Local charity encourages Tri-Cities to bike

HUB Cycling has launched their “Bike to Shop” campaign this month to encourage more residents to use two wheels instead of four

This August is Bike to Shop month, an initiative run by HUB Cycling. Photo via HUB Cycling.

Lisa Storey is a committed cyclist, and she uses her bike to shop. She finds that it saves time and money. But she admits that she hasn’t always found it convenient.

“It me took me a wee while to get the confidence to do it myself,” she said. 

There was some trial and error, she says. At first, Storey loaded her entire grocery hauls into the front basket. Then the basket broke, and its contents were thrown onto the street.

But now Storey has her system  — she always keeps a bungee cord on her bike rack and distributes groceries across the frame.

As the event manager of HUB Cycling, a Metro Vancouver cycling non-profit, she’s spent this month trying to encourage Metro Vancouver to also start using two wheels to shop.

This is part of the charity’s Bike to Shop initiative. It has several neighbourhoods participating, including Coquitlam’s Austin Heights and Central Port Moody.

“We’re just asking people to give it a try,” Storey said.

She encourages interested participants to take a pledge to give shopping by bike a shot at least once. Then, they will be eligible to win prizes (including Cirque Du Soleil tickets).

Storey said they are educating folks on common barriers that prevent folks from biking, including finding safe routes, bike theft and how to carry items on one’s bike.

“That’s the idea behind it, really, is just to show people that shopping by bike isn’t that scary.”

HUB Cycling created a number of neighbourhood maps — including a Tri-Cities map — that shows bike routes, bike parking locations and some of their partners and suggested businesses to visit.

The routes are labeled by comfort level — comfortable for most, comfortable for few, comfortable for some and comfortable for very few — to help people plan their trip

They’ve included businesses in their initiative to let them know that “cyclists are good for businesses.” 

People on bikes tend to stop more frequently than drivers do while spending similar amounts of money, Storey said. They also require substantially less parking space.

As for bike theft, Storey acknowledges that it is an unfortunate part of cycling, but says they are educating people on how to properly lock up their bikes and informing them about any bike valets or bike lockers — such as Translink. People can also register their bikes for free with Project 529 (when registered bikes are stolen, a large network is informed and keeps their eye out for it). 

Overall, Storey advises folks to start small.

“And all of a sudden, before you know it, once you’ve built that confidence, you’ll be doing those longer journeys.”

The campaign runs until August 31. 

https://tricitiesdispatch.com/local-charity-encourages-tri-cities-to-bike/