President’s Fall Message

As we celebrate Thanksgiving weekend, the leaves are falling and the days have turned crisper, giving a special energy to our cycling adventures.     It is a great time to reflect on another successful summer even in the face of unprecedented heat, smoke and more Covid.   I am very thankful for all the great volunteers in this club and the members who just love to get out on their bikes and enjoy such a healthy activity with others.  

Thanks to all the coordinators who posted a great variety of rides and a special thanks to Tanya Colwell, who steered the ship with the coordinators, always looking for ways to provide excellent programming for the members.   Heather Opseth and Tanya developed some great themes to keep things interesting all through the season, starting with the Spring Fling in April and culminating with the “In case you missed it” (ICYMI) and Fall Colours in September.   They also encouraged second waves of popular rides to allow more participants.   

We were finally able to hold a multi-day ride in September, with all participants being double vaccinated.  Thanks to Don Hollingshead for coordinating and organizing this great event at the Cowichan Valley/Gulf Islands.

A big thank-you also goes to all the executive committee members who keep things going behind he scenes to provide a great experience for everyone.    

Let’s keep riding as long as weather permits, then get ready for winter activities just around the corner!  We will be looking for coordinators to lead snowshoeing, x-country skiing, winter hiking and winter biking.   If you have not coordinated before, here is your chance!   Just contact Tanya Colwell for more information. 

Stay safe and healthy,

Maria

Do you love riding the 1A highway from BANFF to Castle Junction without cars?  Here is your opportunity to provide feedback to Parks Canada.  

Parks Canada is asking for public feedback on making that slightly shorter closure a regular occurrence, but limited to the spring and fall.

Two options are being looked at:

• Closing the section of highway for seven days a week in May, June, September and October for a total of 122 days.
• Closing it only two days a week (weekends only) in May, June, September and October for a total of 36 days.

Feedback can be submitted by email to opinion@canada.ca or by regular mail to:

Banff Superintendent
Box 900 Banff, AB
T1L 1K2

The public review period is open until Sept. 9.

Here is the whole story on cbc website: 

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calgary/cyclists-bow-valley-parkway-feedback-1.6127928

Alberta will be going into Stage 3 of their Summer reopening plan on July 1st, which calls for removing most Covid restrictions.   EVCC will also be removing most restrictions, but we encourage members to proceed with caution.

Here are the key points regarding EVCC Covid policies, as of July 1st.

Single day trips without shuttles will have no Covid restrictions, except that riders are asked not to come if they are feeling any illness or covid-like symptoms, or should be quarantining.  If a ride includes a shuttle, all participants should be fully vaccinated. (2 doses) 

Event participants will respect those who still may wish to practice social distancing.  

Coordinators will continue to have the discretion to determine the size of their groups. 

Riders can carpool at their own discretion but we recommend that people are fully vaccinated (2 doses). 

If you are entering buildings within the City of Calgary, please note that the mask bylaw will still be in place until at least July 5th.  

Multi-day trips will be permitted but we ask that participants are fully vaccinated.  (2 doses)   BC is planning to open their border to Canada wide travel on July 1st, but they may still have some other Covid measures in place, so please respect their rules.   Coordinators of multi-day trips may still want to have contingency plans in case Covid flares up again. 

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask. 

Let's enjoy the summer!

EVCC Executive

Good News!  Alberta has entered Stage 2 of the reopening plan and as of today, there are new rules that will apply for outdoor activities and gatherings. (as taken from AHS website)   Stronger public health measures | Alberta.ca

Please note that there are some points in their list that may seem contradictory, but these are the points we will follow.

• Outdoor social gatherings – up to 20 people with distancing (indoor social gatherings still not permitted)
• Distancing and masking requirements remain in effect

EVCC will now allow ride postings of up to 20 people, including the coordinator. Two metre distance is still required at all times.  Please note that most coordinators will likely opt to keep their rides to a smaller size and EVCC fully supports this. We will continue to look for waitlists that are growing and then recruit a second coordinator so we can run two smaller rides instead of one large one.  

In the parking lot, tailgates and conversations are permitted as long as there are no more than 20 people and they are all at least 2 metres apart.  Twenty people may be a challenge in many parking areas so please do not overcrowd them.  Please continue to carry a mask. gloves and sanitizer in case you are working with someone to fix a bike.  

Multiday rides may be held only if there are no more than 20 people and there is no occasion when people will be gathering together indoors without masks and distancing.  Since rules will likely change again by early July, we will keep you posted on this. 

Let's look forward to a great summer!

Good News!  Alberta Health Services has announced Stage 1 of summer opening will start on June 1st!  This means that outdoor groups of 10 people will once again be permitted, as long as there is social distancing.     

As a result, EVCC will start posting rides up to 10 people for June 1st or later. Thanks to all the coordinators who have been waiting to start posting again!

We will keep you informed when we are able to increase the size of rides beyond 10 people.   AHS is currently predicting that will happen later in June, depending on vaccination and hospital rates.

