A Cycling Champion in a Pickup Truck Town

What does it take to transform a car-dependent small town into a place where cycling feels safe and accessible? Ruth Lloyd is finding out firsthand in Williams Lake, BC.As a returning resident to her hometown, Ruth experienced the stark contrast between places where active transportation was normalized, and her pickup-truck dominated community where, as in many small cities or towns, the highway consititutes Main Street. Rather than accepting the status quo, she co-founded Streets for All Williams Lake and began methodically building support for cycling infrastructure through creative advocacy.Ruth's approach blends journalistic storytelling with strategies such as lending an e-bike to the mayor to bring him onside. Now she's tackling an even bigger obstacle: provincial highways that create barriers within communities. Find out more about Streets For All Williams Lake HERE.Support the show***********************************************The Bike Sense podcast with Peter Ladner is produced by the BC Cycling Coalition – your voice for safer and more accessible cycling and active transportation in British Columbia. Membership in the BCCC is now FREE! The future of this podcast depends on people like you becoming members at  BCCycling.ca. Please join us.Got feedback or ideas for future episodes? Please drop us an email at [email protected] Sense podcast technical direction and production by Carmen Mills.