Vélo Québec

     This is a wonderful commercial, brought to you by Vélo Québec. For as long as cars exist, there will always be conflicts with bicycles. Essentially, the video states "They get along so well in our garages, why not on our streets?". This goes to show how many light years ahead Québec is in terms of bicycle culture compared to New Brunswick.
     I grew up in a small town where driving everywhere was "essential". The grocery store was 5km away. Friend's house, 11km. The nearest shopping centre, 30km. The nearest city was 140km! Drive, drive, drive. I was successfully brainwashed to believe that I would need a car once I turned 16. Where I grew up, there was no transit, trains or public airport, but there was the once a day bus. That is partly why everyone in my small town drove everywhere. The reasoning was due to convenience. Why is it in North America we are lead to believe that we must drive everywhere? That probably is one of the reasons why 1/3 of North America is overweight...
     When I finally moved to Fredericton, I realized is was more feasible to walk, bike or take transit to where I needed to go. In cities, it is much easier to get around due to public transportation and being more dense. My mentality began to change on my dependancy on a car. Why drive to the corner store when it was only a few blocks away? Why spend my savings on gas just to get around in the city? Granted, I am still young and don't plan on having a family any time soon, but my plan remains to never own a car.
     I challenge you, instead of driving the few kilometres to the store or friend's house, ride your bike. Imagine if everyone in Fredericton did that!