Cascadia
January 6, 2024
Now this is more like it. Just days after the release of This Is Drop And Roll, Danny MacAskill is back on form riding the amazing streets and rooftops of Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. His riding is every bit as eye-popping and colourful as those exotic streets and, unlike This Is Drop And
Industrial Revolutions
January 5, 2024
After discovering Danny MacAskill through his phenomenally popular 2010 short film, Way Back Home, I went searching for more. Industrial Revolutions came out in 2011 and, though it’s Stu Thompson, not Dave Sowerby and Channel Four, not Red Bull, this video is also a cut above the rest. The abandoned iron works is a striking
The Way I Roll – Chris Van Dine
January 6, 2024
My introduction to Chris Van Dine was GoPro’s 2013 Combing Valparaiso’s Hills, an adrenalin and testosterone-powered tear through the steep streets of the Peruvian mountain town. As I’ve confessed, I absolutely love the video, even if the riding is a bit reckless. And I was intrigued by C.V.D.—he was fluent in Spanish and seemed to have a
Choosing to Live
May 11, 2020
This one’s personal for me. It might be for you too. If you’ve ever lost someone close. If bikes have ever been a part of your recovery from anything. If not, it’s still a beautifully made video that tells a beautiful, tragic love story. I think it will resonate with everyone. Salsa Cycles released this
Cycling to London With Cats
January 4, 2024
OK Thomas, you’re forgiven the awful pun in the title of this video* and the fact that your company is called Poopy Cat and that your your motto is “They’re full of it” and that in said video your ride ends at the launch of your “poop-up store”. You’re forgiven all these transgressions because you
Pump Track Time
January 6, 2024
Man, I wish there were push bikes when I was a kid. These things make so much sense as a kid’s first bike. Maybe not only as a first bike—can you imagine an adult-sized one? I’m sure it would be a blast. Just like the adult-sized Jolly Jumper I think someone should invent. This is a sweet
North Shore-Style Beer Run
January 5, 2024
What a delightful sip of the North Shore this video is. Wouldn’t you know they make a growler cage for fat bikes? Just the thing for making a beer run to Deep Cove Brewery on B.C.’s North Shore, riding some of the area’s iconic gnarly trails in the process. You might need to let that growler
Let’s Ride
January 6, 2024
This video puts a smile on your face that gets wider and wider till you can’t help but laugh at some point. Which is exactly how this little girl reacts. What a great idea Dad had. The video playing in Dad’s virtual reality machine is one of Claudio Caluori’s riotous narrated downhill runs, which are pretty popular on YouTube.
Hop On
January 6, 2024
This is a pretty clever concept and it’s Canadian so perhaps it’s no surprise it feels like it came out of Hollywood. Lots of clever Canadians there. But this is 100% Canadian and there’s even a ‘Behind-The-Scenes’ video to show you how those clever Canadians did it. Cycling Canada sponsored the video and the idea here is
The Ridge
January 6, 2024
With almost 40 million views on YouTube, this is probably the video Danny MacAskill is best known for. Imaginate actually has more YouTube views but The Ridge really went viral when it came out. It made it into a lot of mainstream media because it actually lives up to the hyperbole that usually defines click bait. With Danny’s riding, it’s almost always a case
Thank You, Bicycle
January 5, 2024
This is what unites the tribes. It’s what the roadies, the mountain bikers, the commuters and the randonneurs all have in common—our gratitude for where bikes take us, mentally and physically. How, as a metaphor for life itself, a simple bike ride can teach us important lessons. This is a mountain bike video so there’s plenty
The Bensink Compound – Part Deux
January 14, 2024
Music. Sometimes it’s all that separates an artistic bike video from a vaguely irritating one. Especially if we’re talking BMX and mountain bike videos. I love the way this video mixes big trick BMX riding with very cool, laid-back music. Lars Veenstra is already in my good books for his Thank You, Bicycle video. His first video about the
Bike Wheelieing Level Over 9999 !
January 14, 2024
Critical Mass-style wheelie riding is a thing in a lot of big cities and this is certainly big city riding with a big city soundtrack. On big wheels. And say what you might about scaring innocent bystanders, this kid can ride the wheelie. There are moments in this short video that look and feel as
Way Back Home
January 5, 2024
This is the bike video that started it all for me. As I write this, it’s exactly five years to the day since this video went up on YouTube. Since then more than 36 million viewers like me have gaped, open-mouthed, at the astounding, sense-defying riding of Danny MacAskill as he makes his ‘way back home’ from
Col du Sanetsch (Sion)
January 14, 2024
The Col Collective is at it again. This time climbing a little know col in Switzerland— the 2,253m high Col du Sanetsch in Valais. With local expert Alain Rumpf, Col Collective host Mike Cotty narrates this 33km ride while the camera cuts from nice shots of the riders to astounding shots of the scenery. Most of
Exploring the High Desert aboard the Ibis Ripley
February 19, 2020
OK, this is really just an ad but it’s a pretty clever one. With a David Attenborough impersonator doing the voice-over this short video looks, and sounds, like a BBC documentary on the “apex predator” Ripley. It’s a refreshing change from the tone of many mountain bike videos and it still has just as much
Blood Road
January 14, 2024
This trailer for Rebecca Rusch’s recently released feature, Blood Road, is powerful and dramatic. Rusch is one of toughest endurance riders in the world and the task she sets for herself—to bike the 1,900 km Ho Chi Mihn Trail in search of the 40-year-old wreckage of her father’s plane—is perhaps the most challenging she’s ever
Huck Naked – Celebrating the World Naked Bike Ride
November 26, 2021
It’s hard to go wrong with nudity but this celebration of The World Naked Bike Ride is really well done. Clever editing keeps it PG* and the riding is as good as any Race Face video out there. * As the video notes put it: “Warning: This video does include nudity but thanks to masterful
Norðvegr: The Way to the North
December 3, 2018
This is a sublimely beautiful video of some sublime riders in a sublime setting. As a Canadian, I’ve always thought we and Norwegians were separated at birth, what with our long winters, love of cross country skiing, northern lights, and fjords. But, if we were, Norway is definitely the big brother. With darker winters, deeper
MOTHERLOAD (Official Trailer)
February 2, 2020
MOTHERLOAD “is a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring parenthood in this digital age of climate change.” I saw the full-length film recently at the ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough and I was blown away. There’s a kind of magic when a talented filmmaker tackles the subjects they are
Comes with Baggage
January 14, 2024
This is produced by Blackburn Media so you might be expecting an 18 minute long commercial for Blackburn racks but this video is simply a loving look at bicycle touring. Jim Blackburn gets a brief mention in the excellent historical overview but more attention is paid to other pioneers, like touring bike builder Bruce Gordon
Vittorio Brumotti goes crazy in Livigno
January 6, 2024
Never mind Peter Sagan, who’s no slouch at bike tricks on a road bike, Vittorio Brumotti’s got kung-fu even Danny MacAskill would admire. Not surprising given that they are both world-class trials riders, but to see this done on a road bike is shocking nonetheless. He’s probably got 28c tires on that bike but he could
Carol of the Spokes
January 6, 2024
Somehow the season of advertising and Christmas carols is a lot easier to like when a it’s a bike company that goes there. I’m not sure how a wheel with such range could spin so true but, in the spirit of Christmas, I’ll suspend my skepticism and just enjoy this perfect little carol.
