My four-and-a-half month internship, funded by the YMCA Post Secondary Eco-Internship Program, has come and gone way too fast. It was interesting, challenging and fun – all things an internship should be.
When I received news that I would be working at Momentum in Vancouver, BC, the person who was most excited, besides myself, was my mom. My mom, a lifelong cyclist who has never driven, was jealous that I was going to get to work in a bike-positive environment all day long. She had every right to be jealous. The Momentum team is full of passionate and dedicated people who also happen to know how to party!
I got to jump in during the magazine’s redesign, work on the first ever Momentum Gear Guide, meet the Creative Director, Jim Nissen from SW!TCH studio and basically witness and experience all the time and effort that is put into creating, editing, publishing and distributing this magazine every two months. I learned about the diversity of the cycling community and the politics that divide the cycling community. I also learned that cycling is not only a hobby and means of transportation, but a way of life and a connection to a group of awesome people all over North America and the world.
I do believe that Momentum is on the right track with its message and purpose. I see the transportation cycling market growing in cities, in advertising, in my circle of friends and even in older generations. I was informed just the other day that my dad, a dedicated car-driver, has been “driven” to occasionally travel on two wheels due to the rising cost of gas. The old image of cycling that Momentum is attempting to change is allowing cycling to become less intimidating and more mainstream. Cycling is understood, among many other realities, as a fun way to travel to social events, a liberation from the city gridlock and a free endorphin rush.
I love the feeling you get while passing other cyclists on the road: that you are all in something together. I am currently on the hunt for a new bike, and am eager to feel this feeling again. The summer looks like it has finally decided to show up in Vancouver, so get on your bikes!
I will miss the laughs shared in the office, listening in on web-cam meetings and picking up all kinds of knowledge on bikes and the people who ride them, make them and advocate for them. In addition, I will feel a loss for the computer mishaps, uttering the words: “Hello Momentum, Aretha speaking” and even the dishwashing. On second thought, probably not the dishwashing. There is far too much of that to be done at my own home.
I am truly honored to tell people I have worked at Momentum.
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