Before formal advocacy groups formed in Vancouver, small groups of people would gather informally to discuss conditions for transportation cycling. They were the first voices for change.

In the late 1980s, a small group of young environmental activists began to identify as a subculture people concerned about bicycles, and their place on the streets…and they began to build a community.

Despite the many formative events in the cycling advocacy world just before and after Expo ‘86, it wasn’t until the 90s began that the bigger picture began to come together.

“I had raced, and I rode cross-country here and did a few things, but I was more interested in the bigger, bigger, bigger picture….As we started getting a little bit more pull here and there, we started doing the CAN-BIKE stuff. That's where, if you will, I dug in.”

"You tell car drivers what's there for them — the restaurants, the gas stations. There's all sorts of information you're told. As a cyclist you're told it's a bike route. Well, I know it's a bike route. Tell me something I need to know."

"In order to get the provincial government to listen to us, we had to have a community. And at that time, the community was there, but it wasn't drawn together. And so there was no voice."

"Oh, [cycling] was who I was. Yeah. Which is really interesting, because if anybody had told me that would be my lifestyle when I was in my twenties, I would say you're nuts."