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Alina Rehkopf

@arehkopf.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.2K following 993 posts

Anti-capitalist leftist, powerlifter, environmentalist, recovering overachiever, ebike commuter, KI grad, trying to figure out how to apply urbanism in rural Ontario. I stick needles in people for a living. Ontario 🇨🇦

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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 28/09/2026
I was downtown this weekend while visiting the city and was thinking about how big the pedestrian crowds were compared to the number of cars going by.
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
How-Sen Chong @how-sen.com · 27/09/2026
This tool from @observingthecity.ca is fantastic. It shows the traffic mode share by intersection using City data. Many downtown areas are dominated by pedestrians (in green). Yet *we still give most of the space to cars on almost every street.* www.observingthecity.ca/intersection...
Map of downtown area of Toronto. Pie charts show the mode share at every intersection.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
I count how many seconds it takes for drivers to look in my direction. Sometimes they don't at all by the time I've passed in front of them. Once when that happened, they actually started to move and clipped by bike. They didn't look even once.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 18/07/2026
The way that ppl not only dramatically underestimate the number of people biking because they take up a fraction of the space of cars, but then also don't believe it when you put up an automated counter?! Just sit there one day and count them yourself. Being proven wrong doesn't hurt that much.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Wearing a mask on my cycle commute into work today because the wildfire smoke is exceptionally bad in Ontario. It's hard to tell because my phone camera is doing some hefty color correction but everything is tinted orange.
A woman is short, brown, curly hair and stripped green and white shirt is wearing a lavender purple KN95 mask.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 15/07/2026
Tuesday seems to be the night when the Dudes With Painfully Loud Trucks™ stay home and I can enjoy my balcony in relative peace. #ruralapartmentlife
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Why do I suddenly have a craving for a 2am drunken Cheeses Murphy grilled cheese sandwich with a group of 12 pp sitting on a curb?
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Okay now that's the craziest one I've ever seen. A CHEST FREEZER ARE YOU KIDDING ME. 🙌🏼 I don't ever want to hear about bikes not being about to carry enough again.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
I need someone to take a survey of the percentage of business owners that do this. How close to 100% do you think it is?
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 12/07/2026
Do you think people get mad at me if I put a sign on my bike that just says: WHAT GAS PRICES?
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
change 👏🏼 is 👏🏼 possible 👏🏼 wooooo 🙌🏼
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
*hypnotic stare* Come. Join us. Get a cargo bike. You'll love it. Look at the options. Why not test ride one? Just try it. 👀 Brb while I forward this on to my family and every other person to whom I've said: What about getting a cargo bike...?
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
The more audacity the better. Also, how do we convert the ego-mods car ppl over to frankenbikes instead? There's gotta be a way.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
It slows proliferation of these kinds of projects when media does this bc it makes ppl in other places think the opinions are 50/50 split. It creates a vibe that to replicate it where we live it's going to be a fight, when really most ppl will get behind once they see leaders taking the initiative.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 11/07/2026
A (very) significant benefit of living in an apartment building is getting an absolutely incredible view of the sky.
A sunset sky in deep oranges and blues with the wisps of clouds looking like they were swiped and smeared all to the left.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The purposes of each being very different: 1. For enhancing my ability to stay on a dance floor for 5 hours while ignoring how my feet felt about that. 2. For enhancing my ability to lift extremely heavy things one time. In other news, I hit a record deadlift PR of 330 lb last week. ✌🏼
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 10/07/2026
The hype drink of my twenties was Jager and Red Bull. The hype drink of my thirties is a Blender Bottle half filled with Gatorade + 10-15g of creatine, topped with a can of a vitamin-enhanced energy drink.
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
Jay Pitter @jaypitter.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
A first car is not a universal 16-year-old rite of passage. Its meaning is shaped by race, class, geography, and gender. Whether mobility advocates like it or not, for many people a first car genuinely represents freedom. Here are examples drawn from my research and direct community engagement…
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 06/07/2026
The quintessential cycling experience: 1 person taking up (likely) 6-8 people's worth of space gets mad at 4 people taking up 4 people's worth of space.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I get more comments IRL about the danger of riding a bike around than I ever have about the dangers of driving.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
I gotta say, with all the street lights out, all of the drivers are behaving much more cautiously than normal. Maybe we should turn the street lights off more often lol.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
As it turns out the power being out is the bat signal for People With Loud Trucks™ to start driving around. Please let me enjoy my power outage in peace.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 01/07/2026
The power has been out in my entire town for over an hour and now that most of the buzzing and background noise of air conditioners and other things isn't happening, it is horribly apparent how loud all the cars driving around are.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I'm amending this since I just looked up the cost of cars in Canada: avg is $63k new $35k used 😭 Hey fellow Millenials, remember how we got told to stop buying avocados in order to buy a house? Well it looks like we're going to have to stop buying cars instead (let's do it and tank the industry).
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 30/06/2026
I'll add that we've also normalized the debt load having two large vehicles gives people. Not that cargo bikes are cheap, but they're half the price or less than a new car, the ongoing maintenance costs are MUCH less, and many of them retain their values better than a car.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
