[1]Photo by Rachel Cohen. Gloria Greenfield, 62, rides her bike year around despite the weather.
By Rachel Cohen
At 62 years of age, Gloria Greenfield has been an avid cyclist her entire life.
Greenfield, who rides her bike year-round, can be found gleefully riding everywhere around Prince Edward County and beyond, whether it’s with a cargo trailer hauling groceries, or on a 40km commute to work.
“I can’t remember when I wasn’t on a bike of some kind. I think it’s the freedom it gives you to go wherever you want to go, no matter what age you are,” said Greenfield.
Greenfield’s love affair with bikes began at an early age. It was never about having the best bike around, it was just simply about the love of riding.
“As very young kids, we were always riding our bicycles. Even around the time when we were going to college we rode our bikes because we needed cheap transportation.”
Once Greenfield’s work situation changed, she was forced to commute about 40 kms from her home in Demorestville, to Belleville.
“I think I’m a motion freak,” Greenfield chuckles to herself. “It takes me exactly two hours to commute. As soon as the wheels start to roll, I’m happy. “
It wasn’t until the 1970s that the revolution in 10-speeds from Europe began appearing across Canada, where Greenfield continued to become interested in the sport, and even more interested in the different bikes available.
“I have four different bikes, but my favourite is the least expensive. I rescued my bicycle from the trash as an experiment. I turned an old Raleigh 10-speed into a Raleigh hybrid,” said Greenfield.
Taking a bicycle mechanics course with the help of Rick Willing, owner of the Bloomfield Bicycle Company, Greenfield continued to confidently ride throughout the County.
“The County is one of the best places to learn how to tour by bicycle,” said Willing.
As the years went on, Greenfield continued to become proactive in the community to support cycling initiatives through the help of bicycle shops in the County. Willing has done the same.
“Want to know one of my dreams?” he said. “Enough safe cycle paths in the County so a family can go where they want without getting in the car. If the paths are there, people will use them.”
The bicycle community in Prince Edward County has continued to advocate for the disappointing infrastructure along its major routes, including Belleville.
“The truth is, there is no infrastructure in Belleville,” says Greenfield. “We need really simple things, such as bike lanes, and preferred bicycle routes.”
Designating bike lanes in the area has continued to be an issue within the bicycle community. According to Greenfield, simply setting up preferred bike routes does two things: It gives a cyclist a safer route to ride on, and second, it’s a reminder to the car driver, that the cyclist has a right to be on the road too.
“You’d be amazed at the number of people I still run into that will actually yell at me to get off the road!” said Greenfield.
“Riding through the Bloomfield area, I had a partially eaten apple thrown at me once out of a moving vehicle,” explains Greenfield. “That coming out of a speeding car, feels like you’ve been hit with a rock – you have to be prepared for that.”
For many in the community, situations such as these have become discouraging because for cyclists not so confident on the roads, it seems to be very dangerous.
“I hope that within the next five years, change will happen,” said Greenfield. “I’ve always told our own city council, we could be our own Cape Cod of the north.”
Greenfield has joined with The Belleville Cyclist Advisory Group, a citizens cycling advocacy group for Belleville and the surrounding municipalities, with a particular focus on the bicycle as a means of transport and recreation.
With the clasp of her helmet, Greenfield smiles, “Most people can ride, from the cradle to the grave. Right from when I was a child, till the day I die, I will ride. “