Bike Month Feature: Alex Moore from the Lunenburg Bike Shop
Written by Meghan Doucette.
On a sunny morning in June I caught up with Alex Moore outside her store, the Lunenburg Bike Shop. Alex lives on the other side of the LaHave River and cycles with her family around their community. We spoke about how she stays safe cycling on rural roads, and her ideas about making Lunenburg more accessible for people of all ages to get around by bike. Read on for our full conversation.
Tell us about yourself.
I’m Alex Moore, the owner of the Lunenburg Bike Shop. I’m also a professionally trained bike mechanic. We’ve been in business for eight years on Montague street in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia. We repair bikes, we sell bikes, and we rent bikes. Sometimes we do tours, depending on the season.
Our focus as a shop is community. We do lots of community outreach with different events and things throughout Bike Month, and then throughout the year as well. We try to make biking more accessible for the general population so that kids can get into it and adults alike.
How does cycling make you feel?
Cycling makes me feel great.
It completely enriches my life. It’s something that I can share with my kids, with my partner. It gets us outside immediately. We’re so fortunate to live very close to nature and the ocean. And for me, it just improves my quality of life.
How does cycling contribute to your quality of life?
Cycling contributes to my quality of life in a huge way. It uplifts me when I arrive to a destination. On route, I am smelling and feeling everything before I arrive there. It’s the best.
Why do you choose to travel by bike?
I choose to travel by bike for a couple of different reasons; for my overall health, for the health of the planet, and to set an example. I think the more cyclists we see on the road, that would influence the need for infrastructure and also how people travel and make lifestyle choices ultimately.
Kids see you cycling and then – wham! The community changes.
How do you meet the challenges of cycling in a rural area?
Yeah, that’s a good question. So, for instance, I live in LaHave, which is probably somewhere between 15 and 20 kilometers either way.
For me, it’s having a light bike, packing lightly, checking out the wind, leaving early to beat the onshore/offshore wind direction in the morning, and making sure that you have snacks. You just have to be prepared and plan for your day on the road. And I would say the most important way to make that happen successfully is to not get stressed out.
How do you approach cycling safety?
Cycling safety is huge, and for me, in this rural community, the most important thing is to be seen. So I have lights and I wear a bright color jacket or shirt when I ride. And if I hear a loud dump truck or something, a construction truck, I just hop right off the road if there’s no shoulder.
So safety is definitely important, and it can be done. Can be overcome.
Is there anything you would change in your community to make it feel more safe, comfortable, and fun to cycle?
So many things. I mean, I think the most obvious improvements would be some cycling infrastructure in the town so that anyone living inside of the town, or just outside of the town, or someone who just wants to cycle safely in the town can get to the grocery store safely, can get to their gym safely, can get to their school safely, the hospital; basic services that need safe accessibility.
Meghan Doucette is the Co-Founder & Creative Director at Lemonade Co., a South Shore based business that connects conscientious brands to their communities through branding, website design, and digital marketing.