Water and Cycling

Anyone who knows me at all knows that two of my biggest passions are cycling and water. I’ve spent over 30 years of my professional career working in the world of water and I’ve been an avid cyclist for as long as I can remember.

In 2016, I started a cycling blog and although the blog has lost most of its steam, there are some blog entries where I combined my passion for cycling with my career in water. When I left the environmental consulting world in 2022, I decided to start a water newsletter, which has allowed me to stay engaged in the world of water. My passion for cycling hasn’t waned, but for the most part, my interests in cycling and water have been independent.

Last week I was scrolling through social media and I came across an account on Instagram called “watercycles_bike” and it immediately piqued my interest. I started down this little rabbit hole and learned that this account is for Water Cycles Expeditions, led by Professor Dustin Garrick, who works at the University of Waterloo and is also affiliated with Oxford University in the UK. Check out their cool logo:

I met with Dustin this week and we talked about our shared passions of cycling and water. The goal of Water Cycling Expeditions is to reconnect people with water through cycling, one community at a time. If you visit their webpage and scroll down a little, you’ll see a short video on one of their first expeditions - cycling in Southern California and the Colorado River. This aligns with my previous Water Droplet article on the Colorado River. There’s also an accompanying article in the LA Times.

There are some fantastic initiatives for this summer and fall with this group. The big event is on Saturday September 9, 2023 and it’s called the Bikes and Blues Festival. It will be a celebration in Belwood, Ontario and will include gravel bike rides (5 to 100 km!) plus live music (a third passion of mine). The event (link here) will be at the Skol House in Belwood and the early bird pricing is only $27.50 (plus fees). The rides themselves are free, but sign-up is at the same link. The festivities start at 2:30pm (rides are scheduled such that they finish by that time). Click here for a description of the rides.

A few more details:

• live music (Kristine Schmitt, Shane Cook featuring Emily Jean Flack, Bradley Craig)

• beer tent (!)

• food

• Children’s costume bike parade (for all ages!)

Water Cycles is also organizing bi-weekly bike rides starting on July 29. Check out this link on Instagram. Belwood is about a 45-minute drive from Waterloo and these rides are on weekends, so I’m hoping to make at least a couple of them. Join me!

Spread the word about these events! I’ll be at the September 9 event in Belwood and I can talk all day about water issues (I can also talk all day about bikes and live music, but this isn’t a multi-day event!).

Thanks for reading The Water Droplet and keep watching for more stories about water!