Best place to buy a retro bike in New West

New West Cycle
47 6th Street, New Westminster
778-397-3971

Like vintage cars, old bikes have a certain charm and style that modern
designers just can’t duplicate. Unfortunately, some of us don’t have the time or skill to restore an old-school Apollo or CCM three-speed. New West Cycle sells refurbished vintage bikes, saving you the hassle of trying to track down a new banana seat. Owner Shawn Innes buys old three-speeds, some 10-speeds, and other bikes from the ’70s and ’80s and returns them to their former glory. Plenty of the vintage rides are reasonably priced at under $300. And the store offers maintenance classes to help keep your classic ride running smoothly.

“Best” motivation for losing those extra pounds

As anyone who’s found themselves with failed New Year’s resolutions can attest, crash diets just don’t work. That’s why Better Environmentally Sound Transportation’s AutoObesity program—a typically Vancouver cash-for-clunkers spinoff—is designed to encourage long-term behavioural change to make ditching that extra weight all the more easy. Car owners donate their excess vehicle to BEST (822–510 West Hastings Street, 604-669-2860) and receive a charitable tax receipt and “car diet” membership privileges that include access to transportation planning tools, car-share services, and bursaries for bikes, cycling gear, transit tickets, and more.

Best reason to say goodbye to training wheels

Got a shiny new bike you can’t wait to ride, but you aren’t quite ready to dive headfirst into downtown traffic? The Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition’s Streetwise Cycling class will give you the skills to take you from seawall to street. Learn about safety, riding at night and in the rain, communication with other cyclists and drivers, and more—both in the classroom and on the road—from experienced and certified bike-safety instructors. The four-hour workshop costs $35 to $39, depending on which community centre you register with. VACC also offers workshops for more advanced cyclists, as well as a bike-maintenance class and an introduction to basic bike riding. Call 604-878-8222 or see VACC's Web site for details.

Best collection of flaming Massholes

See you at the Vancouver Art Gallery plaza at 5:30 p.m. on the last Friday of every month.

Best ways to get to and from the airport

Also known as the best way to get a headache in Vancouver. There are two considerations here: physical convenience and money. First, the Canada Line. This is good for able-bodied single travellers. At peak periods, it’s $8.75 one way per person from the airport and takes 25 minutes. (This includes the $5 AddFare from any of Sea Island’s three stations to points beyond. Prepaid tickets, cards, and passes can skip the $5, as can trips from downtown to the Sea Island stations.) This can swiftly get expensive and overwhelming, though, if more than one person is travelling downtown (four people: $35 one way). In comparison, YVR estimates that a taxi, which can also accommodate four, is $28 to $32 (before tip). Aerocar Service provides limos and sedans to and from downtown for $39. Many downtown hotels offer a free shuttle. For the hearty, there are also cycling routes. In other words, you have to do an Einstein-like calculation of E = mc2, where m is money, c is convenience, and E is the End, which is getting to the airport on time without going broke or straining your groin. This category can also be called “The best reason to maintain close friendships in Vancouver,” so a friend will drive you there. Remind us again—with all of these options, and all of such similar value, why did we build the Canada Line?

Best thing that ever happened to Richmond

The Canada Line.

Best alien invasion simulation

There are many reasons to ask yourself why you ever decided to move to Vancouver’s East Side. A shortlist includes the way West Coast Reduction makes the area smell like a rotting polecat’s ass. And the way the neighbourhood lunatics never miss an opportunity to demonstrate, whether it’s over Olympic torch runs, Grandview Park renovation projects, or J J Bean being fresh out of Caffí¨ Inferno Organic. And how about the fact that the streets have more dog shit per square foot than Paris during Take Your Great Dane to Work Week. One of the all-time most annoying things about living in East Van, though, is also the most mysterious. On hot summer nights when you’re forced to sleep with your windows open, the skies magically come alive with a sound that’s maddeningly unidentifiable. Ever played the vintage video game Galaga on a B.C. ferry? You know the sound that the flying aliens make when they drop from the sky? It’s just like that, only it’s repeated every two seconds or so, and seemingly goes on for hours, at all times of the day and night. So what the hell is making that eerie, sent-from-deep-space racket that keeps you from getting the beauty sleep you need to effectively (wo)man the cash register at Deserts the Falafel Oasis? It’s coming from a container terminal on what Port Metro Vancouver calls the East Vancouver port lands area, located near the foot of Clark Drive. “It’s a safety siren, and it’s associated with railcar movement,” says Sarah McPherson, community-engagement specialist with the port. “The siren is activated whenever the railways are moving cars on the terminal. It’s to let employees know that the cars are moving, and it goes for long periods of time.” McPherson acknowledges that many East Vancouver residents consider it a nuisance. “We are definitely aware that it’s an issue for the community, and we’re trying to work with the terminal to do something about the impact of that siren.” In the meantime, you can stop watching the skies because, despite what you hear, the aliens aren’t invading.