Combing Valparaiso’s Hills
January 5, 2024
I know I’m not supposed to approve of this kind of riding but I can’t help it—this is one of my all-time favourite cycling videos. Lead by Chris Van Dine, who I’m coming to realize is a pretty complex guy for a “dude, more speed” freerider, we’re taken on a wild ride through the streets of Valparaiso, Chile.
Snow in Regents Park, London
January 4, 2024
I absolutely love this video. It’s only about a minute long and it’s exquisite. It’s got so many things I like—cargo bikes, winter riding, that slightly unnerving GoPro point-of-view, great music, brevity—so my opinion might be slightly skewed. You might not find it as tiny and perfect, but I can’t imagine anyone begrudging the minute this
Strength in Numbers
January 4, 2024
It won me over with the H.G. Wells quote right off the top. Great camera work, some crazy-good riders and beautiful B.C. scenery. It’s not as aggressive as some freeride videos and the music works for me, though it might not for everyone. A nicely put together promo for Anthill Film’s Strength In Numbers.
A Bicycle Trip
January 14, 2024
I’m writing this on April 20, better known to many as 4-20—so we’ve got a day for that. I wondered if we had a day for bikes. Google informed me that there was indeed a Bicycle Day and it was yesterday—April 19. But its inspiration is more along the lines of 4-20 than you might expect.
Riding backwards at 80 km/h
January 6, 2024
OK kids, don’t try this at home. Especially if home is Trollstigen, Norway. And it’s been raining. But as long as someone is crazy enough to try this, I’m glad they got it all on video. The scenery is stark and beautiful. The music works. The riding looks terrifying, even if the rider looks fearless. Not surprisingly,
Danny MacAskill: Danny Daycare
February 19, 2020
Danny MacAskill is really having fun in this one. As is Daisy. And as are we, his amazed and amused audience. This is classic Danny MacAskill. Like Imaginate, it gets right inside a kid’s head and features the kind of gob-smacking riding you know Danny dreamed of mastering since he was a kid. He has
Return to Earth
March 30, 2020
Return to Earth is an Anthill Films production, working with Shimano and Trek so the production values are high. But what really elevates this promo for the segment of the film is the riding of these kids from Squamish/Whistler in B.C. Ranging in age from 10 – 15, these kids have mad riding skills, growing
Fat Bike Birkie 2018 – Cole House Finish
March 18, 2018
This video is interesting for a couple of reasons. It’s the first 360° video on VeloVID. Using your mouse, you can control the camera angle you see—even turning around 180° to look at racer Cole House as he sprints for the last podium spot at the 2018 Fat Bike Birkie, an annual fat bike race held
Hellion First Ramp
January 14, 2024
This video really gives me the warm and fuzzies. Maybe it’s because it was my son who sent me the link, but you don’t have to be a Dad to appreciate the glee in four-year-old Malcolm’s voice when he shouts “I’m doing it! I did it Dad! I loved it!” while clearing the first ramp
Huck Naked – Celebrating the World Naked Bike Ride
November 26, 2021
It’s hard to go wrong with nudity but this celebration of The World Naked Bike Ride is really well done. Clever editing keeps it PG* and the riding is as good as any Race Face video out there. * As the video notes put it: “Warning: This video does include nudity but thanks to masterful
Top Bike Downunder
January 6, 2024
This is an old TV advert from Aussie bike company Malvern Star. This company made some pretty surreal ads that could best be described as pop culture-camp. Like this one for their urban(e) bikes. Or this one for their BMX bikes. Go on. Have a laugh.
Recumbent Ice Biking
March 25, 2020
This one has a whole bunch of WTF elements in one video. First of all, he’s on a recumbent mountain bike, surely one of the weirder beasts in the cycling menagerie. Then there’s the fact that he’s winter trail riding with studded tires, putting him even more squarely in the 0.5 percentile. To really seal
Cornwall’s penny-farthing postal service
March 19, 2020
Graham Eccles is an anachronistic entrepreneur, if there is such a thing. A penny farthing may not be much good for long-distance mail delivery but it sure works on a local basis. Drop off a later in the morning and, more likely than not, Graham will have it delivered by the afternoon. Quick! Must be
Walking Bike in Action
September 10, 2018
When I see this I can’t help but think “isn’t that why I have a city bike—because it’s so much more efficient than walking?” But the inspiration for the walking bike isn’t efficiency, or stability, or even novelty. Instead I think its inventor, Blaine Elliott, was going for beauty. He acknowledges being inspired by Dutch
The Style Council – My Ever Changing Moods
May 6, 2019
Whether you’re a Style Council fan or not, I think we can all agree that 80s rock videos can be pretty cringe-worthy. This is no exception, but it’s redeeming quality? A bike racing metaphor from start to finish!
