The Orillia Bike Challenge
Sustainable Orillia and co-hosts, The Bike Stop of Orillia and the Simcoe-Muskoka District Health Unit, are pleased to present The Orillia Bike Challenge. It launches at a registration event Sunday May 14from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Orillia Recreation Centre parking lot – bring your bike.
Participants in The Challenge are asked—instead of driving—to ride their bicycles to work, to school, or indeed anywhere, during a four-week period between Friday May 19 and Friday June 16. Participants can register online and then track their cycle trips by downloading the Strava app (free) and joining the Sustainable Orillia Bike Challenge club on Strava. Total trips will determine a winner and a number of additional prizes are available for participants.
Prizes and certificates (from the Bike Stop of Orillia and a private donor) based on the number of trips made by bicycle during the period of the challenge regardless of distance travelled will be awarded at a wrap-up event on June 16. Even trips to the corner store will count. May 19is Bike to Work Day in Canada and the U.S.
The May 14 launch event at the Rec Centre parking lot will enable participants to:
- register for and learn the rules of The Orillia Bike Challenge,
- learn how and where to bike safely (required bike equipment, rules of the road, bylaw info, etc.)
- receive a Cyclist Handbook courtesy of Cycle Toronto
- get the scoop on the health benefits of cycling from Charlotte Knegt, RN BScN, Public Health Nurse.
The Orillia Bike Challenge supports the City of Orillia’s climate change action plan, Orillia’s Climate Future. The plan’s Big Move #2 is all about changes in transportation – increasing the uptake of zero-emission vehicles and making investments in public transit and active transportation.
