Saskatoon Cycles May 2023 Newsletter

Saskatoon Cycles’ Statement on Natasha Fox

Saskatoon Cycles mourns the death of Natasha Fox, and extends our deepest condolences to her family, friends, colleagues, and loved ones. The more we learn of Natasha, the longer this list appears to become.

The 33 year old mother, wife, teacher, and athlete was killed while riding her bike on May 24, 2023 at the intersection of College Drive and Wiggins Avenue in Saskatoon. Her death was witnessed directly by her two young sons, who were cycling with her, and others in the intersection. The loss to the community has been immediate and deeply traumatic; beyond the heartbreaking personal grief many have shared, stories from cyclists around the city have flooded media spaces with their shared experiences, fears, and frustrations, now heightened in the aftermath. No one wants what happened to Natasha to happen to them, or anyone else, ever again.

Saskatoon Cycles will continue to press the City of Saskatoon to do everything in its power to make active transportation safer. However, that advocacy is an every day affair, ingrained in every thing we do and will continue in the future.

What we want to amplify now is an appreciation for who Natasha was as a person, the effect she had on the people around her, and a respect for the grief and hurt that so many are feeling right now.

There will be a Natasha Fox Memorial Bike Ride held at 4PM Wednesday, May 31, starting at The Bowl on U of S campus. This is being organized independently of Saskatoon Cycles, but with the Fox family’s acknowledgement, we are endorsing it.

Facebook Event information is here.

Bike Valet

The Bike Valet is back for 2023, and we’ve already got a Saskatchewan Marathon venue under our belts. Hopefully you’ve spent the off-season honing your bike parking skills, or dreaming of developing some, because we’ve got the shifts for you.

If the Bike Valet is new to you, visit our page here to learn more about it.

Coming up *right away* is the Nutrien Children’s Festival, Thursday, June 1 – Sunday, June 4, 2023.

We could use some extra hands with set up on Wednesday, May 31st as well, so if that’s more your style, sign up quick!

Want to get a head start on upcoming Bike Valet opportunities? Sign up for these events just around the corner:

In case the fun of a Bike Valet shift isn’t quite enough incentive for you, sign up early and often to secure your fancy Bike Valet Volunteer t-shirt! New for this season, we’ll have limited numbers and sizes, so get involved quick to get the right fit!

Thanks to our sponsors: Meridian Surveys, Bike Doctor, Soccer Locker, and the City of Saskatoon!

We look forward to seeing you!

Membership Launch

Get a Saskatoon Cycles membership and add your voice to the calls for change.

When you become a member of Saskatoon Cycles, you help us advocate for new, expanded, or better places to ride throughout the city. We engage at City Hall with both elected officials and administration staff to keep active transportation issues on the front burner with a steady, constructive voice. The more members contributing to that voice, the more clout we have.

By joining Saskatoon Cycles, you also connect to activities and programs that educate, support, and encourage more people to ride and enjoy the freedom of being on a bicycle. There is strength in numbers at every level of our work.

Membership fees provide stable, “no-strings” funding that allow us to invest in all kinds of projects we believe will move the needle on cycling here in Saskatoon. The more “investment memberships” we can get, the more work we can do. If you can afford to help us “gear up” and launch Saskatoon into a next-level cycling city, please join us!

We won’t turn anyone away from having a voice in cycling in Saskatoon. If you can’t afford a “Gear Membership” you can choose your own amount, including $0, by selecting Low Income/Student and be a member in good standing.

Get your Saskatoon Cycles membership today!

Help Erin Help Others

Local cycling enthusiast extraordinaire Erin McFarland will be riding for the Great Cycling Challenge again this year to help raise money to support children with cancer. She is a regular participant in Saskatoon Cycles activities, and we’ve had our “spotlight” on her for a while, so this seemed like a logical time to get the word out on the great work she does.

You can watch her interview with Global, read the article, and donate to her Great Cycling Challenge page here.

Good luck, Erin!

Pedal Poll 2023 – June 6 – 11

Velo Canada Bikes’ 2023 Pedal Poll is a chance to evaluate the state of cycling in our communities. Together we get a “snapshot” of what cycling looks like in communities across Canada, at the same time, year over year.

This year, they’re switching things up. Velo Canada Bikes wants to learn about the mode share for cycling in communities across Canada. This means counting the number of cyclists, pedestrians, personal and oversized vehicles at locations across your community. The data collected helps build the case for more, and better, cycling infrastructure. The data will be there for everyone to use to advocate for access to safe cycling choices for everyone, everywhere.

This year’s poll starts on Tuesday, June 6 and runs to Sunday, June 11. Sign up for a two hour shift and help build up the numbers!

Click here to see available shifts and to sign up.

Learn more about the Pedal Poll here.

BYXE Week

Ward Frondall: winner of the Great Saskatoon Bike Passport Adventure $500 Bike Doctor prize!

It feels somewhat incongruous to celebrate anything to do with bikes in a week that has seen such darkness, but joy and pain oftentimes coexist. While we mourn, we also need to remind ourselves why we bike: it’s fun, active, community building, and better for the planet!

This spring BYXE Week ran from May 15 -21. Activities ranged from the new Great Saskatoon Bike Passport Adventure to the venerable Bike to Work Day commuting celebration. We saw slow rolls, tune-ups, a professional photo shoot (!), tutus, a lots and lots of selfies.

We had hundreds of prize entries, over 1600 commuter visits at 13 stations, 15 businesses involved in a sticker distribution frenzy, and over $800 in prizes that are *still* being distributed.

We cannot thank enough ALL of you who participated in our many activities and helped bring such joyful energy to the week. We thank the City of Saskatoon for its support and assistance to make the events happen. And we very much appreciate all of the business community that stepped up with donations and engagement to help make things swaggy!

Enjoy BYXE every week. Stay safe and we’ll see you for some winter BYXE spirit in a few months!

ParticipACTION’s Community Challenge 2023!

Saskatoon Cycles is proud to be a part of this year’s ParticipACTION Community Challenge, an annual event that helps everyone enjoy the many physical and mental benefits of getting active together!

This national initiative encourages everyone in Canada to get active throughout June,
ultimately recognizing Canada’s Most Active Community and awarding it with $100,000 to
support local physical activity and sport initiatives.

Saskatoon Cycles was awarded a Community Challenge grant to help us launch the “Start Rolling” program, designed to match newcomers to Canada with their own bicycles, locks, and cycling instruction. With the partnership of the Bridge City Bicycle Co-op and Saskatoon Open Door Society, and additional support from SaskTel, we began that process in early May, and hope to have these participants out racking up minutes for the challenge throughout June!

Anyone can participate in the ParticipACTION Community Challenge by downloading and
tracking their movement in the free ParticipACTION app from June 1-30, or by joining local
activities like our “Start Rolling” Slow Rolls every Saturday afternoon in June (see Slow Roll page for more info).

Let’s put Saskatoon on the Community Challenge map this year!

The ParticipACTION Community Challenge is proudly supported by the Government of
Canada, Saputo and Sun Life.

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

Get your Tees for Christmas giving

Ride into Winter BYXE Week 2023!!

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