No gummy bear safe from Peter Sagan
December 6, 2018
Peter Sagan could have his own channel here at VeloVID. Whether it’s mid-race wheelies, charming interviews with cycling commentators of all ages, or full-on tribute videos, the three-time world champion knows how to play to the camera. Maybe that’s why this one is such a treat. He didn’t care about the camera, he just wanted
Very clever Google Nederland. “Only available on April 1” should be your first clue but this is so well done I’m sure it fooled more than a few. Just like another video here on VeloVID that features bikes without riders, this one has a “How we did it” video you can watch if you want
Bicycle Powered Tree House Elevator
January 4, 2024
Actually that is pretty incredible. Think about how hard it is to get a 16 lb. road bike up a 22% grade. This guy’s pedalling an old beater up a 100% grade without even breaking a sweat. That’s some pretty serious Newtonian physics being sorted out there.
I Wanna Be A Star
January 6, 2024
Another odd 1980s commercial from Aussie bike company Malvern Star. This time the target of the parody isn’t modern staged photographic art, it’s television. This 30 second spot could be the opening for any number of formulaic teen TV series of the era. And probably it sold a ton of those plastic wheeled BMX bikes…
Riding backwards at 80 km/h
January 6, 2024
OK kids, don’t try this at home. Especially if home is Trollstigen, Norway. And it’s been raining. But as long as someone is crazy enough to try this, I’m glad they got it all on video. The scenery is stark and beautiful. The music works. The riding looks terrifying, even if the rider looks fearless. Not surprisingly,
Alberto Contador Dropping Andy Schleck on a Child’s Balance Bike
December 18, 2019
Well that settles it then. There’s no way to drop a chain on a balance bike so now we know the strongest rider really did win Stage 15 of the Tour in 2010. That drama is old now, and, by bike racing standards, so are Andy and Alberto. Andy’s stomach has definitely settled down. It
Vittorio Brumotti goes crazy in Livigno
January 6, 2024
Never mind Peter Sagan, who’s no slouch at bike tricks on a road bike, Vittorio Brumotti’s got kung-fu even Danny MacAskill would admire. Not surprising given that they are both world-class trials riders, but to see this done on a road bike is shocking nonetheless. He’s probably got 28c tires on that bike but he could
Olympic Cyclist vs. Toaster
January 6, 2024
Not much danger of burning your toast this way. Jeez, this guy is huge and he barely gets it to the golden brown setting. I guess LED Christmas lights use a lot less energy.
Danny MacAskill: Danny Daycare
February 19, 2020
Danny MacAskill is really having fun in this one. As is Daisy. And as are we, his amazed and amused audience. This is classic Danny MacAskill. Like Imaginate, it gets right inside a kid’s head and features the kind of gob-smacking riding you know Danny dreamed of mastering since he was a kid. He has
Chasing Simone – Barcelona Street BMX
January 14, 2024
Simone Barraco is a bit of a bad boy. I guess the premise here is that the cyber cops are after him as he darts through the narrow streets and piazzas of Barcelona. But he’s too slippery for them, isn’t he? OK, it’s not much of a premise but the riding is pretty fine, even
Escape, Lee Craigie
March 21, 2020
Professional Scottish mountain biker and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Lee Craigie left the sport of cycling behind to concentrate on the healing aspects of cycling that drew her to it in the first place. Now, as she says in this video, “A ride these days has to have an element of adventure and exploration to it.”
Transaid Bicycle Ambulance Project Zambia
April 4, 2019
More on the bicycle ambulance. If you’re a cycling advocate and want to help the poorest in the world, there’s little better you can do than donate to this project.
Choosing to Live
May 11, 2020
This one’s personal for me. It might be for you too. If you’ve ever lost someone close. If bikes have ever been a part of your recovery from anything. If not, it’s still a beautifully made video that tells a beautiful, tragic love story. I think it will resonate with everyone. Salsa Cycles released this
Comes with Baggage
January 14, 2024
This is produced by Blackburn Media so you might be expecting an 18 minute long commercial for Blackburn racks but this video is simply a loving look at bicycle touring. Jim Blackburn gets a brief mention in the excellent historical overview but more attention is paid to other pioneers, like touring bike builder Bruce Gordon
Passo Gavia Descent
January 14, 2024
I love road riding. I’d lamented not finding many good road biking videos till I discovered the Col Collective. They have a pretty extensive library of videos of famous mountains (cols) from around the cycling world. Beautifully shot, most of their videos are climbs but a few are descents. This col, Passo Gavia, in the Italian Alps is
Huayhuash
January 5, 2024
It’s easy to see why the locals in Peru thought these guys were crazy. Taking on this isolated mountain range with its 16,000 foot passes, self-supported, in the rainy season, is a bit loco. Dangerous even, as it turned out. As riders and filmmakers, there’s a youthful earnestness about this team that’s pretty admirable. They tell an
Cycling in the snow, Den Bosch (Netherlands)
February 1, 2019
If Canadians even think about the cycling paradise that is the Netherlands, they tend to think “We could never do that here because of our winters.” But everyone in the Netherlands actually lives further north than most Canadians and it does snow there. It can even snow quite heavily. This video was shot over one
Union Fietsparkeerstalling – Bikers First
April 4, 2019
“Bikers First”. I do like the sound of that. And 8 bikes in one car parking space? City planners should like the sound of that.
The Ridgeline
December 4, 2020
Mountain bike videos these days are mostly about going big. I like those that go beautiful as well. This is no The Ridge but, from the meditative music to the incredible drone shots, it’s pretty beautiful to watch in its own right. Not to say The Ridgeline isn’t about going big. In some respects this
Go Solo – You’ve Got This (Bikepacking Nepal)
March 17, 2020
It’s March 17, 2020 as I write this and Canada is entering a period of social isolation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thinking of all those isolated folks like myself at home on the internet, I was looking over my backlog list of videos to review and this title, Go Solo – You’ve Got
Nigel Sylvester – GO! New York City
January 14, 2024
This is the first instalment of Pro BMX rider Nigel Sylvester’s video series, GO! It’s probably the best of the lot, which has since expanded to Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dubai. What makes it the best? It might be what one Youtube commentator said, “This editing is dope.” Maybe. The editing is definitely dope. But the
The Ridge
January 6, 2024
With almost 40 million views on YouTube, this is probably the video Danny MacAskill is best known for. Imaginate actually has more YouTube views but The Ridge really went viral when it came out. It made it into a lot of mainstream media because it actually lives up to the hyperbole that usually defines click bait. With Danny’s riding, it’s almost always a case
Epecuén
January 5, 2024
Maybe the most starkly beautiful of Dave Sowerby’s Danny MacAskill videos, this might be a case of filmmaking that actually overwhelms the riding of perhaps the world’s most inventive trials rider. The setting is dramatic—”the forgotten town of Epecuén in Argentina, a location that has been submerged for the majority of the past 25 years.”
