We are LCL: Interview with Nancy McCreery "Car-Free Mama"

Q: What does your bike help you to do the most and how?

A: When we decided to go car free, it was this idea that my husband and I were kind of batting around, and I wasn't taking it too seriously about a year ago, because I was more of a fair-weather cyclist. I was using my car to run errands or take my daughter to school, just like these little quick trips. And I find now that's what I'm using my bike for. It's a lot of fun just to go for a family fun ride, which we still do, but now I'm really using it as my mode of transportation. So going to get groceries, going to drop my daughter at school and pick her up, and going to visit people when we're allowed to do that. 

Q: You say you live in Byron. What’s that like, for getting around on a bike?

A: I find that since we've gotten rid of our car, we certainly have been shopping more locally, like in Byron, trying to do as much as we can around here. We're not super-far to Springbank. There are no protected bike lanes to get there, so we kind of meander through a neighborhood to get ourselves to the park and then get onto the TVP to go downtown or wherever we need to go. My husband and I always joke now that we wish we knew then what we know now about where we would have bought a house, and how that would affect how we get around now, because [London] is so spread out and it does take us longer to get places.

Q: What is the best, worst, or most unusual thing that has happened to you on a bike?

A: The best thing that I've noticed lately is all the interactions I've been having with people. It’s created the sense of community where I'm now talking to people that I wouldn't have talked to before. They're bringing up the fact that we're biking, like “I can't believe you're biking in the winter!” and just people commenting on our bikes. We had wrapped Christmas lights around them this year, and just them commenting on that, and just having like these interactions. 

We've had some negative experiences where.

Q: The worst? 

A: People in in vehicles have been kind of aggressive. I find that it happens more if my husband's with us, and he's leading the way. He wasn't surprised when I pointed that out because he notices that, too. It’s sad, especially when I'm out with my daughter, but it is still has happened with us. People come too close, or they honk at you, or they pass really aggressively, shaking their heads and it just kind of ruins that moment for you. I started talking to my daughter about it and she says, “It makes me feel scared when they do that.” When someone does that, especially around a child, I kind of shake my head. Like why? What's going on in your day that like you needed to behave that way towards us?

Q: Why do you support London Cycle Link? 

A: Because I want to get behind anyone who is in favor of safe bicycle infrastructure. I think it's really needed in London. I've been hearing about it for years from my husband and people we're friends with, like Ben Cowie. But now I'm getting a feel for what's actually needed, how the city’s actually laid out. I get it now – we’re really falling short. We need to make the city safe for people to cycle and to walk.

Read more of Nancy’s adventures by bike at https://www.carfreemama.ca/