Saskatoon Cycles December 2024 Newsletter
Winter is Here!
As 2024 strides toward the exit, and our holidays wind down, it’s worth looking back on the year that was as a part of gearing up for the years to come.
We saw a lot of political turbulence, with three elections (SK Provincial, US National, and Saskatoon Municipal) held within 17 days in October/November. There’s now the likelihood of a Canadian federal election early in the New Year. All of these results will impact our future, and may challenge our collective notion of “normal”for the foreseeable future.
For those of us concerned about climate change, and human responses to address it (including cycling), the electoral trends aren’t exactly promising: Sustainability, both economic and environmental, seems to be unfashionable in the global frenzied rush to grow bigger and faster. Wars command our attention and disrupt efforts to cooperate. Artificial Intelligence and mis/disinformation expands inexorably. Institutions feel shaky. Uncertainty abounds.
Hopefully these existential issues will strengthen our collective resolve, and 2025 will mark the beginning of new efforts to build community, think creatively, and find solutions that work for our city and beyond. Perhaps we’ll figure out better ways to bring people together and get us all excited about a cleaner, greener, more inclusive tomorrow.
Saskatoon Cycles is planning on being a part of this constructive future. We’ll continue building on the programs we already deliver while aiming to start some new initiatives. We’ll be working on strengthening old relationships and developing new ones. We hope you’ll join us; the tasks are easier and more fun when they’re done together.
Thanks to everyone who participated in making our city greater in 2024. We hope you’ve had a wonderful holiday season, and we wish you all the very best in 2025.
Slow Roll: 2025 Season
We’ve had some absolutely delicious Slow Rolls so far this winter. The people have (of course!) been friendly and enthusiastic, the paths have been mostly well groomed, and the temperatures have ranged from pleasant to survivable.
We’ve checked out the new Dudley Street bikeway and shared-use path (recently fully cleared of snow, according to reports), the Gabriel Dumont paths, Meewasin Trail, and Holiday Park/Circle Drive path. As always, winter brings its usual challenges (“brown sugar” or “snirt”, cold, ice, etc.) but the tracks don’t lie; people are out cycling through it all, and our modest Slow Rolls are adding to the traffic.
The Slow Roll 2025 season has been posted already, so you can start marking your calendars for a fun, leisurely paced ride around some of the most picturesque sections of the city.
Our first ride of 2025 will be the “It’s Frosty out There” tour, coming up on Saturday, January 25th. We hope the weather will be cooperative and/or seductive enough for you to come and join us!
Click here for the 2025 Slow Roll calendar!
Cycling Data
Awwww, our final pitch in 2024 to install Strava on your mobile device!
The anonymized data that Strava collects helps to inform the discussion around cycling infrastructure and patterns around Saskatoon. With the right information, city planners and advocates can help steer decision making in an evidence-based way.
Some of the best data is just you sharing your biking routes and experiences through a couple of apps that aggregates this data and keeps it anonymous.
1. Install Strava on your phone and track every ride or walk you take. You only need a free account. And if you already use a tracking app, check to see if it has a Strava integration. There are more than 100 apps that Strava connects with.
Strava takes the data from all users in an area and creates the Strava heatmap. Images from these heatmaps can be a powerful visual to show that there are cyclists and walkers using the streets all over Saskatoon (like this presentation on Circle Drive on Ave C). But we need as many cyclists as possible to be using this system!
2. Bookmark Bikemaps.org and report every time you have a cycling crash, a near-miss, see a cycling hazard, or have your bike stolen. This is NOT instead of calling an ambulance or the police. Absolutely do that first if it’s needed!!
Bikemaps.org is a system that aims to catch as many as possible of the almost 70% of all cycling incidents or near misses that don’t get reported officially.
Year End Donations Welcomed!
We can’t let 2024 end without a final pitch for financial support too!
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 families to be able 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.