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BNS Updates 

Big Thank you!

Last month BNS put together a campaign to help send our Provincial Team to Cyclocross nationals in Sherbrooke, Quebec. 

And you responded! We met our goal of $1000 within a few weeks, which is amazing. 

Thank you so much for your support! And congratulations to our athletes!

To read about the historic wins (we think it's a pretty big deal), please visit our website: http://bicycle.ns.ca/organization-news/national-championships/



 

Bicycle Nova Scotia Race Awards 2016!

The BNS race awards were held at the end of November and the turn out was amazing! Thanks to everyone for coming out and showing your support. 

Here are the results from the People's Choice Awards:

Male Athlete of the Year - Lorenzo Caterini
Female Athlete of the Year - Mackenzie Myatt
Male Youth of the Year - Calum MacEachen
Female Youth of the Year - Maura Whitman
Commissaire of the Year - Michelle Marcinkiewicz and Pat MacDonald (tie)
Club of the Year - Pictou County Cycle
Bike Friendly Business of the Year  - Java Blend
Trail Builder of the Year - Trail Flow Outdoor Adventures
Volunteer of the Year - Brianne Steinman
Cycling Advocate of the Year - Lorenzo Caterini
 

BNS Awards & Standings

The race season has finished up...and the results are in!

Please visit the website to see all the awards and points standings.

http://bicycle.ns.ca/2016-awards-and-standings/
 

New BNS Projects 
(From the Chronicle Herald)

Two projects promoting cycling received funding from the province and the Halifax Regional Municipality recently.

Bicycle Nova Scotia and the Halifax Cycling Coalition received a combined total of $28,000 from the province’s sustainable transportation grant program, Connect2.

“Making businesses and institutions bike-friendly for employees, clients and customers is simple and affordable, and a great way to cater to the growing number of people arriving by bicycle,” said Bicycle Nova Scotia director Ben Buckwold in a news release.

Bicycle Nova Scotia will be embarking on the Nova Scotia Bike Certification Initiative that aims to reach communities across Nova Scotia...

Follow this link to learn more...

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Bike Lane Study in Kentville
(From the Chronicle Herald)

A $7,000 provincial matching grant announced Monday should help the Town of Kentville complete its Downtown Connector Plan.

The plan will include a downtown bike lane, a project backed by Bicycle Nova Scotia. The matching funds are coming from the government’s Connect2 program that promotes active and sustainable transportation options for trips of two kilometres or less between community hubs.

The bike lane is the final piece of the Active Transportation Rails to Trails network, which is part of the Blue Route provincial cycling network.

Visit article here.
 

Blue Route

Quick note to let you know that the Blue Route was represented and discussed extensively at the recent NS Committee on Public Accounts. There was a lot of interest from the MLA's about the project who expressed their support for the Blue Route and the vision of creating a province-wide cycling network. 

We are very happy with the interest shown and feel that this takes us one step closer to creating the Blue Route in Nova Scotia.

Click here if you would like to read the transcript to learn more.

Sign up for the Blue Route newsletter here.

What's Happening Around Nova Scotia
 

Welcoming Wheels

Welcoming Wheels is a Halifax-based community collaborative that provides bikes, safety equipment and cycling safety training to newcomers.

They do repair sessions most Fridays and have gifted 55 bikes to refugees so far, with another 15 recently donated.

And they have a new Facebook page! Please visit it, like it, and share it around so more people can learn about what they are doing and how they can personally get involved.

 https://www.facebook.com/Welcoming-Wheels-1093643937396298/

Mark your calendar for July 8-15 as the dates for the 2017 Heartland Tour.

From Heartland - There was an excellent return on our 2016 rider survey; while the overall evaluation was very high we are giving serious attention to the recommendations made by survey respondents. The Board decided to work toward including a ride in 2017 in the Annapolis Valley area and to address some specific concerns about the Halifax ride. Survey respondents also told us they wanted more communication with Core Team riders. We plan to introduce the Core Team at the start of each day and provide some visual means by which Core Team riders are clearly identifiable.

To improve rider support we plan to have a second vehicle available during rides, freeing up the van to give priority to nutrition stops. This will increase our ability to respond to mechanical or any other issues that may arise and provide new riders with a greater sense of security.

The Heartland Tour would not exist without sponsor support. Again this year we hosted an evening at Murphy's Restaurant to express our appreciation to those partners who have generously provided funds, goods, and services. Nick presented plaques to the many sponsors present including BMO, the Government of Nova Scotia, Ambassatours, O'Reagan's, the Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the Old Fish Factory Restaurant. Mike Mawhinney and Al Creaser are shown with Nick, in the photograph below, accepting the plaque for the donation of what is widely regarded as the best cycling event lunch and location in Nova Scotia!

Sponsors heard a moving personal story of redirecting one's life, getting back on track, and a strong commitment to family from Shane Bernard. Shane and his family rode with us in Sydney and shared his story with us then and we thought our sponsors would be as moved and encouraged by hearing it as we were. The Bernards are committed to joining us again next July. It is the personal success stories like this that make our efforts so meaningful.

As always we ask you to share the message and we hope to ride with you during the 2017 Heartland Tour!