Dozens of children and adults gathered at The Forks on Saturday morning to call for safer cycling infrastructure during the winter months.<\/p>\n
The group took part in a Polar Bear Kidical Mass, a family-oriented bike ride designed to help young cyclists practise winter riding skills while drawing attention to road safety issues. The ride travelled along the Nestaweya River Trail and was led by children as young as five.<\/p>\n
\u201cA bunch of kids get to ride with their adults and have fun,\u201d said cycling advocate Libby Weier.<\/p>\n
Organizers say the event highlights how protected infrastructure can allow even the youngest riders to cycle safely.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is such a good opportunity for us to show that safe infrastructure means that even kids as young as 5 can lead a whole big group ride and it can be done safely,\u201d said cycling advocate Anna Weier.<\/p>\n
For some families, the event was an introduction to winter cycling.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the first time for my kids winter biking. I used to winter bike. But I haven\u2019t had my bike out of basement for a couple of years. So it\u2019s good to be out there, enjoying fresh air and the river,\u201d said attendee Daniel Simeone.<\/p>\n
Advocates also used the ride to raise concerns about winter maintenance of bike lanes and pedestrian infrastructure. Joe Curnow said snowy and uncleared routes make cycling more difficult and less safe.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe need that to be maintained year-round. Right now it\u2019s really hard. It took us very long time to get to Forks this morning. Because the snow hadn\u2019t been cleared. The side walks and the curb cuts, where you have to cross intersection are very messy,\u201d Curnow said.<\/p>\n
Some young riders say protected bike paths make a noticeable difference.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a lot of places the cars are just going too fast. Especially when I bike to school. But on the bike paths coming to the Forks, I feel safe,\u201d said Noah Simeone.<\/p>\n
Curnow added that drivers also need to be more aware of cyclists, particularly when sharing the road with families.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd when they are close passing, it just makes it really terrifying. Especially when you are riding with your kids,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Advocates say expanding car-free spaces and maintaining cycling routes year-round would encourage more people to choose biking.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople need to be able to take the means of transportation that are better for them. And cycling is good for our health and it\u2019s good for the environment,\u201d Anna Weier said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dozens of children and adults gathered at The Forks on Saturday morning to call for safer cycling infrastructure…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":401593,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[445],"tags":[49,48,635,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-401592","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-cycling","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-cycling","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401592","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=401592"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/401592\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/401593"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=401592"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=401592"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=401592"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}