don’t. When thousands of people a day share the same off-road corridor with walkers, dogs, strollers, cargo bikes, e-bikes, and e-scooters, the small design details start to matter: width, sightlines, passing space, and whether pedestrians and riders should be separated at all.

We sit down with Genevieve Tokgoz, Manager of Transportation for the Capital Regional District, and Project Engineer Amir Hassanpour to unpack the CRD’s push to modernize the region’s busiest shared use paths. 

NOTE! If you enjoyed this episode check out theBike Sense episode:
Accessibility, Equity, Joy, and Fun: E-bike subsidies can take us there
with UBC Prof and Transportation Engineer Dr. Alex Bigazzi -- listen HERE.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

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The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

This is an encore presentation of one of our most popular Bike Sense episodes, which originally aired in December, 2023.

Is helmet-wearing  the key to safe cycling ? Maybe NOT! Kay Teschke, retired UBC Prof in Occupational and Environmental Health, joins Peter to  debunk misconceptions and talk about what really makes cycling safe. Whether it's helmet laws, safe passing distances,  bike lights, or cyclist-pedestrian conflicts — Kay's got the data and she's not afraid to use it.

Read about the BC Government's controversial Bill 23 legislation regarding safe passing distances around cyclists HERE.

Check here for a great compilation and  systematic debunking of common CYCLING FALLACIES courtesy of the  Cycling Embassy of Great Britain.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

BC has iconic riding, famous rail trails, and a growing bikepacking scene, so why does planning a multi-day cycling trip still feel like piecing together a puzzle? We sit down with Heather Piwowar, volunteer founding director of the brand-new BC Cycle Tourism Society, to talk about the coordination BC has been missing and the practical tools that can turn curiosity into a booked trip and a confident ride.

Heather explains why GPX navigation is quickly becoming the baseline for visitors, how many tourism sites still rely on PDFs, and how better digital maps can lower the barrier for first-time cycle tourists and families, not just experienced riders.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Melissa Bruntlett is a Canadian-born cycling advocate, author, and communications consultant based in Delft, the Netherlands, and co-author of Building the Cycling City, Curbing Traffic, and her latest book, Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation.

In this episode, Melissa joins Peter Ladner to talk about what it takes to build livable, human-scaled cities — and why the leaders driving that change are so often women. She reflects on her recent return to Vancouver after six years away, what's changed (and stalled) in the city's cycling network, and how Alberta and Ontario's moves to rip out bike lanes fit into a broader pattern of politicized backlash against active transportation.

In this episode, Peter and Melissa cover:

• Why women in leadership tend to prioritize safety, care, and access — and how that reshapes city-building
• The case for school streets as one of the most persuasive starting points for active transportation advocacy
• How the Netherlands went from car-choked streets to a cycling nation, sparked by the Stop de Kindermoord movement of the 1970s
• What traffic gardens are, and how cities like Tirana are using them to build the next generation of confident cyclists
• Why raising kids in a place built for independent mobility — walking, cycling, safe streets — changes childhood itself
• The role of storytelling in building political will for active transportation, complete streets, and traffic calming

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

BC keeps getting compared to the Netherlands, usually with a shrug: we've got hills, we've got rain, we are not Amsterdam. But scratch the surface and the similarities outweigh the differences — and the lessons are more transferable than you'd think.

This week, Roy Symons joins us on the podcast. He's an engineer and sustainable transportation specialist with ISL Engineering and Land Services, and has spent years studying Dutch cycling infrastructure and translating what actually works into BC street design — from major urban corridors to small-town main streets.

In this episode, Roy covers:

• The "complete streets" philosophy driving continuous sidewalks, protected bike lanes, and safer intersection design across BC communities
• Why getting the modal hierarchy right changes everything for people walking and cycling
• What a reformed BC Motor Vehicle Act should look like for active transportation
• His own BC Bike Infrastructure Index, ranking communities by cycling mode share and network coverage
• The case for secure bike parking and bike parkades as the missing link for everyday cycling

Please note: At the upcoming Active Transportation Summit in Victoria this October, Roy will be co-hosting a film night with Nic Laporte, sponsored by his employer, ISL Engineering and Land Services. Don't miss it!

Subscribe to Bike Sense for more real-world active transportation conversations, share this episode with someone who cares about safer streets, and leave a review so more people can find the show. Thanks for listening!