The Alt Tour
November 13, 2021
It’s been a long time since I posted anything to VeloVID and I’m not trying to make up for lost time with a long video. I kind of favour shorter vids here on the site, but this one is a gem and well worth putting aside some time time to take in. After Lachlan Morton’s
Lost in Peru
January 6, 2024
One of the things I love most about these GoPro free riding videos is the unbelievably exotic locales they take you to. This first trip to Peru is a good set-up for Still Lost in Peru, which I find the more interesting of the two videos. But this trip clearly planted a seed for Aaron
Pump Track Time
January 6, 2024
Man, I wish there were push bikes when I was a kid. These things make so much sense as a kid’s first bike. Maybe not only as a first bike—can you imagine an adult-sized one? I’m sure it would be a blast. Just like the adult-sized Jolly Jumper I think someone should invent. This is a sweet
I Wanna Be A Star
January 6, 2024
Another odd 1980s commercial from Aussie bike company Malvern Star. This time the target of the parody isn’t modern staged photographic art, it’s television. This 30 second spot could be the opening for any number of formulaic teen TV series of the era. And probably it sold a ton of those plastic wheeled BMX bikes…
BMX Twins
January 5, 2024
A fun little video featuring 5 year old New Zealand twins Jake and Theo Riddle. Too cute.
Hop On: ‘Behind-The-Scenes’
January 6, 2024
The idea of riderless bikes is unsettling in a zombie-apocalypse kind of way. It’s reassuring to know it’s only CGI. This ‘Behind-The-Scenes’ video explains how Hop On was made. Part whodunnit, part howdunnit, this is one for the software geeks.
Chasing Simone – Barcelona Street BMX
January 14, 2024
Simone Barraco is a bit of a bad boy. I guess the premise here is that the cyber cops are after him as he darts through the narrow streets and piazzas of Barcelona. But he’s too slippery for them, isn’t he? OK, it’s not much of a premise but the riding is pretty fine, even
Nigel Sylvester – GO! New York City
January 14, 2024
This is the first instalment of Pro BMX rider Nigel Sylvester’s video series, GO! It’s probably the best of the lot, which has since expanded to Los Angeles, Tokyo and Dubai. What makes it the best? It might be what one Youtube commentator said, “This editing is dope.” Maybe. The editing is definitely dope. But the
Strider racing in Japan
April 25, 2019
I made the mistake of calling these push bikes in my review of the fun video Pump Track Time. They’re ‘striders’ and there are kids out there, barely past being toddlers, who take them very seriously. These kids are four years old and, as fast as they all are, watch till the end—one of them
Kaleidoscope
January 4, 2024
Kriss Kyle is a Red Bull-sponsored young Scot with mad riding skills, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised how much his new video feels like a BMX version of Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate. Lots of bright colours and black backgrounds. (Admittedly, this video’s healthy dose of OK Go-style optical illusions adds a lot to that mix.) It even finishes with a montage
Wheelz in the Air: Hitting the Skatepark on a Wheelchair
November 16, 2018
“I feel like I’m lucky that I always have my wheelchair with because I can just jump whenever I want.” That quote from Aaron “Wheelz” Fotheringham, about how he feels he has “an unfair advantage” over the BMXers and skateboarders at his local skatepark, tells you all you need to know about this remarkable young man.
The Bensink Compound – Part Deux
January 14, 2024
Music. Sometimes it’s all that separates an artistic bike video from a vaguely irritating one. Especially if we’re talking BMX and mountain bike videos. I love the way this video mixes big trick BMX riding with very cool, laid-back music. Lars Veenstra is already in my good books for his Thank You, Bicycle video. His first video about the
Hop On
January 6, 2024
This is a pretty clever concept and it’s Canadian so perhaps it’s no surprise it feels like it came out of Hollywood. Lots of clever Canadians there. But this is 100% Canadian and there’s even a ‘Behind-The-Scenes’ video to show you how those clever Canadians did it. Cycling Canada sponsored the video and the idea here is
Bike Wheelieing Level Over 9999 !
