Brampton Bike Hub and Caledon Bike Hub exceeded their program goals with 46 BikeWrx pop-up events.
120 hours were provided to 2,348 residents across 17 locations over 4 months.
BikeBrampton and PCHS have delivered Year Three of Region of Peel’s Community Cycling Program. In March 2021, we welcomed full time Program Manager, Sonia Maset, to take up the mantle of designing and implementing this ambitious program. Sonia excelled at hiring summer students and acquiring eager volunteers to support the pop-ups.
Check out the impressive 2021 11 12 Year Three Interim Report – Final which covers activities from March through October 2021.
Bramalea Secondary School BikeWrx Pop-up, Principal Fraser Kidd, Vice-Principal Stafford Lowe, Sept 24th
Venues for the program’s activities have been generously provided by PCHS, City of Brampton, Town of Caledon, Heart Lake Baptist Church, and Bramalea Secondary School.
Services at these events included free Region of Peel bike bell and light installation, ABC Quick checks, basic repairs, bike and helmet fittings, route planning, trail etiquette, 8 group rides, 7 obstacle courses, and one-on-one rider education.
Continuing to offer these services in 2021 not only allowed us to significantly enhance visibility, but to also reach residents who otherwise would have remained unaware of the community cycling services available within the Brampton and Caledon communities. Over the course of the season, we estimate to have installed over a thousand bells/lights and provided mechanical evaluation and tune-ups to over 1,852 bikes.
A tremendous amount of time and energy was devoted to making these events a success. As of August 30th, 103 volunteers and staff contributed over 1,080 hours to the delivery of pop-ups alone. 59 of these volunteers were recruited through the Volunteer Resources Team from the Region of Peel, with 9 returning multiple times. Having Region of Peel Volunteers also provided a unique opportunity to train and educate additional residents on basic bike mechanics as well as more in-depth practical cycling education over the two-to-threehour Pop-Up sessions. The core team delivering pop-ups grew from 11 at the beginning of the summer to 29 near the end. Many of these new volunteers are high-school aged and eager to develop their mechanical and practical riding skills.
Mayor Patrick Brown, Councillor Charmaine Williams, their families, Grupo Bimbo volunteers, BikeBrampton volunteers at Brampton Bike Hub BikeWrx pop-up, Chinguacousy Park, Sep 18th.
The goal for the season was also to deliver all equipment for events in Brampton by bicycle.
Thanks to a generous donation from Grupo Bimbo (Canada Bread), the program acquired and customized 2 bike cargo trailers from local Guelph manufacturing company, WIKE.
Thank you to our part-time Summer Students Avani, Anandi, Joshua, and Owen who hauled 60-75kg of equipment rain or shine and showed us how capable bicycles truly are!
At the start of the season, students participated in a brief 2-hour on-road training courtesy of mentors Lisa and Steve to prepare them for the long hauls ahead. Equipment for these events was graciously stored in the garages, sheds, and backyards of Dennis, Lucie, Indra, Steve, Alina, Heidi, and Yvon, as well as at the bike cage in 50 Sunny Meadow Blvd.
With many new volunteers living close to Professors Lake and Carabram Parks, riding to and from these events provided a unique opportunity to overlap mentorship program to some of the volunteers helping at events. With many returning volunteers, group rides were arranged both to events as well as the “haul houses” where equipment was being stored. Great work to Sanjana, Morgan, Avani, Anandi, Tejvinder, Vasanth, Krishna, Kapil, Tahmoor, and Yash who accompanied us on over 20 rides throughout the season!
Caledon Bike Hub Inglewood BikeWrx pop-up, Oct 8th
Youtube Videos on Cycling Safety:
Be Heard, Be Aware, Be Predictable, Be Seen, Be Courteous, Be Comfortable, ABC Quick Check, Kids talk about Biking Video
BikeWrx Group Ride — Lisa, David and Dayle guided participants on group ride down the Main Street bike lane, Sept 6th.
BikeWrx Obstacle Course & Grupo Bimbo sponsored WIKE cargo bike trailer, Chris Gibson, Sept 4th
BikeWrx Obstacle Course instruction by staff summer student, Chris Gibson, Sept 4th
Bike Library
44 bikes were borrowed and 27 junior size bikes were donated to Massey Street Public School for their Bike Swap program in June. Another 23 adult bikes were donated in October for Massey’s collaborative Fix-a-thon event next spring.
Program Manager Sonia Maset at Brampton Bike Hub bike cage with loaded cargo bike trailer and City of Brampton Trail User Safety poster
This is a brief summary of the 2021 activities. Read the full 2021 11 12 Year Three Interim Report – Final
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