See you out there!

Effective immediately, the EVCC has suspended all its in person events.  This is being done in conjunction with the new AHS COVID restrictions announced on May 4th.

Specifically, AHS has created the following guidelines for Outdoor Gatherings:

• All outdoor social gatherings must be limited to no more than 5 people and a maximum of 2 household cohorts.
• All outdoor sports and recreation activities are prohibited, except with members of your household, or your two close contacts if you live alone. 
  

AHS is updating the rules and guidelines all the time, so please make sure to consult their website for the most current guidelines and follow their protocols.

Because this will be very difficult to enforce, we have decided that we won't post any in person events.

BUT, we have some great plans for the club for the next few weeks.

1.  We are going to provide 'ride of the week' ride suggestions that you can follow - stay tuned for more information.

2.  We have a number of ideas for zoom socials to hold over the next few weeks - stay tuned for more information.

Also - you can always post that you are looking for a ride partner on our member forum.  Check it out here:  Member Forum

Any questions or concerns, please email connect@elbowvalleycc.org.

EVCC Executive

Well, we made it through winter and there is no doubt now that spring is here!   The robins are back and white-legged cyclists are taking advantage of sunny days to get out on the roads and trails.  

Thanks to all the coordinators who have stepped up so far to post frequent and interesting rides and a special credit goes to Tanya Colwell for making sure that we have good programming to suit our variety of members.   

We are seeing more new members every day and also several members have stepped up to be new coordinators!    It will take a few weeks to get them up to speed but every new coordinator helps us to have more rides to offer.     Please be patient in the meantime.  As a member, you can always use our RWGPS library to find some great maps of routes you might want to ride.  

Zoom has created a new way to have meetings and we are now embracing it for frequent training sessions and other meetings, including socials.   Don't miss Daphne and Frank on April 8th as they conduct another great slide show about more of their cycling adventures!

Covid is not going down without a fight and has recently launched a new battle using nasty variants, so we are still restricted on our ride sizes and encourage everyone to be extra careful with physical distancing and masking where needed.      Above all, please do not come on a ride if you have any symptoms or have been near anyone with Covid.  

We are looking forward to a summer with less Covid and are planning a full program hopefully including a few more multi-day rides.    

See you out there!

Maria

Good News!  Alberta Health Services has loosened the restriction on outdoor gatherings to allow up to 10 people to meet socially outdoors, as of January 18. (with 2 metre distancing of course)  As a result, EVCC will start posting events again for up to 10 people.   

We'll be relaunching our "Let's get outside" winter program.

The Club welcomes outdoor winter activities such as

·  skating

·  snowshoeing

·  cross-country skiing

·  hiking

·  winter biking

If you are interested in coordinating any of these winter outdoor events, please contact our Program Director, Tanya Colwell at connect@elbowvalleycc.org

Watch the calendar for some winter fun!

EVCC Executive

2020 is now in the rear view mirror and we can look forward to embracing the new year as we ride ahead into better times in 2021!

We entered spring last year on a low note, having to cancel the GT for the first time in 37 years, and totally closed down ride postings for over 2 months, as a result of covid-19.    Then with great trepidation, we started posting rides again in early June.  It quickly became evident that cycling was a sweet spot in this pandemic, and we ended the summer with a very successful riding season. Importantly, EVCC members took the covid restrictions in stride and we did not have a single incident of covid transmission.  

The successes that we had in 2020 are due to the enthusiasm of our volunteer coordinators and members alike.   This is in addition to the many hours put in by your executive committee as they kept things moving forward and worked through a number of difficult decisions.   

As we enter 2021, we have a great new look on our website for you to enjoy and there are a number of other new projects on the go.  Watch for more details!   

Thanks to all for your support and let’s look forward to a great 2021!    

Maria Saley

President, EVCC

Welcome to the new information hub for club members!

We've added new features you've been asking for:

• Blog for our latest club news and stories 
• Member forum where you can buy and sell gear, ask questions, get advice, and connect with other riders
• Trip reports for sharing highlights and photos of your riding adventures

Our improved events calendar has a new home -- see the button on the top menu. You can now see the calendar in list view, and filter by ride type. Unfortunately our calendar is a little bare at the moment due to COVID-19 restrictions. We hope to be back in the saddle again soon!

For ride coordinators

The event posting and registration processes haven't changed, but you can now submit trip reports and photos. You'll still have access to "coordinator's corner" when you login to the site. 

Member login

To login to access your member profile, the member forum, coordinator's corner, and other member-only information and resources:

• On a desktop or laptop computer, use the blue person icon at the top right hand side of the page. 
• On a mobile device, use the arrow icon at the top right hand corner of your screen. 

Send us your feedback

Let us know what you think!

All blog posts enable you to comment and discuss. To post a comment now, click the icon above left (the square thingy with three dots).

Or email feedback to: connect@elbowvalleycc.org.