January 14, 2024
Critical Mass-style wheelie riding is a thing in a lot of big cities and this is certainly big city riding with a big city soundtrack. On big wheels. And say what you might about scaring innocent bystanders, this kid can ride the wheelie. There are moments in this short video that look and feel as
People Are Awesome 2017 (Cycling Edition)
January 14, 2024
Well yes, people are kind of awesome, especially when they’re on bikes. This is a compilation video of some zany bike footage culled from the internet by the folks at People Are Awesome. You might say it’s VeloVID for people in a hurry and you may even see some clips you’ll recognize from VeloVID, but I’d
Meet The First Generation of BMX In Nigeria
January 4, 2019
If you want a demonstration of the transformative power of BMX, look no further. BMX has steered many people in a better direction, whether they were suburban and privileged, or sub-urban and decidedly not privileged. Like Starboy, KK Money and S-King in Lagos, Nigeria. Instead of “…going to clubs, getting drunk, causing trouble and doing all
Walking Bike in Action
September 10, 2018
When I see this I can’t help but think “isn’t that why I have a city bike—because it’s so much more efficient than walking?” But the inspiration for the walking bike isn’t efficiency, or stability, or even novelty. Instead I think its inventor, Blaine Elliott, was going for beauty. He acknowledges being inspired by Dutch
Le Ride – Official Trailer
January 14, 2024
Even fans of The Amazing Race may not know that host Phil Keoghan is an avid cyclist. So much so that he and a good friend retraced the route of the 1928 Tour de France, following the same schedule on 1928-era bikes and gear. The Tour de France was even tougher back then. 164 riders started
GO Bike by Smart Density
April 4, 2019
I love brilliant ideas like this. I love them even more when they’re close to home. This is a proposal for adapting the rail corridors set aside for Ontario’s GO trains to accommodate alternate transit—like cyclists. It could add 108 kilometres of world-class bike lanes to Toronto’s rather meagre supply. But it’s an idea that
Cycling as possible treatment for Parkinson’s disease
February 19, 2020
Bicycles, is there anything they can’t do? Like I suspect you do, I subscribe to the idea that the list of what a bicycle cannot do is a very short one indeed, but this is a revelation nonetheless. Seeing Parkinson’s patients who can barely walk get on a bicycle and pedal off without a wobble is
ELF solar car-bike
April 14, 2020
I favour shorter videos on VeloVID. In fact, I’ve already posted a short video about the ELF that nicely captures what a charming ride it is. This is the long story. I found myself so fascinated by this e-trike that this 20+ minute mini-documentary didn’t tax my patience at all. Even if it is not as
MOTHERLOAD (Official Trailer)
February 2, 2020
MOTHERLOAD “is a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring parenthood in this digital age of climate change.” I saw the full-length film recently at the ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough and I was blown away. There’s a kind of magic when a talented filmmaker tackles the subjects they are
Bugout bicycle camper
December 13, 2019
Burning Man always attracts creative tinkerers and a lot of imaginative bicycles. So it’s fitting that Paul Elkins, who built this very cool bicycle camper mainly for Burning Man, describes it as “a playful Mad Max rendition of a post-apocalyptic home.” Maybe there’s something inherent in the very idea of a bicycle-drawn camper that inspires
Transaid Bicycle Ambulance Project Zambia
April 4, 2019
More on the bicycle ambulance. If you’re a cycling advocate and want to help the poorest in the world, there’s little better you can do than donate to this project.
PodRide
January 10, 2019
This looks like a lot of fun. Practical for sure, but sliding out that rear end in the snow is what really appeals to me. It might be my new dream urban bike, beating out the MK1. Maybe not surprisingly, both bikes are Scandinavian. One advantage the MK1 has is that Butchers and Bicycles are
Huntress
December 4, 2020
Half way through this video and I’m reflecting on how refreshing it is to watch a bike messenger video that isn’t wall-to-wall raging testosterone and bad behaviour. This is a thoughtful video about female bike messengers and the challenges they face—including being always asked if the job isn’t too tough for them. Literally at the
Melody
January 14, 2024
Yesterday was Aboriginal Solidarity Day here in Canada and Mountain Equipment Coop (our equivalent of America’s R.E.I.) posted this 2015 video telling the story of member Melody Markle’s “healing journey of decolonizing my body”. Because, besides being an MEC member, Melody is also a member of the Long Point (Winneway) First Nation in Quebec. She is
Afghan Cycles Trailer
November 3, 2018
It isn’t always such a fanciful notion to say cycling is liberating. Sometimes it is literally true. This trailer for the feature documentary Afghan Cycles reveals the risks women and girls in Afghanistan face simply by riding their bicycles. But there’s power in numbers and power in positivity, and bicycles have a history of advancing
Marinoni Training for Hour Record (Age 75)
January 14, 2024
Age is no limit. Never stop riding—and don’t be discouraged if you get passed by Giuseppe Marinoni. Chances are he’s been at this a lot longer than you have.
Bicycle Ambulances in Mozambique
April 4, 2019
I’m not sure how this escaped my notice for so long, but the bicycle ambulance concept is brilliant. Besides Mozambique, many African countries have embraced the idea. Even London, England, as shown at the beginning of this clip.
Line of Sight – Official Trailer
January 14, 2024
When I first discovered Lucas Brunelle’s videos I was fresh off a stint as a bike messenger in Toronto and was pumped to see someone capturing messenger culture in a wholly unsanitized way. Now, some 30-odd years on, I’m not as impressed—with Brunelle’s videos or the antics they celebrate. I’d like to think of it
The Gnarliest Mountain Biker Ever: Josh Bender
January 14, 2024
The 2017 edition of the Red Bull Rampage just wrapped up. Predictably, it featured a massive drop that winner, Canadian Kurt Sorge, launched a full back-flip off of. Every year it seems the drops get bigger and the riders get more daring at Rampage. This is mainly a function of improving bike technology, course preparation and
Danny MacAskill: Danny Daycare
February 19, 2020
Danny MacAskill is really having fun in this one. As is Daisy. And as are we, his amazed and amused audience. This is classic Danny MacAskill. Like Imaginate, it gets right inside a kid’s head and features the kind of gob-smacking riding you know Danny dreamed of mastering since he was a kid. He has
Vittorio Brumotti goes crazy in Livigno
January 6, 2024
Never mind Peter Sagan, who’s no slouch at bike tricks on a road bike, Vittorio Brumotti’s got kung-fu even Danny MacAskill would admire. Not surprising given that they are both world-class trials riders, but to see this done on a road bike is shocking nonetheless. He’s probably got 28c tires on that bike but he could
Way Back Home
January 5, 2024
This is the bike video that started it all for me. As I write this, it’s exactly five years to the day since this video went up on YouTube. Since then more than 36 million viewers like me have gaped, open-mouthed, at the astounding, sense-defying riding of Danny MacAskill as he makes his ‘way back home’ from
Industrial Revolutions
January 5, 2024
After discovering Danny MacAskill through his phenomenally popular 2010 short film, Way Back Home, I went searching for more. Industrial Revolutions came out in 2011 and, though it’s Stu Thompson, not Dave Sowerby and Channel Four, not Red Bull, this video is also a cut above the rest. The abandoned iron works is a striking
This is Drop and Roll
January 6, 2024
This is unfortunate, is what this is. Not as unfortunate as Danny MacAskill at the Playboy Mansion, but really pretty unfortunate. Especially because Danny MacAskill produced, and seems pretty chuffed by, this not very clever Spinal Tap-ish parody. I dunno, Judas Priest’s Rob Halford calls it “a load of crap” in the mock news part of this video, and
People Are Awesome 2017 (Cycling Edition)
January 14, 2024
Well yes, people are kind of awesome, especially when they’re on bikes. This is a compilation video of some zany bike footage culled from the internet by the folks at People Are Awesome. You might say it’s VeloVID for people in a hurry and you may even see some clips you’ll recognize from VeloVID, but I’d
Chasing Simone – Barcelona Street BMX
January 14, 2024
Simone Barraco is a bit of a bad boy. I guess the premise here is that the cyber cops are after him as he darts through the narrow streets and piazzas of Barcelona. But he’s too slippery for them, isn’t he? OK, it’s not much of a premise but the riding is pretty fine, even
Cascadia
January 6, 2024
Now this is more like it. Just days after the release of This Is Drop And Roll, Danny MacAskill is back on form riding the amazing streets and rooftops of Gran Canaria, one of the Canary Islands off northwestern Africa. His riding is every bit as eye-popping and colourful as those exotic streets and, unlike This Is Drop And
Imaginate
January 4, 2024
Another good one featuring Danny MacAskill’s otherworldly riding. A fun video that takes you into the imagination of a wee young lad who just so happens to grow up and make everything he imagined real. And as the outtakes at the end show you, for all that otherworldly riding, Danny really is of this world.
