THUNDER BAY — A chilly and snowy night isn’t what most would think of as the best time to take the bike out for a ride.
That’s not the case for a few dedicated cyclists with Just Bike Thunder Bay.
Monday night marked the fifth edition of their monthly Full Moon Mass Bike Ride, which has seen local biking enthusiasts come together for rides around the city and promote the need for safe bike paths, in particular the proposed Memorial link, which would connect...
“There’s challenges with slipping and sliding on the ice and snow, but I enjoy the rides a lot,” said Cindy Long, one member of the group.
“It’s been great to go out and learn these new routes around the city and take a lot of shortcuts and paths that I hadn’t really thought of before.
“There’s obviously safety considerations that you need to be thinking about, but I think if we had a bike lane along Memorial for example, it would be plowed and it would provide a reasonable surface to ride on.”
The Monday night ride, which was an 8.5 kilometre round trip, saw the group leave from the Superstore and head to city hall and back.
Organizer Ken Shields said the full moon rides came about after a group of 30 local riders went to city hall in June to continue their push for better active transportation infrastructure in Thunder Bay.
“Some of the people that came out said, ‘Hey, this is fun. Let’s do this every month,’” Shields said.
“I went away and thought about it and noticed that other cities have these full moon rides and, because it’s Thunder Bay, why not do it through the winter.”
The distance and routes for each ride are different. For example, October’s trek spanned nearly 22.5 km.
The numbers have ebbed and flowed since launching in September, with the fall riders seeing 15 to 20 participants.
Only six riders came out on Monday, though that was expected due to the chilly conditions.
“Since we go when there is the full moon outside, we’ve had different people each and every month,” Shields said.
“The winter biking isn’t for everyone but if you go out and cross country ski, you sort of dress the same for it.
“People are happy that this is happening and it’s helping to make people a little more aware of the need for active transportation paths in Thunder Bay.”
The next ride is slated for Feb. 12, with the route to be determined at a later date.
More information on the rides can be found on Just Bike Thunder Bay’s Facebook page.
