Bowman among cyclists putting best pedal forward on Bike to Work Day

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This article was published 19/06/2015 (4077 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Wave to the Bike to Work Day cyclists this morning and — hey, this common sense and it’s the law — share the road with them.

About 30 cyclists just left Assiniboine Park at 6;50 a.m. And they’ll pick up more along the way, cycling to The Forks by way of Omand’s Creek and the legislature.

Cycling Mayor Brian Bowman joked that he expected organizers would take him and Charleswood Coun. Marty Morantz through some of the biggest challenges that commuting cyclists face.

Bowman said that as he left home this morning, his wife told him, “I hope they honk at the mayor, and don’t hit him.”

This is the eighth annual Bike to Work Day.

Dave Elmore, project manager for Bike Week Winnipeg, said that participation has varied over the eight years, often depending on weather: “I’d love to see 100 today,” he said.

For those commuting daily, “People have to get confident, and confident comes with experience,” Elmore said.

Bowman said it was his first time cycling to work — he left clothing at city hall Thursday, and has made arrangements to get to appointments throughout today by other means.

But he cycles regularly in Assiniboine Park and on the Harte Trail, said the mayor. “It’s gorgeous — Charleswood has some beautiful active transportation routes.”

Bowman said the city is working on a 20-year-plan to put bike routes across all of Winnipeg. “Some of the big challenges are connectivity between routes,” he pointed out.

Bowman said his father bicycled to work from Charleswood to his job near the Health Sciences Centre. “”My dad biked to work 10 months a year. We had conversations about near-misses with traffic at a very young age,” he chuckled.

Charleswood Coun. Marty Morantz said he cycled to work earlier this week for the first time. “It took me 45 minutes,” said Morantz.