While the weather did not fully cooperate at the Go By Bike Week celebrations, cyclists still made it out to celebrate the green form of transporation on Saturday and Sunday.
Saturday’s weather, though unpredictable, did not stop riders from making it to the Homalco Celebration Station at the corner of Jubilee and Dogwood. Over 60 people showed up at the corner to say hi, to taste some fresh-made Bannock and to learn about the cycling opportunities in the community.
“I just like being out, biking around,” said Holden Charlie, a young volunteer at the Homalco Celebration Station.
Later on Saturday, the River City Cycling Club and the City of Campbell River held an event at the Sportsplex. Participants got to try their bike handling skills at a slalom course, and learned about the different kinds of hand signals used by cyclists. Though the skies opened up on Saturday afternoon, participants were kept dry under the tent where they got to play “Cycling Trivia,” a Jeopardy-style game with questions ranging from “what is a typical safety check before going on a ride?” to “What colour is the jersey of the King of the Mountains winner in the Tour De France?” Winners got prizes from Go By Bike Week and proudly showed off their new swag at the event.
RELATED: Campbell River’s Logger Mike to participate in Go By Bike Week
Sunday was equally as exciting. Though the weather at Tyee Spit was reminiscent of November, not June, people still came out to get their commemorative pins emblazoned Logger Mike.
“Like many people have said, it’s awesome for the environment,” Shirley said. “We have saved so much greenhouse gas, even just this week.”
Go By Bike Week will be back in the fall, with hopefully more interactive events if the pandemic restrictions are limited. Don’t worry if you missed out on your Logger Mike pin, there’ll be more available in a few months!
For now, as Charlie said, “try and get out on your bikes more. It’s getting nice out, it’s getting to summer, man.”
Though people have until June 14 to log their final kilometres, Go By Bike Week organizer Linda Nagle said that so far 533 riders have logged their mileage so far. Those riders are on 79 teams, with 281 new riders joining the ranks this year. In total so far, 18,721 km have been ridden and 4,059 kg of greenhouse gasses have been saved.
“Despite the challenging weather we had roughly 120 people attend three celebration stations (Jubilee & Dogwood/the Sportsplex/Dick Murphy Park),” Nagle said. “It was a great mix of avid cyclists, recreational riders and families.”
In the fall 2020 edition, 258 riders signed up, riding 12,406 km and saving 2,690 kg of greenhouse gases over two weeks.
Nagle said prizes will be drawn after everyone has logged their kilometres. The scavenger hunt prize will be drawn this week.
RELATED: First Nation bike program helps foster land-based healing
marc.kitteringham@campbellrivermirror.com
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