Today was Car Free Day. A festival was organized in Kitchener’s Victoria Park. Park Street was closed to car traffic and various bikes from the Bicycle Forest collection were available for the public to try.

A solar-powered stage featured live music from Moglee, Capital Grass and the No Men, Prize Fighter, Jolly Llamas, and Mathmatikos. Ted from Mathmatikos used the Pickup Truck Bike to move his band’s gear onto the stage.

This was the fifth year for the festival in Kitchener. I’ve always found it a challenge to maintain order as crowds of adults and children descend upon the bikes, all so eager to have a turn on the unusual machines. This year, we only had six bikes out including a Varna handcycle, a Strida folding bike, a Kickbike, a Mini125, a Hulabike and a Pimped out Rhoades Car. Everyone was still very enthusiastic about the bikes, but I felt a little more at ease with the bearable degree of chaos that ensued.

By the end of the day, Mohrgan and I were pretty hungry, so we stopped on the way home for all-you-can-eat Sushi. It seemed appropriate that as we dined on the evening of Car Free Day, one of the parking spots out front was occupied by a bicycle.