The Hub & Spoke January 2024

Jan 18

The Hub & Spoke: January Cycling News

THE HUB & SPOKE

JANUARY 2024

It’s winter - and that means fat bike season! Read more below for information on where Cycling PEI has been grooming trails, and about some upcoming fat biking events!
Photo by Shannon Burt

‘Tis the season for fat tires!

We had to wait awhile for the snow, but it’s finally here and Cycling PEI was able to begin our winter grooming operations earlier this month! This is the time to get out on a fat bike (or snowshoes) for some fresh air, exercise, and a good dose of Mother Nature.

This year our dedicated team of winter grooming pilots are grooming trails at:

Cardigan River Trails (located behind the liquor store and next to the ball diamond in Cardigan)
Acadian Forest Trails and Wright’s Creek Trails in Charlottetown
Brookvale Demo Woodlot
Glasgow Hills Resort
Summerside’s Rotary Park (Coming soon! Also, we’re looking to add an additional grooming pilot to our Summerside crew - please contact us for info.)

Don’t have a fat bike of your own? Did you know that you can rent fat bikes at both the Brookvale Nordic/MTB Park and at now also at Glasgow Hills. Glasgow Hills has doubled its trail network since last summer and is an emerging mountain biking and fat biking destination! It is recommended to call ahead to reserve your fat bike rental. Or come out this Saturday morning for the Winter Woodlot Tour at Glasgow Hills to try our fat biking for free (more details below).

Our pilots aim to groom trails as soon as possible after each snowfall. Please check the Cycling PEI Facebook page for updates. We also post updates to Facebook groups like PEI Trails Report, Fat Bike PEI, and Cycling on PEI.

We are grateful for the support of our winter grooming funding partners who make this all possible:

Upcoming Community Events

Cycling PEI will be at Glasgow Hills this Saturday, January 27th from 9am to 1pm for the Winter Woodlot Tour, leading group fat bike rides on one of the trails!

If you’ve wanted to try fat biking, this is a great opportunity as there will be a number of fat bikes on hand to borrow for FREE, courtesy of Glasgow Hills!

Fundraising show at Trailside for Trevor Geerts - Feb 1st @ 8pm

Many members of our road cycling community know Trevor Geerts, and know as well that he suffered a life-changing accident last summer while pursuing his passion - cycling.

Join Ultimate Kitchen Party & Holy Hannah for a heartfelt evening of music, camaraderie, and support at the "Ride for Trevor Fundraiser" on February 1, 2024, at Trailside Music Hall. This event aims to rally the community in raising funds for Trevor Geerts, with all proceeds going directly towards Trevor's medical expenses and recovery.

More info and tickets here.

February 17th: Rotary Park Run Down
Fat Bike Race!

On February 17th, The City of Summerside and Cycling PEI along with sponsors Summerside Auto, Read Farms, DC Tire and Meridian 63 Degrees Mountain Bike Lessons and Tours are pleased to announce the sixth annual Rotary Park Rundown Fat Bike Event.

The Rotary Park Rundown will be hosted at Rotary Friendship Park, with registration to be held from 9-10 with races starting at 10:30am.

Event Details:

There will be both men’s and woman’s classes with expert, intermediate and beginner categories for each class.
Registration is $10 for beginners and $20 for Intermediate and Expert riders.
There will be prizes awarded to each of the top three finishers in each of the categories.
The Event will be a Cycling PEI-Sanctioned Event
Course will consist of a 4.5km loop. Number of loops for each class and category will be determined on race day by the Event Commissaire.
There will be heated fire pits provided to keep riders warm.
After the event, prizes will be awarded at the event site with pizza and refreshments

Register at bit.ly/RotaryParkRundown-2024

Gran Fondo PEI Opens 2024 Registrations, Grows its 2024 Team

Gran Fondo PEI - the organizers of PEI’s largest annual cycling event which draws hundreds of cyclists from across the continent and beyond to PEI for three days of cycling, camaraderie, good eating and all the best PEI has to offer - is on the move!

This month, Gran Fondo PEI brought on Amir Zuccolo as its 2024 Project Manager. Amir has strong experience with organizing similar events and is an enthusiastic member of our local cycling community. We’re sure she’ll do a great job on this year’s edition of the PEI Gran Fondo!

Yesterday, registrations officially opened for the 2024 Gran Fondo, which will take place August 23-25. Go to the new website at www.granfondo-pei.ca to learn more and register - and start putting the bug in your friends’ ears that this is the year to visit PEI on bike!

Want to get more involved in this marquee cycling event, which also raised funds in support of youth cycling and cycling safety initiatives (stay tuned for more on that soon!)? Gran Fondo PEI is seeking a couple of new board members to join the current team of four board members (Jordan Bober, Karen Rose, Ron Skinner and Cory MacLeod. Write to president@granfondo-pei.ca for more info if this could be of interest!

Help push the petition to protect the Confederation Trail for Walkers, Runners, and Cyclists to 4000 supporters!

While the Confederation Trail is looking a bit safer from being gobbled up by ATVs after last November’s successful motion in the Legislature to keep ATVs off the trail, we’re not taking anything for granted just yet. Minister of Transportation Ernie Hudson is expected to make a decision on the Confederation Trail’s future within weeks.

The petition that started last fall is already up to 3696 signatures as of this writing! If you haven’t yet signed it, please add your name and let’s get it up to 4000! At that point, the petition will be sent to the Minister and the Premier to ensure they know how many people are opposed to any potential plans to allow ATVs access to the Confederation Trail.