Rotary awed by GoByBike participation

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Posted: June 22, 2021

Rotary awed by GoByBike participation

The Sunrise Rotary Club of Cranbrook remains in awe of the local rider registration response to this spring’s GoByBike Cranbrook Week!

Medio Team Champions – EKC RIDERS. Lynnette Wray – Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary President presenting the trophy to Tanya Hansen (left) from the East Kootenay Community Credit Union.

An optimistic goal was set at 500 registered riders for this spring’s campaign after 117 riders participating in 2020. Cranbrook cyclists blew away the goal, and then some, finishing with a total of 1,181 Riders who rode 10,847 Trips for an incredible total of 47,130 Kms biked in just seven days from May 31to June 6.

GoByBikeBC also calculated the Cranbrook cyclist statistics at 1,413,900 calories burned and 10,218 kilograms of greenhouse gases (GHGS) saved. Phenomenal, amazing, remarkable and just plain fantastic! Way to go Cranbrook!

Seventy-Five Teams – Three Champions!

Another incredible statistic was that Cranbrook registered 75 Teams to compete for both provincial and local prizes. The large response enabled Sunrise Rotary organizers to create three new categories – one each for small, medium and large team sizes.

In honour of the Kootenay Rockies Gran Fondo, the Team divisions were named “Piccolo” (two to eight riders), “Medio” (nine to 19 riders) and “Gran” (20+ riders).

Roy Sargent of Reclaimed Timber Solutions and Interior Trophies’ Dick Griffith teamed up to create the three new trophies.

The winners for 2021 are as follows:

The Piccolo Team Champion is Ground Floor Coworking Space with The Paw Shop nipping at their heels for second place.

EKC Riders banked the Medio Team trophy just edging out the City Cycling Squad.

The Gran Team Champion is Elizabeth Lake Lodge.

“When it comes to biking skill level, the Elizabeth Lake Lodge staff is very diverse. Three of our staff borrowed bikes and put on kilometres for the first time in 20 years,” said George Freitag, Team Captain. “One of our staff members works certain hours so she can train for the Penticton Ironman, however this common goal was a wonderful group effort that we all contributed to. The residual effect is that we all will be spending more time on our bikes this year because of GoByBike week.”

What the Elizabeth Lake Lodge employees discovered fits perfectly into the mandate of the provincial parent organization.

GoByBike BC Society envisions a future in which as many people as possible experience the joy of using bicycles for everyday transportation. Cranbrook is saddling up more each year and doing its part to help BC pedal forward toward that goal. Continual improvements to the city’s cycling infrastructure is also going a long way to help create a safer community for cycling.

A huge thank you from the Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary Club to all the participating Cyclists & Teams, Sponsors, Supporters, Students, School Staffs, Parents and Volunteers for making the GoByBike Cranbrook Week so exciting. We cannot wait until the Fall event when we all work together again to bring more fun bike riding activities to Cranbrook for the GoByBikeBC’s autumn campaign – September 27-October 10.

Best wishes for a wonderful and safe summer riding your bicycles with your family and friends!

Lead image: Gran Team Champions – Elizabeth Lake Lodge. Back row – Shelby Lehmann and Alex McLeod. Front row from left – Liam Thompson, Deidre Rundberg, Amanda Thompson, Lochlann Freitag, Elizabeth McLeod, Paul Freitag, Tricia McLeod, Rachel Freitag, George Freitag, Lynnette Wray – Cranbrook Sunrise Rotary President. Not pictured – Alyssa Williams, Anika Fleming, Rob Crowder, Mike Kosof, Carson Damm, Becky Lockhart, Daryl Calder, Michelle Freitag, Thomas Gilhooly, Brian McMahon, Michael McMahon.