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Supporting Cycling Infrastructure
Selling and servicing bikes is only part of our cycling story. Since 1997, we've provided funding and grants to support cycling in Canada. Each of our stores is involved with their local community to support events, education programs, and infrastructure projects.
Vancouver
The Vancouver store does everything from providing cycling helmets to summer camps, to sending representatives to the Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition advocacy committee. The Sustainability and Community Involvement Coordinator at the store, reports that there are a lot of individual groups working on bike advocacy and trying to get people on bikes, so our focus is on providing small grassroots donations.
Prominent partnerships:
Edmonton
MEC in Edmonton sponsors the Bikeology Festival, a summer celebration of bike culture. Our Edmonton Sustainability Coordinator and Bike Advocate is on the planning committee for the Festival, is a member of the
Edmonton Bicycle Commuters' Society, Edmonton Bike and Touring Club, and Vice President of Recreation and Transportation for the Alberta Bicycle Association and a member-at-large for the city's Trails, Paths, and Routes Advisory Committee.
Burlington and Toronto
Shortly after we opened the store, we donated $10,000 to Share The Road, an Ontario cycling advocacy group. The grant helped extend existing bike lanes to Brant Street, so members could reach our store more easily by bike. Store staff also cleaned up bike trails on Earth Day, provided bike corrals during summer festivals, and acted as bike ambassadors for the Tour de Greenbelt rides. Both the Burlington and Toronto stores provided support and input for the first Ontario Bike Summit organized by Share the Road.