Kaleidoscope
January 4, 2024
Kriss Kyle is a Red Bull-sponsored young Scot with mad riding skills, so maybe I shouldn’t be surprised how much his new video feels like a BMX version of Danny MacAskill’s Imaginate. Lots of bright colours and black backgrounds. (Admittedly, this video’s healthy dose of OK Go-style optical illusions adds a lot to that mix.) It even finishes with a montage
Danny MacAskill – The Slabs
February 16, 2021
In some ways, this is more terrifying than any of Danny MacAskill’s other videos, even if it isn’t credits-to-credits amazing stunt riding. It’s a long, treacherous downhill that Danny treats tactically—and his rush at completing it is as much a release for us as it was for him. In that way, the vibe is more Free
Bike Wheelieing Level Over 9999 !
January 14, 2024
Critical Mass-style wheelie riding is a thing in a lot of big cities and this is certainly big city riding with a big city soundtrack. On big wheels. And say what you might about scaring innocent bystanders, this kid can ride the wheelie. There are moments in this short video that look and feel as
Meet The First Generation of BMX In Nigeria
January 4, 2019
If you want a demonstration of the transformative power of BMX, look no further. BMX has steered many people in a better direction, whether they were suburban and privileged, or sub-urban and decidedly not privileged. Like Starboy, KK Money and S-King in Lagos, Nigeria. Instead of “…going to clubs, getting drunk, causing trouble and doing all
Epecuén
January 5, 2024
Maybe the most starkly beautiful of Dave Sowerby’s Danny MacAskill videos, this might be a case of filmmaking that actually overwhelms the riding of perhaps the world’s most inventive trials rider. The setting is dramatic—”the forgotten town of Epecuén in Argentina, a location that has been submerged for the majority of the past 25 years.”
Road Bike Freestyle 2
January 6, 2024
Vittorio Brumotti continues the tradition begun by Martyn Ashton of trials riders trying their skillset on road bikes. Proving once again the old adage that it’s not the bike, it’s the rider. Like his other videos, he pulls this off with Italian panache and a sense of humour—not to mention the kind of mad skills
The Pro’s Closet Museum Series #14: Missy Giove
January 14, 2024
I’m posting this as part of a mini-overview of the bad boys and girls of cycling, starting with Josh Bender representing freeriders and Lucas Brunelle representing bike messengers and other urban cowboys (and cowgirls) but Missy Giove is probably the baddest of them all. How else do you characterize someone who raced with a dead
Go Solo – You’ve Got This (Bikepacking Nepal)
March 17, 2020
It’s March 17, 2020 as I write this and Canada is entering a period of social isolation in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Thinking of all those isolated folks like myself at home on the internet, I was looking over my backlog list of videos to review and this title, Go Solo – You’ve Got
A Morning with an ELF
April 14, 2020
When I dream of the future, it looks something like this. (Unless I’m in a rowdy mood, and then it looks something like this. Either way, I guess I have a thing for e-trikes.) Really, what’s not to like about the ELF? A “a solar charged and pedal powered, electric assist tricycle with zero emissions”
Afghan Cycles Trailer
November 3, 2018
It isn’t always such a fanciful notion to say cycling is liberating. Sometimes it is literally true. This trailer for the feature documentary Afghan Cycles reveals the risks women and girls in Afghanistan face simply by riding their bicycles. But there’s power in numbers and power in positivity, and bicycles have a history of advancing
The Nine Wheels
December 12, 2022
This is such a touching story. One of the fundamental tenets of VeloVID is that a great cycling video is really about more than “just” cycling. This video may capture that better than any other on the site.
