The Scope

On November 30th MUN BikeShare will be screening the film Veer, a look at the unique and diverse bike culture that has popped up in Portland, to help officially launch the organization’s open-to-the-general-public repair shop in the Engineering Building.

I spoke with BikeShare Coordinator Julie Graham about it all.

BikeShare Coordinator Julie Graham

So why are you showing Veer?
We’re hoping that this event will act as a catalyst for inspiring and strengthening the cycling movement in St. John’s.

This is a really great time to be a cyclist in St. John’s, there is so much interest in cycling right now as sustainable transportation, as a form of excercise, and for sport and leisure activities. It’s true that a lot of infrastructure is still missing, but even that is starting to change with the new Master Cycling Plan.

I heard about Veer from some friends who saw it at the Victoria Film Festival. It sounded cool, so I looked it up online and I liked the idea that it would appeal to a broad range of cyclists and was also about community building through cycling culture.

Is the cycling community divided at all here?
I guess that depends on who you ask. I think that there are natural divisions based on people’s specific interests (mountain biking vs. triathletes vs. commuter cyclists) but I think that there is also a lot of overlap between all these groups. I would like to think that most cyclists are happy to have more people cycling, regardless of what specific kind of cycling they’re into. Personally, I ride my bike every day and if I feel a special affinity for anyone else who I encounter on a bike!

I’ve heard people say they feel excluded from Bikeshare because it seems like a MUN thing. What would you say to those people?
Although our bike lending program is specifically restricted to the MUN community for insurance purposes, we want our educational workshops and our repair shop to be open to the public. We are always open to ideas about how to make BikeShare more inclusive and our steering committee meetings are open to anyone who is interested in attending. We are also always looking for more volunteers.

The evening will start in the Engineering Theatre, EN-2006 at Memorial University, on Monday November 30th. The film will start at 7pm and will be followed by coffee and snacks, and tours of the Repair Shop which is also located in the Engineering building. Admission is by donation, with a recommended donation of $5.

A tire studding workshop, for winterizing your bike, will be from 1pm-4pm in EN-1001, $5 charge for materials. Registration is required. More information at www.munbikeshare.wordpress.com.

BikeShare’s repair shop