I am a cyclist. Cycling is a central part of my core identity. To my friends and family, I’m the “bike guy.” I love riding for work, fun, sport, and I’ll do it just about anywhere, regardless of the conditions. Furthermore, I advocate for cycling improvements in my community, and it was advocates like myself who pushed for decades to achieve what is now the Bloor bike lanes pilot project.

Despite early findings that the project has majority approval from local residents, has boosted perceived safety for everyone, and has led to a double-digit increase in cycling volumes, the Bloor bike lanes have become a polarizing debate of drivers versus cyclists. Impatient and rude cyclists! Traffic headaches for drivers! These two timeless characters are once again pitted against each other, each of them unyielding and equally loathing of the other.

But I’m sorry to say that while these characters make for great storytelling and news-grabbing headlines, they simply don’t portray the general population.

Every day, Toronto’s nearly 3 million residents make decisions on how they will travel. Some choose to drive, while others take transit, like TTC, GO Transit, and UP Express. For short trips, many people choose to walk. Increasingly though, people are now choosing to travel by bike. What we’ve learned from Bloor and other recent cycling projects is that when you make improvements that make travelling by bicycle safer, more people choose to ride bikes.

Which brings me to my point: the Bloor bike lanes are not for cyclists — they’re for people who ride bikes. Normal people, wearing normal clothes, who have chosen to travel by bike. Most don’t identify as “cyclists,” they won’t yell at you for cutting them off, they don’t blatantly run red lights, and you definitely won’t catch them sporting Lycra. Every morning, they simply get dressed for work, hop on their bikes, and enjoy the convenience of cycling.

In what some are calling the #SummerOfTheBike, Toronto has seen record rates of cycling. As of August, the Toronto Bike Share had already surpassed last year’s ridership. In vast stretches of the city, more and more people are riding bikes. Where is this growth coming from? More annoying “cyclists?” Nope — Toronto’s cycling growth is coming from more normal people choosing to ride bikes.

Every time the city adds new bike lanes, the cycling network grows, and travelling by bicycle becomes a safe, convenient option for more people. Within just a few months of the Bloor bike lanes launching last year, cycling rates had risen 36 per cent, with a significant per cent of that growth coming from new people riding bikes.

But these new bike riders are timid, and just as quickly as they appeared, a reversal of safe infrastructure will almost surely guarantee their disappearance. Unlike stereotypical “cyclists,” these people aren’t comfortable cycling in any condition.

If you’ve ever biked with someone who’s new to cycling (or tried it for the first time yourself), you know this. Things that an experienced cyclist knows to look out for, like a right-turning car or an opening door, can be downright terrifying for someone new to cycling. A single bad experience can shatter someone’s confidence and they may never ride again out of fear for their safety.

This is why we desperately need the Bloor bike lanes and more projects like it. This fall, city council will vote on whether or not to make the Bloor bike lanes permanent, and it promises to be a heated and controversial debate.

As a cyclist, I don’t advocate for cycling because I want more bike lanes for myself. I advocate for cycling because I see cycling as part of the solution to our region’s transportation, health, and environmental problems. I’ve found inspiration from places such as Amsterdam, which was car-dominated just like Toronto not too long ago. Mostly, I find inspiration every day on my ride to work as I experience the growing number of normal people in Toronto who choose to ride bikes.

Matt Pinder is co-captain of Cycle Toronto’s Ward 20 advocacy group.