Three city councillors and one MLA rode bicycles through Boitanio Park May 31.
What sounds like the set up for a comedy routine was actually another Politicians on the Pedal ride during Spring Go By Bike Week 2023.
The short ride was led by some of the members of Streets for All Williams Lake, a group advocating for better active transportation infrastructure and the safety of those outside of vehicles.
Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson, city councillors Sheila Boehm, Scott Nelson and Joan Flaspohler, all rode along to see some of the good parts of riding bicycles through the community, as well as some of the challenges and hazards.
“I see multiple benefits to doing (more cycling infrastructure) particularly when it comes to livability and retaining people,” said Cariboo-Chilcotin MLA Lorne Doerkson after the ride.
The group rode from city hall, along Third Avenue, then towards Boitanio Park, stopping at the Nathan Mathews Memorial Skate Park to pause and watch some local BMX riders demo some of their skills in the park.
Riders Trent Ulrich, Wade Kelso, Nolan Adams, Rownen Manning , Chad Baba, Devin Kelso, and Greg Russell practiced some tricks to showcase their skills in the event, organized by Go By Bike Williams Lake.
“The BMX demo at the bike and skate park was awesome,” said Erin Hitchcock, GBB coordinator for Williams Lake. She said it was great to see so many people of different ages out to watch at the skate park, which is such a great asset for our community.
She said the Politician on the Pedal ride went really well and “It was great to see them come out and show support” when they stopped in to check out the demos in the park along their ride.
They then made their way up through the park and onto Donald Road, overcoming a short challenging section which creates a barrier for many walking and riding. Taking the short section of multi-use pathway under Highway 97, they then rode down Broadway to get to the “Y” intersection at Oliver Street and Highway 97 and finished off on the other side of this challenging intersection.
The group stopped and discussed a few safety issues along the way as well as some great opportunities for big wins to help enable more people of all abilities to use active transportation or recreate safely.
Streets for All Williams Lake posted to their Facebook and Instagram page a reel of parts of the ride and said the group was grateful to the local politicians who participated.
Go By Bike Week is a provincial initiative to support active transportation for health, the environment and fun, and Go By Bike Williams Lake promotes the event through a number of events. Significant local and provincial prizes are available for anyone who walks or rides during Go By Bike Week, registers and logs their activity at gobybikebc.ca.
The final activity in Williams Lake for Go By Bike Week is a social Critical Mass ride starting from Spirit Square on Oliver Street at 5 p.m. for all ages to ride as a group safely through downtown.
READ MORE: UPDATE: Events coming up in Williams Lake May and into June
READ MORE: Streets for All advocates press Williams Lake city council on active transportation
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