Leading up to the 2022 municipal election, CycleWR volunteers have been taking municipal electoral candidates for bike rides to show off the best and worst of the cycling infrastructure in their ward/city/region. For a full list of completed rides, click here. CycleWR is a non-partisan organization that does not support any particular party or candidate. Summaries are written by volunteers or candidates and may not reflect the mandate or views of CycleWR. For more information, contact us at hello@cyclewr.ca.
CycleWR volunteer Andrew Grieve took Michael Parkinson, candidate for Regional Council, Kitchener, out for a ride. Here’s what they had to say about the ride:
Michael joined me and my kids for a ~10km loop to see what it’s like for us as a family to get to some of the places we routinely need to go to. I was very encouraged to find out that Michael was already familiar with the route, and that he clearly had an appreciation for cycling himself. Although I led the way, and made sure to point out the spots we liked and those we didn’t, his friendly attitude and tendency to share interesting historical nuggets made it feel like he was the one touring us around :). My favourite thing that he shared was that the Iron Horse Trail was a part of a national “Rails to Trails” campaign, and that it was a bittersweet transition to many, as it marked the end of an intercity rail option. That had never occurred to me! Overall, I was very encouraged to learn that Michael has experience riding around the city with his own kids, and that he has an appreciation for the positive effects of active transportation. Thank you CycleWR for arranging such a fun way to meet candidates! I hope to get to do it again!