CycleHack returns for summer weekend of DIY cycling solutions

CycleHack Vancouver returns for its second annual event from next Friday to Sunday (June 24 to 26). Scheduled over three days, CycleHack is a miniaturized—but no less effective—brain-tank event, the kind usually associated with high-intensity grassroots start-ups.

Attractions include a range of speakers, the opportunity to prototype designs, and the singular goal of improving the cycling experience. But don’t let any of this intimidate you—they’re also serving craft beer, and one of the event’s leading managers, Lizzie Brotherston, maintains that you don’t need to be an avid cyclist to think about the problems surrounding cycling.

“There’s a great interest here,” she told the Georgia Straight over the phone as she described the Vancouver event. “There’s an idea of global collaboration on these issues; it’s really exciting.”

The cycling population is growing, if a report presented to the Vancouver city council last May is any indication. And the CycleHack Vancouver team is well prepared for an increase in participants.

“We’ve got a bigger team this year, with more people running the event, but we’re not putting our opinions out there,” Brotherston adds, noting that the CycleHack team needed to maintain the natural creative process of the event. “We’re not influencing that specifically.”

CycleHack Vancouver has partnered with HiVE and returning partner, the Vancouver Maker Foundation. The soon-to-open Faculty Brewing will provide the craft beer throughout the event.

Friday opens the weekend with a series of talks. Boasting some serious talent this year, the discussions will be held by speakers such as City of Vancouver lead transportation planner Paul Krueger; Spokesmama writer and family cycling proponent Lisa Corriveau; BikeMaps.org developer and research associate Colin Ferster; co-founder of Faculty Brewing Mauricio Lozano (who will speak about creating a bike-friendly business); director of corporate engagement at HUB Cycling Laura Jane; and human-centred designer Tasmin Smith.

The discussion will then shift to exploring the “barriers” to cycling, or problems encountered in the cycling world by cyclists, pedestrians, and drivers alike.

Saturday features the actual construction and prototyping of ideas from the previous day through the building of real world hacks.

Sunday will see a series of tests and documentations that will put the hacks to test throughout the city. Then, teams will prepare a pitch and upload their hack to the CycleHack open source catalogue. The teams then present their products and weather a round of judging.

Brotherston and her partner were involved in the inaugural CycleHack in Glasgow, 2014. Speaking about the differences between the two cities, she laughed. “Before coming to Vancouver, I’d never seen a four-way stop sign,” she said. “The helmet law is [also] different.”

CycleHack is a not-for-profit event. Any leftover funds, Lizzie assured, are guaranteed to go to next year’s event.

CycleHack Vancouver 2016 takes place at The HiVE (128 West Hastings Street), from Friday June 24 to Sunday June 26. Full weekend tickets are $20. For those who want to see Friday's speakers and Sunday's presentations, they can buy the Show & Tell ticket, which is $15.