Go by Bike Week returns to Metro Vancouver next week

Hub Cycling

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

Since the start of the pandemic, the number of trips taken by bike has increased by 30% in the City of Vancouver alone. The Beach Avenue Bikeway, implemented last summer to assist people with physical distancing, has become the busiest cycling route across Vancouver, regularly exceeding 10,000 trips per day.

In May 2020, municipalities across Metro Vancouver – including New Westminster, Richmond and North Vancouver – reallocated under-utilized road space to make it easier and safer for residents to walk and cycle around their city. With this year’s warm Spring weather, bike shops across Metro Vancouver are once-again experiencing record-breaking sales and limited supply as people itching to get out of their homes turn to cycling for health and wellness.

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“During this pandemic, more people have adopted cycling or walking as their main mode of transportation,” said Navdeep Chhina, HUB Cycling’s Director of Campaigns & Inclusion. “We must support them in adapting this behavioural change as a long-term habit so that we can build healthier, connected communities.”

And with the announcement of more than 1 million doses of the Pfizer vaccine set to arrive in May, bringing us closer to the end of this pandemic, there is no better time to celebrate the ‘silver lining’ that the pandemic did bring us: a significant uptick in cycling.

HUB Cycling’s Go by Bike Week returns to Metro Vancouver from May 31 to June 6 to celebrate cycling in all its glory. Go by Bike Week is a week-long behaviour change campaign aimed to showcase how resilient cycling is as a mode of transportation.

During the week-long event, HUB Cycling encourages people to get out and ride their bikes anywhere and everywhere. Participants are encouraged to log their bike trips during the week at btww.ca for a chance to win great prizes, track kilometres, and see how many greenhouse gas emissions have been saved by ‘going by bike’. All bike trips count – trips to work, the grocery story, the gym, for leisure and beyond!

The event features free webinars on cycling, covering a range of topics including: Intro to City Cycling, Cycling for All Abilities, Cycling for the Body and Mind, Cycling for Sustainable Cities, and Intro to E-Bikes. It also includes online yoga classes, free bike maintenance offered at select bike shops across Metro Vancouver (which is especially hard to come by these days), and a chance to win amazing prizes by logging your trips. Check out the full event schedule here.

This year’s grand prize is a Cycling Adventure for two “Cycling the Dalmatian Coast” in Croatia, sponsored by Exodus Travel. Participants can also win daily prizes from Dunbar Cycles, Scandinave Spa, Allan McGavin Sports Medicine Clinic, Park Royal, Arc’teryx and Rad Power Bikes by logging their bike trips at btww.ca from May 31 to June 6.

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As always, registration for the event is free. Be a part of this cycling celebration and register for Go by Bike Week at btww.ca.

Today, also marks the beginning of the ‘Ride Hour Challenge’ – a week-long event showcasing how local champions use one hour of their day outside on their bikes. From today until May 30, HUB Cycling will reshare stories of how local leaders incorporate cycling into their lives and share it via Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Last year, marked HUB Cycling’s inaugural Ride Hour Challenge on #WorldCarFreeDay where local leaders like Bowinn Ma, MLA – North Vancouver-Lonsdale Community Office, and Khelsilem, councillor for the Squamish Nation Council, took part.

Share your own ride hour challenge from now until June 6th by using the hashtag #RideHourChallenge and tagging HUB Cycling at @WeAreHUB on Facebook and Twitter, or @hubcycling on Instagram for a chance to win two Imagine Van Gogh tickets for June 11!

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