HUB Member Profile: Lucy M
HUB members are passionate individuals and families who are committed to making cycling in Metro Vancouver safer and more accessible to everyone!
This month we caught up with Lucy M. - HUB Cycling Member and passionate cycling advocate. You may recognize Lucy from her popular twitter feed, @LucyinCanada. Lucy posts observations on Vancouver bike lanes and has rallied quite a following by organizing group rides like the #BeachAveBikeFest and the People Protected Bike ride in Stanley Park. She is a forceful advocate for the permanency of the the Beach Avenue bike lane, reinstating Stanley Park Road for cyclists and making Vancouer streets safe and accessible for all ages and abilities. Learn more about Lucy below and follow Lucy for details on upcoming rides and to see how HUB members are making a difference in their communities.
Where is your favourite place to cycle in Vancouver and why?
My favourite places to cycle in Vancouver are Beach Avenue and Stanley Park. I live near the start of the Beach Avenue Bikeway and my kids go to school in the West End. I’m always having to pinch myself that I get to ride up and down there three or four times a day looking at that view. I usually head into Stanley Park after I drop the kids off to see what’s happening and go for a ride and I take the kids there for play dates whenever I can.
What’s your least favourite part of the city to ride
My least favourite places to ride in the city are predictably busy roads without separated bike lanes. It’s frustrating that major roads are also the main commercial streets and that there aren’t separated bike paths for cyclists to access shops and restaurants.
Have you always been so passionate about cycling advocacy - what compelled you to take an interest?
I’ve been riding a bike for transport and recreation ever since primary school. I’ve been crashed into by a car and doored and lost friends and colleagues to traffic violence. I’ve become a lot more involved in cycle advocacy since we moved to Vancouver because my kids are at an age where I have more free time. They’re perfectly capable of cycling everywhere – the only thing stopping us is traffic danger. I’d like them to be able to safely ride independently around Vancouver as they get older.
How has biking helped you assimilate to the city?
I’ve certainly met a lot of kindred spirits through cycling and cycle advocacy. Some of my friends who didn’t previously cycle for transport have even started riding to work and school. It’s also a lot easier to make human connections just riding around the city and Stanley Park. I know a lot of the regulars to say hello to now, because I’ve stopped so many people to ask where they’re riding from, how often they cycle in Stanley Park, what they think of the separated lane on Park Drive etc.
Why are you a HUB member?
I joined HUB to support its goal of getting more people cycling more often. I’m so impressed with HUB’s constructive relationships with government and its methodical approach to identify and prioritise improvements to the cycling network.
Tell me a bit about your campaign to keep Beach Ave as a dedicated bike lane and your advocacy around the Stanley Park roadway?
I think it helps to give people a different perspective that I’m a parent just getting around to play dates, school drop-offs and pickups and shopping with my kids on bikes, rather than solely being a recreational/sports cyclist. I use social media to learn, make connections with other cycling advocates and get my message across about how wonderful it would be to have better cycling infrastructure in Stanley Park and the Beach Ave Bikeway permanently installed. I also make a point of directly emailing the City of Vancouver, the Park Board and other government agencies because social media is no substitute for direct communication. I work with other cycling advocates to organise events like #BeachAveBikefest and protest rides in Stanley Park to keep attention and pressure on these issues. It is a never-ending battle to shine a light on the people actually benefiting from protected cycling infrastructure as opposed to the negative stereotypes of “cyclists”.
If you had a tandem bike who would you most like to ride with?
Well my husband would be number one of course, but HUB’s own Jeff Leigh would be a close second because he really knows his way around a tandem and he could also regale me with a complete history of Vancouver cycling advocacy as we rode. If neither of them were available, I’d choose Canada’s own Rachel McAdams because she seems like she’d be a lot of fun to get to know.