Patrick Bergsma
Patrick moved to the Region of Waterloo in 2014 for school. You will find him mostly wearing his Dutch flat cap and running errands or enjoying a ride with his family on a genuine pre-loved bike from the Netherlands, which he bought from a store in Toronto.
Patrick grew up mostly on a farm and in a rural village in southern Ontario, so living in two different cities, Kitchener, ON and Langley, BC was a big shift for him. Patrick’s experiences have led him to a deep desire to live in a tightknit community. He realized that himself and others also thought living in a tightknit community with their local friends, religious community, and in their neighbourhood should be easy, but that isn’t always the case.
Eventually, Patrick travelled to the Netherlands for a few weeks, became a part-time content creator under the brand True Communities, and took some online courses in urban planning and creating livable spaces. He desires to listen and equip people with the knowledge and experience he has gained.
Patrick on Twitter: @pbilk
Patrick on Instagram: @pbilk
Janice Jim
Janice has been cycling in Waterloo since her undergrad days. She is passionate about active transportation, transit, the environment, social justice and community building. Janice is the Chair of the City of Waterloo Active Transportation Committee. She’s active with Red Raccoon Bike Rescue and KW Famous. Janice is inspired by the work of the Dutch Cycling Embassy who aim to make cycling accessible to all ages and abilities through education, infrastructure and planning.
Janice on Twitter: @winkyj
Janice on Instagram: @wingkeij
Maria Legault
Maria’s passion for time outdoors and physical activity has led her to cycle in rain, snow, and sunshine. She speaks enthusiastically to friends and colleagues on the many joys of active transportation. Her vision for a future is a community with many fewer cars, and a lot more opportunity for human connection and green space. In her day job, Maria is a project manager for a digital marketing agency. She works happily from home and uses her bicycle to get to exercise, appointments, and other life commitments.
Maria on Twitter: @legault_maria
Brian Maloney
Brian grew up cycling around town in nearby Stratford, before moving to Waterloo Region for university.
After some years of driving a car by default, he decided to take a walk for every late-night junk food urge nearby. This moment of shameful motivation revealed the vibrant and refreshing street life that had been hidden for so long while driving. He now commutes daily to work in Cambridge with a trusty e-bike and now truly believes you don’t need to move away in order to live in a vibrant place. It was right here all along.
Brian on Twitter: @Bravado_5
Leslie Maxwell
Leslie’s cycling confidence is growing almost in lockstep with the infrastructure improvements across the region. Cycling really became more feasible for her when she finally invested in a right-sized bike in 2019, and she began to cycle to work. This wasn’t easy, given that her workplace is on an industrial bypass road divided from her home by difficult highway on- and off-ramps. Her growing cycling experience definitely enhances Leslie’s professional work as a School Travel Planner, where she aims to remove barriers to active school travel and to make cycling, walking, scootering and any human-powered travel an easier choice for families.
Josh Orita
Josh is a commuter and recreational cyclist. Inspired by visiting Japan, where bicycles are widely used, he began commuting at home in Waterloo Region. This experience revealed how challenging it can be to bike places and the need to build safe, convenient infrastructure that gives people the option to travel by bike.
Josh on Twitter: @josh_orita
Tom Strickland
Tom took up cycling again in 2016 after a 40 year hiatus. He is very
much an “Interested but Concerned” cyclist, and is a passionate
advocate for cycling facilities that are fully separated from car traffic.
He is a retired actuary, and a member of the Transportation
Subcommittee of ClimateActionWR. He was awarded the Wheels of
Change award in 2022 from the Share the Road coalition for his work
on a ClimateActionWR team that evaluated the Cambridge cycling
network plan with an equity lens, and developed a priority ranking
model for potential new cycling facilities.