Bicycle Anecdotes from Amsterdam
January 5, 2024
A great overview of how Amsterdam ‘rejected the car’ and became the ‘City of Bikes’. Riding in Amsterdam for the first time is, for most jaded North American urban cyclists, a liberating experience and this film will give you that same heady optimism. From StreetFilms.org, who produce “short films showing how smart transportation design and policy can result
Huntress
December 4, 2020
Half way through this video and I’m reflecting on how refreshing it is to watch a bike messenger video that isn’t wall-to-wall raging testosterone and bad behaviour. This is a thoughtful video about female bike messengers and the challenges they face—including being always asked if the job isn’t too tough for them. Literally at the
Choosing to Live
May 11, 2020
This one’s personal for me. It might be for you too. If you’ve ever lost someone close. If bikes have ever been a part of your recovery from anything. If not, it’s still a beautifully made video that tells a beautiful, tragic love story. I think it will resonate with everyone. Salsa Cycles released this
Still Lost in Peru
January 6, 2024
“That’s definitely not the only issue we have. We got a lot of issues.” Aaron Chase amps up the group dynamics on this follow-up trip to Peru and the result is a more engaging video. Even if you’re just looking for gnarly riding I think this has more than Lost In Peru did. (It finishes with a
Huck Naked – Celebrating the World Naked Bike Ride
November 26, 2021
It’s hard to go wrong with nudity but this celebration of The World Naked Bike Ride is really well done. Clever editing keeps it PG* and the riding is as good as any Race Face video out there. * As the video notes put it: “Warning: This video does include nudity but thanks to masterful
Champion Mountain Biker Turned Drug Smuggler
December 9, 2018
The last time we checked in with Missy Giove was two years ago, when we profiled some of the bad boys and girls of cycling. She lives up to her image in that video, cursing up a storm and tossing back Red Stripe through most of the episode. Two years later, it’s a revelation to
ELF solar car-bike
April 14, 2020
I favour shorter videos on VeloVID. In fact, I’ve already posted a short video about the ELF that nicely captures what a charming ride it is. This is the long story. I found myself so fascinated by this e-trike that this 20+ minute mini-documentary didn’t tax my patience at all. Even if it is not as
SPIN, by evalyn parry
April 29, 2019
This isn’t the first video VeloVID has posted that uses bicycles as musical instruments but unlike Frank Zappa’s early appearance on the Steve Allen Show, SPIN, by evalyn parry, is about more than just the novelty of a bike as a musical instrument. It is “a theatrical song cycle… starring the Bicycle as muse, musical instrument,
The Way I Roll – Nicole Duke
January 6, 2024
Another in the The Way I Roll series, supporting Pedals 4 Progress, from rack maker Thule that introduces us to the back stories of people in cycling. I’d never heard of Nicole Duke before this video and now I feel I know her somehow. That’s the strength of this series really—it taps into the common collective consciousness all
Escape, Lee Craigie
March 21, 2020
Professional Scottish mountain biker and Child and Adolescent Psychotherapist Lee Craigie left the sport of cycling behind to concentrate on the healing aspects of cycling that drew her to it in the first place. Now, as she says in this video, “A ride these days has to have an element of adventure and exploration to it.”
Melody
January 14, 2024
Yesterday was Aboriginal Solidarity Day here in Canada and Mountain Equipment Coop (our equivalent of America’s R.E.I.) posted this 2015 video telling the story of member Melody Markle’s “healing journey of decolonizing my body”. Because, besides being an MEC member, Melody is also a member of the Long Point (Winneway) First Nation in Quebec. She is
The Couch
January 14, 2024
Clearly, Lucas Brunelle has had a fascination with risky urban riding since his college days. “Do I have common sense? I’ll leave that up to you”.
MOTHERLOAD (Official Trailer)
February 2, 2020
MOTHERLOAD “is a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring parenthood in this digital age of climate change.” I saw the full-length film recently at the ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough and I was blown away. There’s a kind of magic when a talented filmmaker tackles the subjects they are
ELF solar car-bike
April 14, 2020
I favour shorter videos on VeloVID. In fact, I’ve already posted a short video about the ELF that nicely captures what a charming ride it is. This is the long story. I found myself so fascinated by this e-trike that this 20+ minute mini-documentary didn’t tax my patience at all. Even if it is not as
Nijmegen: The City That Tamed Cars
January 14, 2024
If you’re chosen as the Best Cycling City in The Netherlands*, it’s a pretty safe bet you’re also the best cycling city in the world. That’s the case in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, population 180,000 and proud as all get out about their transition to a cycling/pedestrian paradise over the last 40 years.
Bugout bicycle camper
December 13, 2019
Burning Man always attracts creative tinkerers and a lot of imaginative bicycles. So it’s fitting that Paul Elkins, who built this very cool bicycle camper mainly for Burning Man, describes it as “a playful Mad Max rendition of a post-apocalyptic home.” Maybe there’s something inherent in the very idea of a bicycle-drawn camper that inspires
PodRide
January 10, 2019
This looks like a lot of fun. Practical for sure, but sliding out that rear end in the snow is what really appeals to me. It might be my new dream urban bike, beating out the MK1. Maybe not surprisingly, both bikes are Scandinavian. One advantage the MK1 has is that Butchers and Bicycles are
Transaid Bicycle Ambulance Project Zambia
April 4, 2019
More on the bicycle ambulance. If you’re a cycling advocate and want to help the poorest in the world, there’s little better you can do than donate to this project.
S’COOL BUS Timothé Sustainable Project
April 5, 2019
This is such a cool project but little-known outside France. Given that this is the only english video I could track down, language might be the barrier. It’s a shame because most of the passengers in this video are adults, likely along for some kind of promo ride. But there are many french videos out
Bike Rider – Mungo’s Hi Fi
January 14, 2024
I love reggae music almost as much as I love bikes so this video works on a lot of levels for me. If you don’t like reggae, particularly dancehall, you might not be as enthusiastic. But the footage is fun and about half way through it turns into a pretty cool celebration of community bike shops.
Bicycle Ambulances in Mozambique
April 4, 2019
I’m not sure how this escaped my notice for so long, but the bicycle ambulance concept is brilliant. Besides Mozambique, many African countries have embraced the idea. Even London, England, as shown at the beginning of this clip.
