Saskatoon Cycles August 2023 Newsletter

Bike Valet: The Mission Continues

Photo courtesty of Blaine G. — Photo courtesy of Blaine G.

The Saskatoon Cycles Bike Valet remains on the march to provide its top-notch services, free to event patrons, in this very busy and celebratory 2023. With the Fringe Festival, FolkFest, Teacher’s Convention, and WEGO venues now in the history books, we are approaching 3,500 parked and guarded bicycles so far for the season! AND WE’RE STILL NOT DONE!

We’re always looking for fantastic volunteers to fill a shift or two, and there are some excellent opportunities coming right up:

Remember, every volunteer in 2023 gets an exclusive Bike Valet T-shirt to keep and wear! It’s not the best *formal* fashionwear you’ll find, but it’s a good quality T, with a nice clean design that lets everyone know you’re part of the best Bike Valet team in Saskatoon.

If you have any questions about the Bike Valet, please contact bikevalet@saskatooncycles.org

3rd Annual Cathy Watts Memorial Slow Roll

On Friday, September 8, 2023, we’ll be honoring our past board chair and bicycling advocate extraordinaire with the 3rd Annual Cathy Watts Memorial Slow Roll. Cathy was a tireless and inspiring community organizer who gave so much energy to a number of organizations, including the local Trans Canada Trail chapter and Jane’s Walk Saskatoon, and brought together many people with her warmth, generous spirit, and baking.

You can view a video of last year’s ride here.

This year’s Slow Roll will start at D’Lish by Tish Cafe at 6PM, and will visit a number of different art installations in Cathy’s spirit of exploration on two wheels!

You can also further celebrate Cathy’s life by donating to Saskatoon Cycles here.

Urban Street Canvas Party

Saskatoon Cycles is excited to be playing a part in the upcoming Urban Street Canvas Party, hosted by Discover Saskatoon on Friday, Sept. 8 and Saturday, Sept. 9 at the Midtown Plaza parking lot.

The event is billed as “a vibrant celebration of artistic expression, urban creativity, and cultural diversity… bring[ing] together local artists, DJs, cultural partners and community… featur[ing] music, murals, art battles, engaging community graffiti projects, a pop-up skatepark, food trucks and more.”

Saskatoon Cycles will be providing a Bike Valet, a “Tune Up Tent” for minor bike fixes (filling tires, adjusting seats, etc.), and a modest skills track for those who want to test their cycling proficiency.

We hope you’ll come down to experience some of the fun and/or pick up a Bike Valet shift (see above link) and hang out with some cycling nerds!

Event times:

Friday, September 8th: 5PM – 8PM
Saturday, September 9th: 10AM – 4PM

Nuit Blanche

Get ready to gear up for another Nuit Blanche “Glow Roll”!

On Saturday, September 23, we’ll be taking to the nighttime Saskatoon streets to tour the many art exhibits on display during this annual extravaganza, described as “a free night-time contemporary arts festival featuring projections, sculptural installations, performance, music, theatre, and other contemporary art forms that wow festival-goers late into the evening.”

We’ll be providing a LOT more detail in the days to come, including a comprehensive route, but for now you can plan to light up your ride as much as possible so that the “Glow Roll” almost becomes a moving art exhibit of its own!

Watch our social media and your inboxes for all the specifics as they become available.

Ride For Refuge

Saskatoon Cycles is proud to once again participate in Ride for Refuge, “a family-friendly fundraising bike + walk in support of local charities serving people seeking hope, safety, and freedom.” The local recipient of the 2023 Ride is Global Gathering Place, which seeks “to engage and support immigrants and refugees to integrate and thrive in Canadian society.” We’re passionate about cycling AND building community, so a ride like this checks off two big boxes for us.

Please consider getting involved by clicking this link. At this page, you can:

DONATE to the Saskatoon Cycles team, or one of our existing riders (read: bragging rights!)
JOIN the Saskatoon Cycles team and start fundraising yourself!

It’s a great cause and a good chance to get out for a fun ride, so please consider playing some role in this year’s Ride for Refuge.

Help Us Find The Gaps!

Saskatoon Cycles has launched “The Gap Finding Project” to identify missing or broken links in existing active transportation infrastructure in Saskatoon. We are seeking community input to better understand and identify:

what obstructions you currently see on your active travels
what infrastructure improvements would increase your likelihood or duration of active travel
where current infrastructure encourages active travel
where to prioritize improvements

Our end goal is to influence the city toward building, expanding, repairing, and/or better maintaining a fully interconnected active travel network for all citizens to enjoy, one that actually supports the city’s stated goals of:

MORE walking and cycling
SAFER walking and cycling
More PLACES for walking and cycling
Build a CULTURE for active transportation
ENCOURAGE other forms of active transportation

We’ve created a form for interested participants to submit their suggested “gaps”, which can be accessed by clicking on this GAP FINDING SURVEY.

We would love to have you, and any other interested contacts you might know, contribute to this database. Please provide as much information as possible for each submission, and please submit as many suggestions as you feel you can.

Donations

Your donations give us the resources to press toward a Saskatoon where cycling is a viable, year-round mode of transportation that is safe, convenient, and comfortable for all ages.

We want your kids and their grandma to simply hop on their bikes to go grab an ice cream and enjoy the beauty of Saskatoon. For you or your partner to pick up groceries or a library book. And we really want you to be able to commute to work and back safely and conveniently.

Your donation helps us work on these three ‘pillars’ of cycling development for Saskatoon:

Infrastructure – A safe, convenient, comfortable and well maintained cycling network throughout the city that allows cyclists to go from every neighbourhood to key destinations
Ridership – Educate, encourage, and promote cycling so more people choose bicycles as a convenient and safe transportation option year round.
Culture – Educate, encourage, and promote diversity in ridership with respectful inclusion of all modes of transportation.

Please Donate Today