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Peter is joined by Gordon Hobbis, who now, in 'retirement', runs his own bicycle museum in Maple Ridge. Gordon is the son of Cap Hobbis, founder of Caps Bicycles of BC — once the largest chain of bike dealerships in Canada.  

Gordon takes us on a wild ride linking early two-wheel transport to climate disruption following the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora, and then brings us into the modern era: how bike retail changes with online shopping, massive model variety, and the explosion of e-bikes. We also dig into Canadian bike manufacturing history including how tariffs protected local brands, how free trade reshaped the market, and why large-scale bicycle manufacturing largely disappeared in Canada. 

Also: Gordon’s research trips to Davis, California, where the first U.S. bike lanes opened in 1969; the rise and fall and rebirth of bicycling in China; and how the bicycle revolutionized dating and helped women transcend restrictive social rules. Finally, Gordon explains how a bike refurbishment charity and mechanic training led to Western Canada’s only bike museum, in Maple Ridge, BC.

Did we say it was a wild ride? We're just picking up speed! And on a replica 1888 Penny Farthing it's seven feet down to the ground  ...  so hang on to your riding cap.

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Visit the Two Wheeled Time Machine Museum HERE. 

And if you're looking for a bike or some two-wheeled wisdom come on down to Caps Cycle, still going strong in New Westmister and Langley.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

Bike lanes can feel like a simple street design choice, so why do they set people off like a cultural lightning rod? We sit down with City of North Vancouver Councillor Tony Valente, who’s been on the front lines of active transportation advocacy and the backlash that comes with it, to unpack what’s really driving “bikelash” across BC and beyond.

We get into the political reality that traffic data and safety studies don’t always win the day, especially when distrust in institutions is rising and online culture wars seep into local debates. Tony shares why he prefers the term 'mobility lanes,' and how protected cycling infrastructure is bigger than bikes: it can support e-scooters, e-bikes, and seniors using low-speed mobility devices who don’t belong on sidewalks or in fast traffic. The through-line is freedom and safety, not tribal politics.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

We talk with Phil McIntyre-Paul, a key organizer behind the Splatsin to Sicamous Corridor—a 50-km rail trail and active transportation greenway running parallel to Highway 97A between Sicamous and Armstrong in the North Okanagan.

You'll hear how CP Rail's 2009 abandonment kicked off a long, messy acquisition process, why political turnover nearly derailed the project, and how Splatsin leadership changed everything by securing critical sections and bringing regional districts and municipalities into a shared model for acquiring, building, and managing the corridor.

We also zoom out to the larger Sicamous to Osoyoos vision—and how this rail trail connects with the Okanagan Rail Trail, the Kettle Valley Rail corridor, and the Trans Canada Trail to form a destination cycling network with real economic and active transportation impact for rural BC.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

We sit down with Patrick Lucas, founder and director of the Indigenous Youth Mountain Bike Program, to unpack how riding and trail building can become a doorway to confidence, health, and a renewed relationship with the land. What starts as kids building “stupid looking jumps” turns into something much larger: community-designed trails, youth skills training, and outdoor spaces that people actually use every day. 

Patrick shares what he’s learned about consent and respect in outdoor recreation, plus the real-world partnership work that trail clubs can do when building on Indigenous territories. We explore surprising outcomes like women-led running groups becoming the biggest trail users, and how schools and community members use the same trails for language learning, harvesting, and wellness. 

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.

What rural road maintenance means for active transportation, and why it matters in BC communities where the highway is the only route.

A freshly "maintained" road shouldn't make a stroller unusable or shred a bike tire. But that's exactly what can happen when seal coating replaces repaving on rural BC highways.

Area Director Andy Davidoff of the Regional District of Central Kootenay joins us from the small hamlet of Thrums, BC to examine a problem hiding in plain sight: in rural and compact communities, the provincial highway is the active transportation corridor. It's the walking route, the school route, the only route for people who don't drive. When that surface deteriorates, it doesn't just inconvenience cyclists; it cuts off walkers, mobility device users, and anyone without a car.

From there, we move from problem to advocacy: a push to end a 2-tier approach to active transportation infrastructure funding and a UBCM resolution calling on the province to formally recognize rural highways as active transportation infrastructure.

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HEY BIKE SENSE LISTENERS! Come network live with Bike Sense guests and other active transpo keeners at the fantastic BC ACTIVE TRANSPORTATION SUMMIT, Oct 28-30 in Victoria. Some discounts and bursaries are available. SIGN UP NOW at bccycling.ca.

Support the show

***********************************************

The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.

Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected].

Bike Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.