We are LCL: Cycling’s a family affair for the Kelly's

Kristibeth Kelly is a Lifetime Member of London Cycle Link who rides most often with her son, Mateo, and sometimes her mother, Anne. LCL met with Kristibeth on Zoom recently – here are some highlights.

LCL: What does your bike help you do the most?

KK: To enjoy the trails of London! The Thames Valley Parkway, north, south, east, and west. We go all over the place and are really, really enjoy exploring new parts of London. Finding new places, new roads in new subdivisions, new areas that I didn't really know about before, and beautiful nature areas, parks and whatnot that I didn’t really know existed. Mateo is five and he loves biking the trails. We try to avoid roads at all costs.

LCL: Five seems a bit young to be riding without training wheels!

KK: Yes, but once he got started, it was just little by little - we’d go for a ride and go a little farther and a little farther. And before long he was riding 18 kilometers, 20, and on the way home it's uphill and he'd be racing me up the hill! I’d think, “How do you still have enough energy, those little legs going around so quick?” My mom, she loves biking, too. She’s in her 80s, and it’s a great activity that we can all ride together. And my dad wasn't in shape to do much other exercise, but it was easier for him to bike than to walk. My parents enjoyed a lot of biking in Florida while he was still alive.

LCL: How did you first get connected with LCL and the Squeaky Wheel?

KK: I first learned about it through Daniel Hall, but there are lots of other personal connections. And I remember reading on the website early during Covid-19, just realizing the value of having good bike paths and having safe areas. At the time, there wasn't a lot of traffic on the road. It was lovely. And I thought, “Okay, what organization can get us more of this and to ensure that we have safe places to ride our bikes?” I thought, “This is a great organization that is making more of this type of enjoyment, and all of the things that are associated with it.” I truly value that, and want to get more of that from City Hall. There's a lot of things I can’t do as a single mom working full-time and everything else, but there is something that I can do and that’s to donate.