Reverse Gear Blog

We plan to feature stories about ‘bents and riders, and tips to make the ‘bent experience better. If you want to share a story or tip with us, send it along to Judi.

Here’s a useful tip for bicycle grease!

To remove grease, from skin or from your clothing, rub in a dab of toothpaste. Rinse immediately to prevent bleaching. Works wonders!

If you get grease on multiple clothes and need a product for the laundry cycle, we can recommend Caeran stain remover. Judi has been using their products on tough stains for three generations now.

C.A.E.R.A.N Caring And Environmentally Responsible And Nurturing is 100% Canadian. To see their full line of products, please visit www.caeran.com Please reference “Consultant ID# 10-0100-1076″ under special instructions at the Check-out.

If you have any questions about the products, or to place an order directly, e-mail Judi’s daughter 

I walk to and from work every day - because it’s only a mile - too short a distance to cycle. On that short 25 minute walk, I am glad to say that I am passed by many cyclists and I guess because I am a cyclist myself - I notice them. Sometimes I look at the bikes - I love the retro look that we have today. That’s probably because I come from the era that many young people are trying to replicate today. Sometimes I look at the cyclists - to determine whether they are die-hards, commuters, couriers, or casual fair-weather cyclists. And often I am checking out what they are wearing. Since we started manufacturing cycle clothing (Reverse Gear) this summer, I am definitely more conscious of what people are wearing. And I have been surprised to notice that many people do not wear helmets (a discussion for another day) and most casual cyclists do not wear well-suited footwear. I see everything from flip-flops to high-heels (also another discussion). Anyway,  I check-out the cyclists that pass me everyday - including “international car-free day” which happened on September 22, 2008 in Toronto.

Because where I work they promoted this day by an email announcement I was conscious of it. But disappointingly I had not seen any advertisements of it anywhere else - even though there is a website specifically for Canada. I just asked Len if he was aware of it and his response from his armchair was: “Huh?” (and he’s the one who reads the Globe and Mail every day).

So - did I notice more cyclists that day? Definitely yes. But was that because I was more aware of them that day or was it because there really were actually more out there. I’m not really sure.

I just googled for news to confirm or deny my suspicions. I didn’t find anything about how many fewer cars were on Toronto streets but I did find a few interesting reports on the day like this blog which has a link to this video - hmmm, wish I had been there for the party!

What I did conclude was similar to the sentiments that Wikipedia shared on this topic:

“While considerable momentum has been achieved in terms of media coverage, these events turn out to be difficult to organize to achieve real success (perhaps requiring significant reorganization of the host city’s transportation arrangement) and even a decade later there is considerable uncertainty about the usefulness of this approach. The sine qua non of success is the achievement of broad public support and commitment to change. By some counts by advocates (disputed), more than a thousand cities world-wide organized “Days” during 2005. The results have been extremely uneven.”

In the meantime, we will continue to ride our trikes with the bumper stickers on that say “one less car” - even when it’s not “international car-free day”, and hope that public awareness of car-free days around the world will make a diffiernce - some day.

If you know of any numbers that demonstrate these events do make a difference - please let us know. Thanx, Judi, Reverese Gear Inc.