Cycling Celebrity Mayor Gregor Robertson

Vancouver’s cycling mayor

More than a year ago,

Vancouver mayor Gregor Robertson appeared in a short video clip on

George

Stroumboulopoulos Tonight.

The humorous segment,

called “Handling Cycle Path,” featured Robertson addressing insults that get hurled at him as he rides around the city, such as, “You ride like you still need training wheels;” “Nice bike dude. Do they make a man’s version?” and “Get out of the way hippie.” These insults are pure fiction. “People usually say ‘ hi,’” Robertson says, “and definitely give the thumbs up when I’m on the city’s bike routes.”

The thumbs up from cyclists are not a surprise. Since Robertson took office in 2008, Vancouver has seen 50 km

“We were all blown away with what was possible on a mountain bike in our own backyard.”

of new bike lanes added to its network, including the separated bike lanes downtown on Dunsmuir Street in 2010. In June 2010, the mayor said that the Dunsmuir Street lanes had been responsible for a 10-fold increase in bike traffic along that route, from 100 per day to 1,000.

Robertson considers himself a lifelong bike commuter. In the late ’80s, he worked at a bike shop and was involved in the early North Shore scene, a bit old school. “I don’t generally think of myself as old school,” Robertson says. “I remember though, Old Buck and Severed Dick were the classic technical trails that lots of us cut our mountain biking teeth on. But talking old school, there was a secret trail building society at the time. When those guys built Severed Dick, it was state of the art with big drops that were doable on a hardtail. We were all blown away with what was possible on a mountain bike in our own backyard. Now, it’s to a whole other extreme. I can’t even believe what they do. Left me in the dust. I’ll stick to my technical street riding.”

For his commutes, Robertson uses a “street-ified” 1990 Rocky Mountain Stratos complete with slicks, a rack for panniers and a bell. (“That’s the law here in B.C. Got to have a bell,” he says.) He also has an Xtracycle Radish Longtail for moving cargo. (“Some locals guys did a wicked job of adding an electric boost on it,” he says.) When he does get out to the North Shore or Whistler, he borrows a fullsuspension bike.

While Robertson has made progress with cycling infrastructure in his city, he wants to accomplish more. He wants a cycling network for all ages and abilities. Also, a bike-share program, similar to Montreal and Toronto’s Bixi, is in the works for later this year. The way Robertson sees it, Vancouver’s geography demands a focus on bike infrastructure. “Space is a big issue for us,” he says. “We have a very limited land base. We can’t add more roads or car space. A big part of our bicycle strategy is to enable more people to live here with a high quality of life and to decrease congestion. We can’t add more cars, but we are adding more people. Cycling infrastructure is absolutely critical to our future.”