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

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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.  

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

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

This video makes me smile. It pokes fun at our stressed-out selves without being too smug or saccharine. Just the right tack to take if you want to get people back on bikes. Well, that and proper separated bike lanes, but don’t get me going. “When people ride bikes, great things happen.” No argument here.  

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

Some pretty slick riding from Specialized rider Matt Hunter. According to Specialized’s video description, this is “another piece of evidence that 29ers really can corner”—but I think it’s a stronger argument for the fact that Matt Hunter really can corner. I suspect he could do this on a Huffy. Nicely shot though with flawless slo-mo

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

Tom and Ruby go night riding. Ruby is a dog—a Hungarian Vizsla who can run like the wind. She has her own lights, her own camera and the ride she takes us on is a blast. Tom’s the one on the bike and most of what we see of him is from Ruby’s point of view, which

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

Wow, this is dreamy! Beautifully filmed and released just in time to really amp up the juices of mountain bikers who have waited patiently all winter long!  

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.

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

Opening credits roll and then: ” …90 minutes of madness and melody with guest stars Mel Torme, log roller Diane Olsen and musical bicyclist Frank Zappa.”??? I don’t know what surprises me more about this clip from the Steve Allen Show of March 4, 1963—that network TV put an unknown Frank Zappa on the Steve Allen show

I’ve reviewed Volle Band before and I’m not a fan. I love the concept but not the execution I guess. It’s the droning, irritating music that bothers me. This video is pretty trippy and though the video editing contributes a lot to Clutching Voices as a work of art, there are several harsh cuts that

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…  

I’m posting this right after the winter solstice feeding frenzy called Christmas so I feel NRK reporter Nicolay Ramm’s pain. He makes a heroic effort to consume the daily caloric intake of a Tour de France rider, with predictable consequences. I know, the argument is they ride at their lactic threshold for 5 or 6 hours

Bless their souls, the Global Cycling Network (GCN), out of the U.K., produces a ton of videos but most of them fall into the geeky watt-counting category I don’t find particularly interesting. Col Collective is my choice for good roadie videos. But this one is actually a lot of fun—funny even! I think the appeal

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

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!  

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

And now for something completely different… Like many men of a certain age I was a boy of a certain age during the heyday of Monty Python’s Flying Circus so, yes, I can recite most of the Dead Parrott sketch or sing “I’m A Lumberjack And I’m OK” from memory. But I was surprised to

“More fun from Wham-O!” Gee granny, what could possibly go wrong? Now, this is how you do a wheelie.  

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,

Bicycles. Is there anything they can’t do?  

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

The GoPro world view captures the pro peloton particularly well. Its fisheye lens suits the schooling fish movements and group mind mentality. The last few pro bike seasons have seen a lot of these bike-mounted videos and this is one of the most palatable. There’s a “thrill of victory, agony of defeat” vibe going on in this video and the

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

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

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

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

Chris Van Dine is up to his old tricks in this amazing bit of urban freeriding from 2015, jumping gaps, wall riding and trying and failing, and trying again till he nails a soaring backflip in the narrow streets of Taxco, Mexico. A multitude of GoPro camera angles are edited to capture every moment as

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

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

“If I could take one thing away from this trip, it would be that oxygen is seriously underrated.” I’m sure on a trip as epic as this there were a lot more profound takeaways than that but, given that this trip in May, 2015 took these two riders over the two highest passes in the

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

Wow, this is dreamy! Beautifully filmed and released just in time to really amp up the juices of mountain bikers who have waited patiently all winter long!  

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

“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.

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

A fun little video featuring 5 year old New Zealand twins Jake and Theo Riddle. Too cute.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.      

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…  

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

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

Street Books is a bicycle-powered traveling library that serves homeless people in Portland, Oregon. These cargo bike-riding librarians ride to select locations where people can borrow books without having to show ID or proof of address. Pretty heartwarming and a reminder what a great social equalizer bikes are. On another note, this is from Al

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.  

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

“Help make our world a safer place to ride.” It’s easy, when taking on a topic like how vulnerable cyclists are on the open road, to take a hard line against one or the other. There’s Rob Ford (un)”apologetically” blaming cyclists for their own demise. And then there’s former pro Phil Gaiman blaming it all

I want to like Volle Band, I really do. The idea of motion-generated audio performed by riding bicycles is an awesome one in my eyes. But—I don’t know about you, but I’ve never much been a fan of ambient noise music and I can’t think of any other genre to describe Volle Band. The highlight

I’ve reviewed Volle Band before and I’m not a fan. I love the concept but not the execution I guess. It’s the droning, irritating music that bothers me. This video is pretty trippy and though the video editing contributes a lot to Clutching Voices as a work of art, there are several harsh cuts that

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

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

If you don’t have a bit of the weight weenie in you, don’t bother with this video, or this bike. But if you can appreciate this kind of stuff… This bike weighs less than 4kg! That includes the weight of the air in the tires—seriously, this bike weighs 3.986kg, including the 14g of air in

“I could go miles and miles on one of these father”. This 1945 film, from the British Council, explains how bicycles were built in that era, most likely at a Raleigh factory. (It’s oh so British). Although the bicycle hasn’t changed much over the decades, I’m sure the manufacturing process has. It’s unlikely one factory would be

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 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

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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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.”

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.”

This is a short trailer for director Fredrik Gertten’s film of the same name. As it begins, I’m thinking “I know that voice” and, of course it’s Rob Ford, Toronto’s infamous crack-smoking ex-mayor and equally infamous soldier in the ‘war on the car’. Ugh, I thought we were done with that guy. But the filmmaker’s point is

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

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

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,

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

“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

This story is from my home. It’s made by local filmmaker LA Alfonso and narrated by Tegan Moss, executive director at B!KE, the community bike shop in Peterborough. It tells a story I didn’t know, even as a B!KE volunteer—the story of how a mural came to be painted on the brick wall in the

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

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.  

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

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

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 “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

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

I know this is just an ad but, man, what a trike! Butchers & Bicycle’s MK1 could single-handedly make riding a tricycle the most totally bad-ass thing to do. I love the way this thing looks cruising the streets at night. If I had eight thousand extra bucks and room in the garage for a fifth bike, this

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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”

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

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

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.  

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.  

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”.  

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

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.

This is a funny and brilliant response to the isolation we all feel right now. It’s a fine spoof of typical road racing commentary, complete with helicopter background noise. Which is something we all miss during this, the season of the Spring Classics. I’m writing this on March 23, 2020, the same day Ontario announced

This is a short trailer for director Fredrik Gertten’s film of the same name. As it begins, I’m thinking “I know that voice” and, of course it’s Rob Ford, Toronto’s infamous crack-smoking ex-mayor and equally infamous soldier in the ‘war on the car’. Ugh, I thought we were done with that guy. But the filmmaker’s point is

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.

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.  

Bicycles. Is there anything they can’t do?  

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

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

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

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.  

“Help make our world a safer place to ride.” It’s easy, when taking on a topic like how vulnerable cyclists are on the open road, to take a hard line against one or the other. There’s Rob Ford (un)”apologetically” blaming cyclists for their own demise. And then there’s former pro Phil Gaiman blaming it all

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.

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

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.  

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