Bicycle Anecdotes from Amsterdam
January 5, 2024
A great overview of how Amsterdam ‘rejected the car’ and became the ‘City of Bikes’. Riding in Amsterdam for the first time is, for most jaded North American urban cyclists, a liberating experience and this film will give you that same heady optimism. From StreetFilms.org, who produce “short films showing how smart transportation design and policy can result
Cycling to London With Cats
January 4, 2024
OK Thomas, you’re forgiven the awful pun in the title of this video* and the fact that your company is called Poopy Cat and that your your motto is “They’re full of it” and that in said video your ride ends at the launch of your “poop-up store”. You’re forgiven all these transgressions because you
Wide Path Bicycle Camper
January 4, 2024
I’m not sure I’d want to pull it very far and I’m sure I wouldn’t want to pull it up a hill, but this thing is pretty cool. Can’t go wrong with a Roger Miller soundtrack either. Update: Here’s the latest version of this camper. Update: I found another cool bike camper. Check out Paul Elkins’
MOTHERLOAD (Official Trailer #2)
February 2, 2020
MOTHERLOAD “is a crowdsourced documentary in which the cargo bicycle becomes a vehicle for exploring parenthood in this digital age of climate change.” I saw the full-length film recently at the ReFrame Film Festival in Peterborough and I was blown away. There’s a kind of magic when a talented filmmaker tackles the subjects they are
A Morning with an ELF
April 14, 2020
When I dream of the future, it looks something like this. (Unless I’m in a rowdy mood, and then it looks something like this. Either way, I guess I have a thing for e-trikes.) Really, what’s not to like about the ELF? A “a solar charged and pedal powered, electric assist tricycle with zero emissions”
Danny MacAskill: Danny Daycare
February 19, 2020
Danny MacAskill is really having fun in this one. As is Daisy. And as are we, his amazed and amused audience. This is classic Danny MacAskill. Like Imaginate, it gets right inside a kid’s head and features the kind of gob-smacking riding you know Danny dreamed of mastering since he was a kid. He has
A Bicycle Trip
January 14, 2024
I’m writing this on April 20, better known to many as 4-20—so we’ve got a day for that. I wondered if we had a day for bikes. Google informed me that there was indeed a Bicycle Day and it was yesterday—April 19. But its inspiration is more along the lines of 4-20 than you might expect.
Combing Valparaiso’s Hills
January 5, 2024
I know I’m not supposed to approve of this kind of riding but I can’t help it—this is one of my all-time favourite cycling videos. Lead by Chris Van Dine, who I’m coming to realize is a pretty complex guy for a “dude, more speed” freerider, we’re taken on a wild ride through the streets of Valparaiso, Chile.
Family Bike Shop
January 6, 2024
A clever commercial for a bike shop Crofton, Maryland. A family bike shop actually, so don’t be judging a book by its hipster cover. Definitely watch it to the end.
Bike Rider – Mungo’s Hi Fi
January 14, 2024
I love reggae music almost as much as I love bikes so this video works on a lot of levels for me. If you don’t like reggae, particularly dancehall, you might not be as enthusiastic. But the footage is fun and about half way through it turns into a pretty cool celebration of community bike shops.
Nijmegen: The City That Tamed Cars
January 14, 2024
If you’re chosen as the Best Cycling City in The Netherlands*, it’s a pretty safe bet you’re also the best cycling city in the world. That’s the case in Nijmegen, the oldest city in the Netherlands, population 180,000 and proud as all get out about their transition to a cycling/pedestrian paradise over the last 40 years.
Hinterland Who’s Who – Winter Cyclist
January 5, 2024
This is funnier if you’re Canadian, but, even then, maybe it’s not that funny to you. I dunno, I can laugh at that last line… Anyway, mercifully, this satire of our famous TV commercial series is short and has lovely relaxing flute music playing in the background.
PodRide
January 10, 2019
This looks like a lot of fun. Practical for sure, but sliding out that rear end in the snow is what really appeals to me. It might be my new dream urban bike, beating out the MK1. Maybe not surprisingly, both bikes are Scandinavian. One advantage the MK1 has is that Butchers and Bicycles are
Line of Sight – Official Trailer
January 14, 2024
When I first discovered Lucas Brunelle’s videos I was fresh off a stint as a bike messenger in Toronto and was pumped to see someone capturing messenger culture in a wholly unsanitized way. Now, some 30-odd years on, I’m not as impressed—with Brunelle’s videos or the antics they celebrate. I’d like to think of it
A Morning with an ELF
April 14, 2020
When I dream of the future, it looks something like this. (Unless I’m in a rowdy mood, and then it looks something like this. Either way, I guess I have a thing for e-trikes.) Really, what’s not to like about the ELF? A “a solar charged and pedal powered, electric assist tricycle with zero emissions”
Ex-Gang Members Bond Over Biking
September 10, 2018
Not what you think of when you think of a bike gang. The Chilangos Lowbike Club is made of former gang members who are using their love of lowrider as an escape from gang life. They “promote designing bikes, riding and just plain having fun.” Who can disagree with that?—not that I’d pick a fight
Biking the Arnhem-Nijmegen Cycle Superhighway
January 14, 2024
It’s an embarrassment of riches. Nijmegen is already the Best Cycling City in the Netherlands and there already is an existing bike route between the it and Arnhem. According to Streetfilms.org, this film’s producer, the route is perfectly safe and usable. But it does have many junctions where you need to stop for lights or other road
Le S’Cool Bus
April 5, 2019
Most videos about this amazing project out of Rouen, France are in french, and this might be the best of the lot. I’ve also posted an english video which is more illuminating to an english audience, even if most of the passengers in that video are adults, not the charming school kids you see in
Snow in Regents Park, London
January 4, 2024
I absolutely love this video. It’s only about a minute long and it’s exquisite. It’s got so many things I like—cargo bikes, winter riding, that slightly unnerving GoPro point-of-view, great music, brevity—so my opinion might be slightly skewed. You might not find it as tiny and perfect, but I can’t imagine anyone begrudging the minute this
ELF solar car-bike
April 14, 2020
I favour shorter videos on VeloVID. In fact, I’ve already posted a short video about the ELF that nicely captures what a charming ride it is. This is the long story. I found myself so fascinated by this e-trike that this 20+ minute mini-documentary didn’t tax my patience at all. Even if it is not as
Car vs. Bike: Duking It Out In L.A. Traffic
January 4, 2024
She’s flying. He’s not. A fun Buzzfeed video that captures the rush of being faster than a car. Sorry, not a car—a Ferrari.
Huntress
December 4, 2020
Half way through this video and I’m reflecting on how refreshing it is to watch a bike messenger video that isn’t wall-to-wall raging testosterone and bad behaviour. This is a thoughtful video about female bike messengers and the challenges they face—including being always asked if the job isn’t too tough for them. Literally at the
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