Feature in Sooke New Mirror

"The problem with cycling in Victoria isn’t the bike lanes, it’s the whole culture and dialogue around cycling, and the solution is to look to the Dutch".

Click the photo for the article and if you want some insight into the article, just keep reading below the photo.

The top message for this interview was around normalization of cycling.

Normalizing cycling: this is about culture and messaging. It’s how cycling is portrayed and visualized. Collectively (media, the City of Victoria, BTWW, GVCC etc.) we need to change the vernacular when referencing cycling. Cycling is not just for sport or just to ride to work (the 90% who are curious about riding a bicycle cannot see themselves dressed in spandex). Also, the sport referencing implies that you need a lot of “fancy” gear that makes it look complicated and dangerous. If the goal is to get people on their bicycle, the imagery needs to be of people dressed for their day so that people can imagine themselves on a bicycle. (language is not only a mirror of reality, it profoundly shapes it in the first place) Goal of inspiration: 63% of “Amsterdammers” ride their bikes daily!