Some context: I am writing this blog post after spending three weeks travelling around Europe visiting numerous cities, including the urbanist mecca of Copenhagen. I had the privilege of experiencing the delight of biking the complete streets of that glorious city. So, I’ve returned to Canada feeling both inspired by what I saw there AND irritatedby what I don’t see here.The reverse culture shock I am currently experiencing mostly involves gettingacclimatized to the brutal (and brutish) car culture that is pervasivehere.

My Eurotrip kicked off in Moscow. I was invited to speak at their International Cycling Congresswhere I joined city builders from around the world to discuss cycling infrastructure and culture. There is a rapidly growing cycling culture in Russia and this conference was a way to bring changemakers from across the country together to equip them with ideas they could bring back to their cities. I’ll save my…