In this series we stop people along the bike lanes in Vancouver and have chats with them about their thoughts on cycling, their bikes, and more. Have a look at the archive HERE.
Co-organizers for Vancouver CycleHack Matt, Lizzie, Rachelle, and Kim. (Photo by Scott Douglas)
CycleHack is a global movement to cut down the barriers between cyclists and the act of actually getting out there and cycling. Established in 2014, this event brings together a gathering of passionate and inventive folk for a weekend of brainstorming and creating on a shortened timeline. I was able to make it down for their Sunday showcase where the magic of the weekend hit the stage for a show and tell of proposed cycling inventions. Prototypes such as creating a kite like apparatus to attach onto your helmet to keep off the rain, or clothing adornments to sew into your back pockets to send messages to other road users are just a few of the prototypes I got to witness being born. I got to talk with one of the co-founders of CycleHack Matt about the Vancouver chapter and here is what he had to say:
Tell me about Cycle Hack.
CycleHack is a Global Movement and Platform that is tooling up citizens to take a pro-active, DIY approach to reducing the barrier to cycling. We believe that through empowering individuals, organizations and local governments to work together and share skills we can take a bottom up approach to innovation within the cycling world. Once a year we host a Global CycleHack Event that is free for anyone to host within their city / place where we provide each organizer with the resources and tools to bring their local CycleHack Event to life.
CycleHack is about exploring and understanding all of the things that stop or get in the way of cycling, and quickly moving from discussion into action. We use human-centered design techniques to rapidly design, prototype and test new ideas that make cycling more accessible, safe and fun for all those that use our streets. Far too often we see groups of cycling advocates get caught in downward spirals of negative debate about the challenges of cycling. Here at CycleHack we want to encourage positive collaboration between those with great ideas that are based on real life experience, with those that have the skills, knowledge and network to bring those ideas to life.
How did the idea come about?
The idea for CycleHack came about as a collaboration between three friends - Sarah Drummond, Matthew Lowell and Johanna Holtan. What started as the simple idea to host a one-off 48hr hackathon event in Glasgow quickly went global as we spoke about it to friends and others interested in other cities. Our first ever event was actually hosted in three cities - Glasgow, Beirut and Melbourne.
After the success of our first CycleHack Event in 2014, interest from many others who wanted to take action in their own cities began to sign up and register for the 2015 Global CycleHack Event, which was hosted in 25 cities. Now after just completing our third Global CycleHack Event we have organizers signed up from 32 cities and a movement of over 620 CycleHackers that stretch across 6 continents.
This is your third year putting on the event, and your second year in Vancouver, was it always the idea to make this a global event?
As our annual CycleHack Event has never actually ran in one singular city or place, I suppose it has always been a global event.
The idea of CycleHack has grown organically (at a very fast pace) over the past two years and while our original idea was to host this as a one-off event in Glasgow we had to quickly change our thinking about what CycleHack is and what we were doing as soon as other cities got involved. No longer were we making tools and resources for ourselves, but we were designing facilitation packs and guidelines for organizers on the other side of the world.
Are there any cycling barriers that you think are too hard to hack?
No. I think it is amazing what can be designed, prototyped and tested within 48hrs. While you will find it difficult to produce a finished product that is ready for the shelves it is impossible to dig up streets and install new infrastructure ideas, but you can still come up with ideas that can be prototyped and tested.
At CycleHack we are interested in using a fast paced, design led approach to improving the experience of cycling. This mean thinking creatively about how you can visualize an idea you have, and then get out into your city to test this in context with the people that you are designing for. Whether you sketch new infrastructure ideas on top of large printed photographs, or use simple materials to mock-up new products, these are all great ways to gain quick feedback and make iterations to your ideas.
What cycling projects or inventions are you most excited about?
Personally I am most excited about those CycleHack ideas that are grounded in the more human / emotional barriers to cycling - such as not having enough empathy between road users, or a lack of trust for the driver coming up behind you.
That being said, I always get excited when a participant can identify a clear barrier that they experience and can follow through an iterative process of quickly mocking up their idea, testing it and then building their next iteration off the back of what they have learned - no matter what the idea or barrier is.
With the projects that you worked on this weekend, is there any that you would like to follow through with?
Yes - many of them. I think here at CycleHack Vancouver we saw an amazing mix of ideas that sought to address a wide range of barriers. Some ideas were more 'creative' and amusing than others, but I would love to see further development around the idea of giving real-time, positive feedback to City planner / engineering teams when cyclist enjoy new improvements to city infrastructure. Too often city officials only hear when things go wrong or people don't like what they have done.
Have you had any projects go into production after the weekends brainstorming and prototype phases?
Yes. Penny In Yo Pants is soon to go on sale after being supported by CycleHack and our network to get to production.
What does being a cyclist mean to you?
Much the same as being a driver of a car, although instead of burning money and making you fat, you burn fat and it saves you money. Personally I am a driver, cyclist, pedestrian and public transit user - and don't really like to categorize if I don't have to. I would like to think CycleHack is encouraging a more holistic and smart approach to solving the issues around the challenges of 'us verses them' sort of thing.
How do you spend your days when not trying to hack cycling barriers?
Currently I have a full-time job working with Endless biking, and when not spending my free time working on CycleHack, I can often be found deep in the North Shore forests on my mountain bike, camping somewhere or with a beer in hand at a local brewery.
How would you rank Vancouver against other bike friendly cities?
Personally I think Vancouver is an awesome city to cycle in. I love the idea of the cycle streets that are signed as having bikes on them / sharing the road. I think this type of thing can help create more empathy and understanding.
For me it is really interesting looking at the different types of barriers that different cities face and choose to tackle. As you move from one city to the next and as cultures shift, you see many different types of barriers come into light. Here in Vancouver, while the barriers to cycle people face are no less important to tackle, I feel we have a lot going for cycling in this city.
Look out for next years CycleHack and how you can get involved on their website!
