Update on Alberta Bike Swap 2020

We’ve just received an update from the organizers of the Alberta Bike Swap events. Here is their media release with the latest information.

Alberta Bike Swap 2020

Hey Alberta! Bike Swap is NOT GOING AWAY, we’re just postponing our events until it’s safe to gather again for bikey goodness.  Calgary Bike Swap would have been May 2 at City Centre Parkade, Edmonton Bike Swap would have been May 9, and Lethbridge Bike Swap would have been April 25 at Exhibition Hall. 

We have over 50 conversations a day about where to buy, sell, or donate a bike, and we know that everyone will miss the bike swaps this Spring.  

Most of our conversations are when our events are happening and where to buy a good used bike.  First answer; we will put bike swaps on when it’s safe to do so. If that’s not until 2021, then we’ll have the biggest bike swaps ever.  Please remember that it takes months, permits, permission, venues, food, and hundreds of volunteers to run a bike swap event.  

If you want a bike now, we ask that you support your local bike shop because they’ll help you buy your perfect bike, fit your bike, and will tune your bike over the years. In Calgary we partner with bike shops that give back; LifeSport Calgary has been with us since our first event 10 years ago, we also partnered with and recommend Bow Cycle and BikeBike.  If you are east of Calgary, Cal’s Cycle in Linden is a great friend.  In Edmonton we have worked with Cranky’s and Revolution Cycle.   We also partnered with three bike shops in Lethbridge; Ascent, Alpenland, and Bert & Mac’s.   

Alberta Bike Swap was founded, funded, and operated as a private non-profit that has always donated more than half the profit back to the community to help Albertans.  We have over 40 strategic alliances that we partner with and support through bike sales and donations. We also fund safe cycling education.  

If you want to donate or buy a used bike, then please ask us on Facebook so that others can see our answer. 

We want to reinforce the need for safe cycling.  With the surge in bike sales and postponed  CAN-BIKE safety courses, we’re attaching a poster that we hope the media will share.  Under the Alberta Traffic Safety Act people on bikes over the age of 14 are considered vehicular traffic and on the road – not the sidewalk.  If you wouldn’t make a maneuver in a car then you shouldn’t do it on a bike.   

Q&A about cycling and COVID-19:

Is it safe to ride a bike?  Distance between cyclists matters.  Evidence has proven that COVID-19 is airborne and that the infected droplets will travel. Best options are to wear a mask or cycle at least 3 metres away from another cyclist. 

Please follow us on our Facebook pages; Alberta Bike Swap or Calgary Bike Swap for up to date news.  

Stay safe out there and remember to keep the rubber side down.

Chris & Laura Grant, Founders, funders, and kind lunatics that operate Alberta Bike Swap events.