Column: "Water theme for Earth Day", and: MRBERT!

My column in the Maple Ridge News of April 10, 2015 is about our 4th annual Cycle Recycle and about the launch of MRBERT:

"At the upcoming Earth Day event on April 18, HUB is going to have lots of bikes to give away! We saved some bikes from the Recycle Depot, and we've also had quite a few donations from individuals this year, especially of kid's bikes. So thank you to Ridge Meadows Recycling Society and all those who donated their bikes! They've all been cleaned already, and one of our committee members is presently hard at work doing some needed repairs.

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Note that we've made a change of plans with regard to the Cycle Recycle. Since we have over 20 bikes to give away, we decided to have two draws instead of one. The first one will be at 11:30 am by Ross Davies of KEEPS, the second one at 1:30 pm by Queen Elsa (Frozen).

Some of MRBERT's members: John, Dave and Alex

Earth Day 2014: HUB's Cycle Recycle photos

Here are some photos of our annual Cycle Recycle at Earth Day 2014 in Maple Ridge:

Bikes have all been cleaned and are ready to go

Barry trucked all 16 bikes and the parts box over to Memorial Peace Park - photo: Geoff Hancock

Hmmm...what's this all about? Free bikes? Really?

There are Gerry Pinel of GETI and John McKenzie, who's keeping a close eye on his bike.

Dave takes his job as Chief Mechanic pretty serious... - photo Geoff Hancock

with Geoff as his assistant.

Barry checking some brakes and Dave looking for more work - photo Geoff Hancock

Dave replacing a broken pedal - photo Geoff Hancock

Barry pumped all the tires to perfection - photo Geoff Hancock

Lindy Sisson, Exec. Dir. of the ACT, announcing the winners of the draw - photo Geoff Hancock

The best part of the event: the happy faces! - photo Geoff Hancock

Cycle Recycle at Earth Day 2014 on April 26

HUB will be back at Maple Ridge Earth Day 2014 with our Cycle Recycle. The Earth Day event happens this year on April 26, from 10 am to 2 pm.

It looks like we may have more than 10 used bikes to give away.  Some kid's bikes, some adult bikes; a great selection.

I just found out today that we'll get a prime location this time in Memorial Peace Park instead of our regular, rather hidden location in front of the Leisure Centre; this time we'll be between the bandstand and the ACT, right in the middle of all the action.

Drop by in the morning to take a look at the bikes we have. Enter a ticket for each bike you're interested in. You can only win one bike though! The draw will be at 1:00 pm, by Lindy Sisson, Executive Director of the ACT. The winners of the bikes will have to be present during the draw; if not, we'll have to draw another ticket.

Some of the bikes may need some minor repairs, so we'll be busy with that in the morning. Good opportunity to learn something about bike mechanics!

We'll borrow the bike engraver from the RCMP Crime Prevention Unit. Good idea to have your name or driver's licence engraved on your bike. If it ever gets stolen, it'll be easy for the RCMP to find its rightful owner. Good reason to bike to Earth Day, if doing it just for the benefit of the environment and your health weren't good enough reasons yet!

To find out more about what's happening at this year's Earth Day, check out the information on the Ridge Meadows Recycle website, and the Celebrate Earth Day in Maple Ridge facebook page.

Pedal power in Budapest

Well, I guess the weather was a little bit better in Budapest on Saturday than in Maple Ridge on Sunday, judging from the photo in this article, which undoubtedly was why they got so many more cyclists out for their Earth Day weekend ride (tens of thousands) than we did for ours to Goodbye Chums (uhm....four). Well, that was of course not the only reason. Very inspiring article, and it shows that even cities that don't start off with a "bicycle culture" can change very quickly.

Earth Day Maple Ridge April 21: photos bikes for the give-away!

As promised, here are some pictures of the bikes we'll be giving away on Saturday. This is so exciting!! Thank you to Ridge Meadows Recycling Society for helping us to save these bikes, and also thank you to any generous donors!

If you're interested in winning one of these bikes, drop by for the draws at 10:30 and 12:30 at the Earth Day celebrations in Memorial Peace Park. We'll be in front of the Leisure Centre. Make sure you get there early, so you have enough time to take a look at the bikes and fill out tickets for the bikes that you're interested in.

After each draw, the new owners of some of the bikes will have the opportunity to learn how to do some minor repairs under the guidance of Dustin, Maple Ridge Cycle's qualified bike mechanic, or one of our knowledgeable VACC volunteers. Others can watch and learn as well!

Earth Day 2012 celebrations in Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge

We've been awfully quiet lately. First it was cold and rainy, so I thought I'd take a break, and then we got some great sunny biking weather, so guess what I was doing!?

Anyway, I'm happy to tell you that we'll be once again involved with the Earth Day events in both Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge.

Earth Day in Pitt Meadows will be celebrated on Thursday April 19, in Hoffman Park, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. We'll have an information booth there, so drop by for a chat, some colouring sheets and word searches for the kids, or a free bike map. If you haven't seen a velomobile before, we'll have one on display. We're also offering free bike parking.

We'll be at the Earth Day celebrations in Maple Ridge in Memorial Peace Park on Sat. April 21, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. This year's event is going to be a blast! Ridge Meadows Recycling Society is celebrating its 40th anniversary, and they're blowing out all stops! Do check out the link to see all the awesome activities that are being planned for this day.

Together with RMRS, the VACC is organizing a free bike give-away. We have been asking people to donate any unwanted/unused bikes that are gathering dust in a corner of the garage for this purpose. We are selecting bikes for this that will only need minor repairs, if any. We already have a number of mostly adults' and some kids' bikes. If you have a bike that you would like to get rid of, you can drop it off at the Recycling Depot on River Road. If you're not able to drop it off, send me an e-mail at jchow23708@yahoo.ca, and we can arrange to have it picked up.

We'll have 2 draws: one at 10:00 (10:30) and one at 12:00 (12:30). Come check out the bikes and try them out. We will provide some helmets, but bring your own if you wish. 3 Winners of both the morning and the afternoon draws will get the chance to learn how to do some minor repairs on their 'new' bikes under the watchful eye of Dustin, a qualified bike mechanic (courtesy of Maple Ridge Cycle) or one of our own volunteers.

We will also have our Translink bus bike rack at this event, so don't miss this opportunity to practice this simple, but for some possibly intimidating, skill. Steve's velomobile will be there too, so if you didn't have a chance to admire it in Pitt Meadows, you'll have another opportunity. Finally, we will have free guarded bicycle parking.

Hope to see you, and your bike, on April 19 or 21!