Thread by @CanadaRobin

Eleven years ago I told my husband that I was pregnant with our third child. “Wow,” he said. “We’re going to need a bigger car.”

Our society told us that families should carry their kids around in the biggest, most protected motor vehicle they could afford. Everyone we saw drove around in huge metal boxes. So that’s what we got - a 7-seater SUV, plenty of room for our kids and the carpools I imagined.

Only no one ever wanted to carpool - everyone had their own huge SUV that they wanted to drive their own kids in. And we all fought for parking at the same sports fields, trampoline parks, and movie theatres.

For years, we drove our kids around in that car. School, doctor’s appointments, playdates, sports, movies, birthday parties - all car trips. Work commutes, shopping, volunteering, visits with friends - by car.

Driving in Toronto is a miserable experience. There are too many cars on the roads. Delivery trucks park wherever they like, blocking entire lanes. Construction projects go on for years, rendering entire streets useless. And drivers are stressed out, angry, and mean.

I spent hours behind the wheel of my SUV. I became stressed out, angry, and mean. Several times I almost hit pedestrians in crosswalks, because the SUV had huge blind spots created by its mighty construction. We were always late.

I wasted time, and I wasted money - so much money. Car repairs, parking, gas - plus of course insurance and registration fees. And my bike sat unused at the back of the garage, because I had kids who needed to be driven places!

Then, one day, my husband @thebikingvet signed up for a charity bike ride for @farleyfndation. He started riding his bike to work, one day a week, as part of his training plan. It was very noticeable how much happier he was on his bike days than on his car days.

We moved a few km closer to downtown. @thebikingvet started riding his bike to work every day, and I decided the kids and I would bike to school on nice days. I started to take my bike to run errands, buy groceries, and do all the other things I needed to do. On nice days.

Every year, I would sadly put my bike away when the temperatures dropped below freezing and the snow arrived. I would resume driving around, getting crankier and lazier. Meanwhile, @thebikingvet kept riding all winter long. “That’s crazy,” I thought. “I’m never going to do that.”

Meanwhile, I kept reading about climate change. I read about young activists like @gretathunberg and the choices they were making to minimize their contribution to global warming. I felt so guilty any time I drove my car. I made more and more trips by bicycle.

And then, last year - I decided not to stop riding for the winter. We got studded tires for all of our bikes, dressed for the weather, and just kept riding. When the going gets tough, we yell #VikingBiking at the top of our lungs - it’s an excellent motivator!

We sold our SUV and replaced it with cargo bikes - a @larryvsharry eBullitt for @thebikingvet, and a @YubaBicycles eBodaBoda for me.

We now do all of our in-city travel by bicycle. We have connected with other cyclists in Toronto through @BikeTO, @theBikeBrigade, and @CycleTO. We have explored areas of our city that we never might have seen otherwise! And we’re healthier, wealthier, and happier out of our car.

I’ve been wondering lately if we might have avoided the SUV trap if we had seen just one cargo/family bike back in 2009. It’s my fondest hope we might be that “one” for another family…