These challenges are presented as worth overcoming to enjoy the myriad benefits of cycling with your family. One family from West Virginia is shown biking the snow, and there is a brief mention of the momentary inconvenience of biking in the rain. Extreme weather and/or climates are also glossed over. Notably missing from the film is any discussion of the practicalities of cargo biking for families who live in rural areas. The film explains how cycling encourages more connection with people and the environment, and these benefits should be more widely understood.
The positive impacts on the environment and mental health are also explored. These bikes can be expensive, but not more so than owning an automobile. Many families who are interviewed in the film have sold cars so they can purchase these cargo bikes. The myriad benefits of the cargo bike are featured in Motherload. Portland, Oregon is featured as a community with a strong and safe bicycling culture that should be emulated. There is some discussion on the safety concerns of this method of transportation, and the stigma and criticism faced by women who choose to transport their children this way is also addressed. Importantly, challenges and obstacles associated with this form of transport are not ignored in the film. Interviews and footage of families who have adopted this lifestyle are included throughout. This modified bike is used around the world in place of automobiles, and the film seeks to normalize this method of transportation in the United States. The focus of the film is primarily on the long-tail bike and its uses hauling cargo, which includes babies and small children. Motherload includes interviews with figures who have been important in the development and spread of the cargo bike. In a relatively short amount of time, the film covers the history of the bicycle and its unique role as an equalizer for disenfranchised groups like women, racial minorities, and the impoverished. Canning discovered the ability to bike with her kids in tow, she began to feel like herself again. After her twins were born in 2008, she fell into a depression that was only lifted once she discovered the joys of cargo biking. Opening with her own personal experience of body image and expectations, she shares how biking transformed her physical and mental health. The director, Liz Canning, has a personal connection to cargo biking and the film highlights how it has changed her life for the better.
It has a clear message and purpose: the time to normalize cargo bikes is now. Motherload is a thought provoking documentary composed largely of crowdsourced footage.
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