5-minute read
Written by Casey Clair, Energy & Climate Advocate
It’s Bike Week, Winnipeg! Now’s the perfect time to grab your bicycle and join the ride. Not only is biking a great low-impact way to stay active this summer, it’s also a 200-year old solution to reducing fuel consumption, cutting down noise pollution, and avoiding greenhouse gas emissions.
Bike Week Winnipeg rolls now through June 14, and a ton of local businesses and organizations are getting involved. Our friends at Harvest Manitoba, Assiniboine Credit Union, and Manitoba Blue Cross are a few of the locals hosting Pit Stops to keep you hydrated and moving during tomorrow’s Bike to Work Day events presented by CAA. To find a full list of pit stop locations, check out Bike Week Winnipeg’s pit stop map.
How to Participate in Bike Week and Start Biking
The only thing you need to reduce your emissions, increase your activity, and get rolling is… a bike! But maybe you’re still rocking the same size-small Schwinn you grew up with – training wheels and all. Or maybe you’ve got a flat on your trusty two-wheeled chariot you’re looking to get repaired.
Luckily, Winnipeg’s home to a ton of great local bike shops where friendly staff are happy to help you find a new ride, or get your existing one road ready. We recently sat down with one such local shop for a quick breakdown of the best kinds of bikes on the market whether you’re a beginner or a veteran road and gravel warrior.
Bikes & Beyond, located just off Henderson Highway, is a full-service bike shop, with a range styles from urban and commuter bikes, to mountain, to gravel bikes.
Photo provided by Bikes & Beyond
Brett Zagozewski, Owner, Bikes & Beyond, gave us a quick and helpful breakdown for each.
- Urban Bikes – “A comfort urban or a hybrid urban bike with a faster rolling tire, again, a nice comfortable position so people can zip around the city quickly.”
- Mountain Bikes – “A relatively comfortable bike to ride with suspension and a little bit of a bigger tire for better grip and comfort.”
- Road and Gravel Bikes – “A drop style handlebar. People consider this the road racing type of bike. And those are meant for people who they want to get around the streets a little quicker or like doing longer touring rides outside of the city.”
- E-Bikes – “Cover all those genres as well. E-bikes have two models, there’s pedal assist where your feet are the throttle, so the e-bike won’t help you out unless you’re moving your feet…Then there’s the ones with the throttle that allow you to give yourself a little bit of a break, push the throttle, and zip around a little bit more.”
Obviously, Brett knows his product. But another thing you’ll notice when you visit your local bike shop and chat with the staff is just how much they genuinely love the hobby. Their passion can be contagious, and in Brett’s case, deeply rooted.
Brett told us his passion for biking began in childhood, and a family friend introduced him to the world of mountain bike racing. The thrill of competition and love for the sport stuck with him, eventually growing into the business he runs today – one that’s about bikes, but building community, too.
Bikes & Beyond goes beyond sales. As active members of the Elmwood community, they give back in meaningful ways like providing bike helmets to kids through bike draws during Happy Days on Henderson or hosting repair booths at local night markets. If you’re hoping to catch them in action this summer, Happy Days on Henderson is happening on June 14 from 1:00 – 3:00 pm at 180 Poplar Avenue, and admission is free!
So, whether you’re riding for competition, community, health, or simply to take in everything Winnipeg has to offer – while reducing your carbon footprint – this week is a great time to get rolling.
And if you ever need a new ride, some gear, or a friendly face, make sure to check out Bikes and Beyond and chat with Brett.
