As many across the region hunkered down to wait until the wintery weather passed, at least two people headed into the conditions to help out.
Nell Saba hit the streets armed with wool socks, snow boots and a shovel.
Saba is a landscaper who likes to keep busy, so she helped clear snow in order to make it easier for others.
“One good thing about being out here is there have been people who maybe have mobility challenges. Who are carrying groceries, or trying to get around in a scooter. And they’ve needed help getting out of the snow,” Saba said.
When the snow started on Monday night, Philip Marciniak got out his electric bike fitted with a bike plow to help clear some bike lanes.
He posted the now-viral video to Twitter of riding by Saanich Municipal hall that included a challenged the District to clear its bike lanes, and sidewalks and people loved it.
“The reaction has been super receptive. and it seems to have gone all over the world,” Marciniak said. “I’m getting people in various languages commenting. I’m getting Germans, a lot of French folks. Yeah, it’s amazing.”
@Saanich I cleared the bike lane and sidewalk in front ofmunicipal Hall around 6pm today.
You next! Do the sidewalks and bike lanes why not. The state of sidewalks and bike lanes are treacherous.#cargobike #bikeplow #visionzero pic.twitter.com/3k7N9r5KRV
— Philip (@PhilipMarciniak) December 20, 2022
Marciniak’s latest video is a step-by-step video he’s posted to Youtube to encourage others to ride in his steps to build their own bike plows.
“I hope that people see it and it just brightens their day. Beyond anything else, it’s just a funny video,” Marciniak said. “If it inspires them to build something like that themselves, that’s amazing. If it reinforces the idea that I think that electric bikes are here to sort of save us.”
Mary Griffin
