90+ local businesses offer freebies and sweet deals to people cycling for Bike to Shop

Written for Daily Hive by Rianna Fiorante, Marketing Manager at HUB Cycling

HUB Cycling’s popular Bike to Shop event returns this summer from August 7-20 and it’s the biggest one yet! Over 90 local businesses in 20 neighbourhoods across Metro Vancouver are offering amazing freebies and sweet deals for people biking to their businesses.

The event is region-wide with businesses from Downtown Vancouver to West Vancouver, Steveston to Port Moody, Langley City to UBC, and in between taking part. Half of the neighbourhoods are taking part from August 7 – 13 and the other half from August 14 – 20 – so you have plenty of opportunities to explore.

Participants can view the businesses participating in each neighbourhood and register for free at bikehub.ca/biketoshop.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by HUB Cycling (@hubcycling)

As we begin to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic and return to our “normal” lives, supporting local businesses remains vitally important if we hope for them to fully recover and regain financial stability. Consumers on two wheels may be the solution. Countless studies have shown over and over again that people cycling are “competitive consumers,” spending dollar for dollar what someone who drives a vehicle is likely to spend. This is supported by the fact that in Metro Vancouver, the average person who bikes to commute has a higher income than the average resident, who makes $41,000 a year.

As the pandemic-caused ‘cycling boom’ continues to soar throughout 2021, with no sign of slowing down, there’s no better time for cycling consumers and local businesses to develop a blossoming relationship. Biking is good for business and community. 

Sanctuary Cafe, a bike-friendly business in Richmond, attests that “Businesses supporting cycling attract a client-base which extends well beyond their surrounding neighbourhood. With the increase in cyclists during COVID, businesses can benefit knowing they are helping customers stay active and helping preserve the environment”.

Businesses in the Strathcona and East Village neighbourhoods are also keen to take advantage of their proximity to the Union/Adanac bikeway and bring more people on bikes to their neighbourhood. Enterprising Women Making Art, a women’s art collective that is a part of Atira Women’s Resource Society, will be offering free coffee and bike-themed buttons with purchase and a draw to win an one-of-a-kind art item. Check out the Bike to Shop schedule to view participating businesses. More businesses are being added weekly.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by HUB Cycling (@hubcycling)

After over a year of no in-person events, HUB Cycling is ecstatic to be running twelve in-person Knowledge HUB stations in participating neighbourhoods during Bike to Shop. Participants can stop by for free basic bike maintenance, snacks, cycling information, giveaways, engage with their local community, and enter to win great prizes. Check out the schedule for locations.

If you’re entirely new to biking to shop, don’t fret.

Follow HUB Cycling on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for tips and tricks on how to easily make cycling to shops a part of your routine or check out ‘The Commuter Bike Shopper’s Checklist’. To get “warmed-up” for Bike to Shop, try challenging yourself this week to do one errand, trip or activity by bike that you’d normally do by vehicle or transit!

Bike to Shop returns to 20 neighbourhoods in Metro Vancouver from August 7-20. Join the movement to show our businesses and local decision-makers how important cycling is for local business and our community. Register for free at bikehub.ca/biketoshop.

HUB Cycling makes cycling better through education, action, research, and events. More people cycling means happier, healthier, more connected communities. Learn more about our work at bikehub.ca

We acknowledge that HUB Cycling, through our various projects, operates on the traditional unceded territories of many First Nations in British Columbia. Learn more about the distinct languages, economic background, and First Nations communities in regions across British Columbia on this interactive map.