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CycleWR celebrates winter trail maintenance crews

Posted on April 9, 2019August 16, 2019 by Emily Slofstra
Posted in: Advocacy, CycleWR news

Kitchener-Waterloo, ON, April 2019. This month, CycleWR is presenting thank you cards to trails staff in Kitchener and Waterloo to show appreciation for the well-maintained cycling and pedestrian infrastructure throughout the icy winter of 2018-2019. The first thank you package was presented to City of Kitchener Operations staff on April 3 and CycleWR members will present an appreciation package to City of Waterloo councillors and trails staff on April 10 at their quarterly meeting.

CycleWR_Thankyou_2019a.png
Click to see it bigger!

Off-road trail quality was consistently praised by people who walk and bike all winter long, despite the very challenging and icy weather. Two local bike commuters even provided daily trail status updates for each other and for other Twitter users. The updates were usually that the trail was in great condition for their morning commutes! This consistent quality speaks to coordination between the cities’ maintenance crews, especially where trails cross borders between Kitchener and Waterloo.

That is why advocacy group CycleWR and more than 25 KW residents have signed a thank you card and donated money for gift cards to show their appreciation for the teams responsible for parks and trails maintenance.

“The number of days that I couldn’t walk to work this year was: ZERO,” said one 65-year-old Spur Line commuter. “So I’m pretty pleased at the condition in which the Trail was kept.”

Next year the region will be seeing new infrastructure that will come with fresh challenges, as the Region and cities learn how to clear protected bike lanes so that more people will be able to bike year-round. While trails were well maintained, winter cyclists also expressed frustration throughout the winter when on-road bike lanes weren’t cleared.

CycleWR Chair Emily Slofstra presents thank you card to trails staff supervisors

“While there are certainly concerns about unplowed on-road bike lanes, we consistently heard all winter that people were able to bike more easily around Kitchener-Waterloo thanks to the trails being cleared as early as possible every morning, and throughout the day during snow events,” said CycleWR Chair Emily Slofstra. “We also want to encourage all residents to thank their cities when they appreciate services that are being done well.”

With increased budgets for winter maintenance, lessons learned, and hopefully renewed determination, CycleWR is looking forward to better on-road bike lane clearing in 2020 and years to come. For now, CycleWR hopes the trail plow drivers, supervisors and trails managers enjoy a coffee on behalf of grateful year-round cyclists and pedestrians.

Waterloo Park has been a delight every time I’ve biked or walked down the new promenade. #ThanksKWtrailStaff

— Chris (@chuttenc) March 29, 2019

Huge thanks to everyone who shared their appreciation with us: Geoff Bell, Sarah-Beth Bianchi, Dan Brotherson, Ramon Canumay, Benoit Charbonneau, Helen Chimirri-Russell, Brian Doucet, Kate Dudek, Cait Glasson, Fred Greidanus, Greycoat Software, Andrew Grieve, Sylvia Hook, Chris Hutten-Czapski, Neil Malhotra, Becky McIntosh, Levi Oakey, Josh Orita, Ted Parksinon, Emily Slofstra, Henry & Nancy Slofstra, John Swarbrick, David Trueman, Scott Weldon.

Find tweets or share your own using the hashtag #ThanksKWTrailStaff.

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Are you curious about winter biking or determined Are you curious about winter biking or determined to give it a try this season? Our next Virtual Folks & Spokes welcomes Elysha and Sarah-Beth to share their winter-biking experience! 

Join us online on Thursday, November 19, from 7:30 – 8:30 pm. to learn about biking in cold weather, bike maintenance tips, and more. There will also be an opportunity to ask questions and for other participants to chat about their winter-biking experience, too.

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Meet Elysha

I'm Elysha! (she/they)

I'm a winter cyclist. I couldn't decide on adjectives for that because sometimes it's fun and sometimes it is horrible, but I always do it anyway. I've been riding my bike through the winters for around 10 years. You also may know me from my mending and upcycling project, @beyondrepair519, where I share my textile artwork.

On Thursday, my partner Scott will be joining me as a model for some of our winter cycling tips. He works more closely with bike stuff in the region—mostly cycling education right now, but he was also a mechanic for a long time. We have been loving the recent heat wave but don't want to be caught off guard when winter hits!

Join us and share what you know/learn more about how to get your bike ready for winter.

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Meet Sarah-Beth and Ryan

Sarah-Beth (she/her) and Ryan (he/him) have been biking with their kids - ages 8 and 5 - for the past 4 years. You may know Ryan from being featured on Instagram as part of our #WinterRiders storytelling last year. He was a first-time winter bike rider last year. This year, Sarah-Beth is hopping on the bandwagon and they're bringing their kids along with them. They'll share their experiences figuring out how to prepare for the cold months ahead, and how to keep their kids interested and safe along with them. 

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We use Zoom video conferencing to host Virtual Folks & Spokes. It works on most computers and modern mobile devices.

If this is your first time using Zoom, we recommend joining a few minutes early.

Visit the link in our bio to launch the Zoom meeting.
The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on T The next Folks & Spokes will be hosted online on Thursday, October 15 at 7:30 – 8:30 pm.

We will kick things off with special guest Kornel Mucsi, the new Transportation Planning Manager at the Region of Waterloo. Kornel will share some of his experience from leading the Active Transportation program in Ottawa for the last decade as well as his early impressions and directions for Waterloo Region.

After question and answer with Kornel, we will continue with a casual discussion of anything and everything biking.

To participate, find the Zoom video call link in our bio!
Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with Cycle Cycling into the Future, in cooperation with CycleWR, STSWR and ClimateActionWR is offering one or more cycling training sessions for students ages 5 and up. 

Please indicate your interest and availability with this form:

https://bit.ly/2ZWGDxw

These practical sessions will cover various components including:

* Tips for teaching how to ride for beginners
* Proper helmet fit
* Bike handling skills
* Hand signals and road signs
* Bike lane etiquette
* Parent session: how to coach kids while riding with them
* Simple bicycle maintenance
* Tips for riding in fall and winter

The sessions will be held in a parking lot with an optional on-road session for grades 4 and up. Parents must accompany their children, and all participants must practice social distancing with non-family participants.
We have about two months remaining to enjoy the te We have about two months remaining to enjoy the temp bike lanes on Erb, Bridgeport, Westmount and Frederick. Get out and use them and tell your Regional Councillors your personal stories. We want to show that pedestrians and wheelchair and mobility device users feel safer *and* that most drivers don’t have concerns! Email RegionalCouncillors@regionofwaterloo.ca with your brief, positive messages.

And, if you haven’t already, make sure you fill out the Region’s survey to give your feedback on the temporary lanes in general: https://www.engagewr.ca/rapid-reallocation-road-space-covid19/survey_tools/temporary-bike-lanes-feedback-survey

And, finally, fill out the survey for the design of the Union St. E reconstruction from King to Major including the Spurline crossing: https://www.engagewr.ca/union-reconstruction
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