On Saturday, May 24 bring your bikes and your family down to Thunderbird Memorial Square in Abbotsford (at City Hall) to get ready for Bike to Work Week with free bike safety checks provided by Life Cycles Bike Shop, helmet fitting, a kids' bike derby, bike decorating contest, free barbeque, and a family bike ride.
The event starts at noon with Sonic Nation radio station kicking it off with today’s greatest hits.
Fraser Valley residents are encouraged to show up with their bikes decorated and judging for the bike decorating contest will take place at 12:30 p.m. Prizes will be awarded for the best decorated boys' bike, girls' bike, adult male bike, and adult female bike.
Free bike safety checks will give participants the opportunity to get their bikes in shape.
Free proper helmet fitting will ensure residents’ helmets protect them in the safest way possible.
Residents can enjoy a free barbecue and also have the opportunity to register for Bike to Work Week on-site, if they haven’t already done so.
This year, registered participants have an opportunity to enter to win a lot of prizes including a grand prize of a Cuban cycling tour for two provided by Exodus Travel. This prize package includes round trip air fare, hotel accommodations, and planned routes and itinerary with support cars to follow. The minimum age for this trip is 16 years.
To be eligible to win any of the prizes, participants register for free at www.biketowork.ca and only need to cycle one day during Bike to Work Week to be entered into the prize draw. If people cannot cycle to work or school, they can cycle to run errands, meet friends for coffee, or anywhere else that they’d normally drive to in order to qualify for the prize draw.
“The goal is to cut down the use of a vehicle during Bike to Work Week and use a bike instead,” says Terri-Lynn Gifford, program co-ordinator. “We hope people discover that biking to get where they need to go can be enjoyable and do-able—in many cases.”
Bike to Work Week runs May 26 to June 1 across B.C this year. Last year, close to 20,000 participants B.C.-wide saved 209,610 kg of greenhouse gases from entering the atmosphere in just one week.