While we use the terms "bike," "bicycle," "biking," and "cycling" pretty interchangeably, those terms hide the wonderful variety of forms that you can enjoy. There are three-wheeled trikes, there are recumbent bikes, there are hand-powered pedals, there are fat-tired bikes, there are cargo bikes, there are bicycles built for two — and so much more.
Bike Brandon exists to support the convenient use and safe enjoyment of all kinds of bikes.
What about e-bikes?
Electric or electric-assist bikes are quickly becoming one of the fastest-growing segments of biking. They can help you go further, get up that hill, go out biking more often, and arrive at your destination less sweaty.
Many people find that because an e-bike is more convenient and more fun, they end up biking more often, and even getting more exercise than before. E-bikes have the potential to vastly expand the number of people who can and who choose to travel by two wheels.
Most e-bikes are speed limited to about 30 km/h, which is pretty fast! Because it takes less effort to go that quickly, and to sustain that speed, e-bikes can zoom around trails and pathways in a way that may startle pedestrians and slower cyclists.
Bike Brandon encourages the considerate use of shared spaces so that everyone feels safe and welcomed.
What about cars and trucks?
Cars and trucks are wonderful technology and we are not anti-car. In a car, you can go further and faster than on a bike, and you can carry more weight with less effort. That makes cars and trucks indispensable for some purposes, including many peoples’ jobs. But cars and trucks are pricey, loud, wasteful (do you use every seat on every trip? And the trunk?) and require a lot of expensive infrastructure at taxpayer expense.
Because they are fast and heavy, cars and trucks are also dangerous to all road users, including people in cars and trucks! The convenience and ubiquity of motor vehicles also encourages negative side effects like expensive sprawl and personal disconnection from your neighbours.
Bikes are a solution for many of the problems you probably hate when you're behind the wheel of a car. Do you want less congestion on our streets? So do we! And building bike infrastructure is the cheapest way to reduce traffic – as more people bike, that’s less people in cars.
Bike Brandon supports making cycling an equal option for getting around our city. When you want to drive, it's easy, safe and convenient. The same should be true when you want to bike.
What about walking? And scooters? And people who use wheelchairs?
Alongside bikes, these all fall under an umbrella known as "active transportation" and there's a lot of overlap between the groups. We benefit from separate lanes (or sidewalks) that are protected from cars and trucks, for example.
While Bike Brandon is focused on bikes, we are happy to work with anyone who shares a common goal.