We live in an era of SO MUCH data, and most of it re: transportation shows that improving cycling and pedestrian infrastructure = better for everyone. It is a combination of ignorance and pure unwillingness on the part of weak political leadership to push for change.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Sounds like the lesson here is *ride bikes get chicks* 👍🏼😆
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 29/06/2026
Places I had to park my bike this week because there was nowhere to lock it up properly:
A cargo bike parked in an accessibility parking space in order to lock it up to the only available post.A cargo bike parked in an accessibility parking space in order to lock it up to the only available post. Shows How much of the parking space the bike is taking up - about 1/6.A cargo bike parked up on a sidewalk against a plastic bollard.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 18/06/2026
I really need to stop going to the grocery store when I'm hungry.
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
Alex Bozikovic @alexbozikovic.bsky.social · 10/06/2026
As someone who teaches the history of Toronto’s urban form, I think this might be the single worst decision in its 250-year evolution. Number two would be the railroads cutting off the city from the lake, but at least the railroads were useful.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Some photos I managed to get. Sparrows are quite the resilient bird.
Sparrow hovering in front of the grill of a white car getting ready to eat bugs off of it.Sparrow hovering in front of the grill of a white car getting ready to eat bugs off of it.Sparrow hovering in front of the grill of a white car getting ready to eat bugs off of it.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Sitting and watching single ppl drive by in cars that take up 4-5 people's worth of space will radicalize you.
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
Shawn Micallef @shawnmicallef.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
We did it to ourselves, we did And that's what really hurts Us and no one else We do it to ourselves We do it to ourselves My @thestar.com column on the possible closure of Sneaky Dees. One councillor said it was the province’s fault. It isn’t Doug Ford here. It’s Toronto.
thestar.com
Shawn Micallef: Toronto has nobody to blame but itself with the possible closure of this cultural landmark
A bar like Sneaky Dee's defines a social scene. Now, we could lose it
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
It's interesting to see how many people drop somebody off and then sit and wait in their car. I think it speaks to how unpleasant it is to just walk around it downtown.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 06/06/2026
Starting my Town's first and only Pedal Pole @velocanadabikes.bsky.social shift. Nothing like bringing a lawn chair to sit in a random spot on main street.
An e-bike and a lawn chair
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
Are those fr 9000lbs?!? Forget the elitism, do people realize how much more damage to pavement that does? If y'all are mad about potholes now... 😬
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 27/05/2026
1000% agree. And they're just so classy looking.
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
Dan Seljak @anotherglassbox.bsky.social · 26/05/2026
Someone is Trying to Bamboozle Ya Volume 2: Bike Lane Boogaloo A short video essay on bike lanes, misinfo, and touching grass.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
I updated the doc of temp readings I took around town: docs.google.com/document/d/1... A sidewalk in full sun is almost 20°C hotter than a shaded trail. Here's hoping this helps convince Hanover's Councillors that the trail project (that they temporarily vetoed) is absolutely the better option.
docs.google.com
Surface Temperature Readings - May 18th, 2026 - Hanover
Surface Temperature Measurements - May 18th, 2026 - Hanover In order to assess the quality of user experience on sidewalks and trails, one aspect we can collect data about are surface temperatures. I...
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
When we do this "But what about...?!" kind of thing, a more helpful approach would be to ask "And does an option exist for...?" There are an incredible and still increasing number of bike types. And there's a good chance that somebody has solved for the concern/problem we're asking about.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
But we NEED pick-up trucks for the maintenance people! May I present:
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 21/05/2026
I say the first and people hear the second. 🫠
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Reposted by Alina Rehkopf
De Filmende Fietser @filmendefietser.eurosky.social · 21/05/2026
Today is Bike to Work Day in the Netherlands. But apart from that one day a year, we don't make a big deal out of it and just call it Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. Because when the conditions are right, everyday can be Bike to Work Day! #BiketoWorkDay
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
Things that a bike can carry that most cars can't.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
There are few/no locations in rural areas, so I made one for Hanover! While it won't be much, data is still data.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
The hottest surface recorded: A blistering 69.2°C on the surface of a brown bench in full sun in our town square. The next hottest thing was the hood of a car coming in at 68.6°C.
Screenshot of a chart showing the different surface temperatures of areas in a park.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
For other nerds like me, the summary document is here: docs.google.com/document/d/1... Complete with pictures of all locations where I took temp readings (44 in total!). Also WOW am I sunburnt now. Because there's not enough shade. Which is partially the point I'm trying to prove with this 😑
docs.google.com
Surface Temperature Readings - May 18th, 2026 - Hanover
Surface Temperature Readings - May 18th, 2026 - Hanover Method: Handheld temperature meter at about 25.5 cm distance from all surfaces (ruler attached to meter for consistency). Locations of each r...
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 19/05/2026
I am 100% planning to train my next cat to ride in a bike carrier like this so I can take them on adventures everywhere. Why do dogs get all the fun?
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
Never underestimate a nerd with a point to prove.
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Alina Rehkopf @arehkopf.bsky.social · 18/05/2026
It's the hottest day we've had so far this year so I'm taking the opportunity to go out and about with my temperature meter to see how hot some of our local surfaces are. Trying to keep my readings consistent by taking them all at the same distance from surfaces. Rate my setup:
A hand holding a digital temperature sensor with a clear ruler attached to it with a bunch of elastic bands.
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