#StanleyPark a thread

At the risk of bringing out the Trolls I’m going to attempt to convey a different narrative from the cycling community.

This is my Five year old cycling in the park. As you can see the faster cyclists are using the lane that is open to vehicles

My boy loves to ride. We rode 12 km that day but sometimes he’ll go 16 km
He’s not fast, he’s not completely stable and as you can see from the video he kinda weaves back and forth.

That’s how younger kids ride. Heck that’s how a lot of adults ride.

From what I have seen in the park there are more of the unsure riders than people in Lycra.

No unsure rider is comfortable riding on the sea wall. It’s narrow, has too many unpredictable other users and the risk of falling off the side into the ocean or on to rocks

My little dude would be at high risk for a collision and I won’t put him in that position.

So, my request is this to anyone reading this, ask someone else about their park experience and try and see how other users can greatly benefit from change in the park.

No user deserves to be excluded. Whether they be a 73 yr old in a wheelchair, a 53 yr old on a road bike. An entire family walking to have a picnic, a couple driving from kits to third beach to watch a sunset, or my extraordinarily wobbly 5 yr old riding his bike.

And if that means people occasionally have to drive slow through the park, is that not a small cost to keep vulnerable road users, pedestrians, roller bladers, and mobility device users all safe and allow them equitable access ?

More free happy 5 yr old. Living his best life.