First Be*Spoke cycling festival set for Jan. 25

ELORA – Are you an avid cyclist spinning your wheels through winter, anxiously awaiting the day you can get on those two wheels again?

Then the Be*Spoke: A Festival About Bikes, in Elora on Jan. 25 might be for you.

The event is organized by Green Lanes in conjunction with the township and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Centre Wellington.

Organizer John Scott acknowledged in a phone interview that winter is an odd time of year for a cycling festival.

“But it’s part of the Elora-Fergus Winter Experience Development Program,” a township-led initiative, he said. “The idea is to see if something like this can work in January.”

Because it’s the first, Scott said organizers are keeping the festival simple.

Be*Spoke has just two events this year – the Big Bike Fix, and a screening of the film The Engine Inside.

Scott has invited “fixers” from Guelph, Waterloo and within the township for a morning of bike repairs.

He has collected some bikes that will be repaired during the festival and distributed for free to initiatives that have public or community benefit.

A few of those bikes will be stored for University of Waterloo students in the environmental program that are researching projects within Grand River Conservation areas.

They’ll make their way to Centre Wellington under their own steam, Scott said, and can use the bikes to get from one research destination to the next.

There are also a few bikes earmarked for some newly arrived Ukrainian refugees in the township. Without a car, cycling is how they see themselves getting around, Scott said.

And a third group of bikes will be sold at the Farmer’s Market in the spring through a pay-what-you-can model.

“We’d hope to get enough money to buy parts to fix bikes for next year,” he said. “That way it becomes self-sustaining.”

The Big Bike Fix takes place from 9am to 1pm at the new Centre Wellington co-work space at 6512 Wellington Road 7 across from the Elora Mill.

“The Big Brothers Big Sisters community will hang there with us and we’ll teach them how to change a tire,” Scott said.

The second part of Be*Spoke is the screening of the film The Engine Inside at the Gorge Cinema at 3pm.

“It’s about the transformational power of the bicycle,” Scott said.

One of the stories in the film is about an Iranian woman who rides a bike.

“Her bike riding is a radical move in Iran,” Scott said, suggesting the other stories in the film are also “uplifting and joyful – perfect for January.”

Admission for the film is free or by donation but reservations must still be made to ensure a seat in the small theatre.

At the end of the film, Scott will hand out the first Spoke Award to the Bike Commuter of the Year. 

It is someone local but he’s keeping a tight lid on the name.

Scott said he hopes there will be some interest in the festival because he can see already how it could expand to include more people and events in subsequent years.

It is about promoting cycling as a mode of transportation and as recreation. 

“There is tourism possibility with bike tourism,” he said. “There is potential.”

But at its core, the festival is about making connections, about helping community and about promoting healthy lifestyles that may include cycling.

To reserve a ticket for the film or for more information about the festival, visit greenlanes.my.canva.site.