Saskatoon Cycles May 2020 Newsletter
Editor’s Note: We have updated the featured image for our May newsletter. A number of our members and followers on social media noted that the original image — of a young girl riding with a fabric mask and no helmet — was a poor choice for an organization that is working to make cycling safer and more accessible in Saskatoon. They’re right. We blew it. And we’re sorry. We liked the image because it was cute and timely. We can’t recall the email newsletter, but we have changed the image on our website. And we’ve invited a guest blog post from Cara Zukewich, Child Injury Prevention Program Coordinator with the Saskatchewan Prevention Institute.
Under the B…
Want to get to know #yxe better, and see how much fun it is to get around town by bicycle? Play Bike Bingo! Big shout out to SC Crystal (@partunia) for developing the game cards (there’s a regular adult version and a family/kids version). Check out our new blog post for all the details. Did we mention there are prizes? What are you waiting for? 3…2…1…Go!
Opening more space for cyclists, pedestrians during pandemic
Thank you to the more than 350 people who added their names in support of our open letter to the City of Saskatoon. Obviously, we’re disappointed that we received no direct response from the City and that administration has chosen not to make any changes at this time.
We encourage you to submit a message to your city councillor, expressing your opinion on this issue. Find your councillor on this list, click on their name, then click on “Contact Councillor” in the right hand column.
Cycling apps
There are host of different apps available that can enrich your riding experience. Over the next few issues of our newsletter, we’ll introduce you to some of them. Below, Saskatoon Cycles board member Zach MacGregor introduces some apps related to navigation and mapping your routes:
Strava – It’s the ubiquitous app that a lot of athletes use. I use it because it is popular and therefore has lots of tie-ins. Basic functionality is free; other functionality is subscription based.
- Pro Bike Garage is a nice tie-in with Strava. It tracks how many hours/km I put on my bikes and their components. This way I know exactly how many km I get out of a chain or BB, etc. You can even put in maintenance intervals so you get reminded to do it.
- Klimat automatically fills in the weather data on each of my rides. I think this functionality is built into Strava now, but I’m not 100% sure.
Strava has a large user base so they have lots of data available to them and they use this to build a heat map. It is an interesting way to see which routes are popular. Building on this idea, they have a route builder website. It’s beta and pretty basic, but you can click to create waypoints and it will build a route between them. You can tell it to use the most popular route or flattest route. One more neat feature of Strava is called flyby: You can view other users that have done the same ride as you to compare performance. This is always fun to check after something like the MS Bike ride.
Other mapping/route apps that I’ve heard of or know people that use
Build your knowledge on active transportation and urbanism
Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve come across a number of great websites, webinars, courses, and zoom events related to urbanism, active transportation, and city planning. If you have the time, this is a great opportunity to build your knowledge in these topics.
- Rebalancing Streets (Webinar, from Share the Road)
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1dBn9khQwvs283-Y1mw_LW_wmlcn-z3IQ/view
- Unravelling the Cycling City (Coursera / University of Amsterdam)
As we are not travelling anywhere these days this is a great course about cycling in the Netherlands. Get your bike fix here.
https://www.coursera.org/learn/unraveling-the-cycling-city
- Strong Towns
The way we build our cities now squanders precious resources that should be used to make our communities more prosperous. We are trading short-term growth for long-term liabilities and it’s slowly bankrupting us. We deserve better.
Used Bike Sale and Expo
It was really disappointing to have to cancel our Used Bike Sale and Expo, which was scheduled to run May 8th and 9th at Brunskill School. We hope to be able to host this event again next spring. There seem to be many more people out riding bikes. Let’s hope that this becomes the new normal and that there are lots of people looking for good quality used bikes at a reasonable price next spring.
Where are you riding?
We’d like to hear about the interesting places you’re visiting and safe routes you’re riding. Send a note to info@saskatooncycles.ca if you have suggestions you’d like to share with other members.
Ideas on how Saskatoon Cycles can promote cycling at this time?
We are thrilled that SC member Crystal stepped up with the idea to host Bike Bingo. If you have other ideas on how we can promote cycling through the summer months, send us a note (info@saskatooncycles.ca).
Switching Gears bike radio
Tyler Rittinger has started a great local program about cycling. Don’t miss Switching Gears Thursday nights at 6:30 pm on CFCR community radio 90.5 FM. (@GearsRadio on Twitter / switchinggearsbikeradio on Instagram)
Biking boom in Canada (CBC The Current, with Matt Galloway)
With quieter roads and fewer cars, there’s a biking boom happening across Canada. We look at whether it will last, and what could be done to make it safer on our streets. (Click here to listen to May 6th episode – segment on cycling starts at 25 minute mark)
Help support the work of Saskatoon Cycles
Because of the pandemic, we cannot host two of our main fundraisers — the Used Bike Sale and Expo and our Bike Valet service. However, we still have expenses to keep our non-profit volunteer organization intact. If you could help us at this time by donating even just the equivalent of a couple cups of coffees a month, we would really appreciate your support. Find out how you can support our work financially here. To find out how you can donate your time to support our work, send an email message to info@saskatooncycles.ca.
