GoByBike Week returns to Fort St. John

FORT ST. JOHN, B.C. — A province-wide initiative to get the Fort St. John community on bikes for a week is all set to return to the city. 

The GoByBike Week is scheduled to run from May 31st to June 6th. 

David Green, who works with the recreation department for the City of Fort St. John, has been the liaison with the GoByBike Week since he started at the department since 2018. 

He said: “It’s like a province-wide initiative [to encourage] people to bike…for health reasons and to help reduce pollution and greenhouse gases.”

Green said this is also a way to “help celebrate spring, enjoy being outside and get exercise.” 

To register, interested people are asked to visit the GoByBike BC website and sign up online. 

“Everyone [who] signs up online, you [need to start] logging…how many kilometers you do within that time frame,” Green explained. “You can create teams and businesses can go against other businesses, or you can just compete with each other and…log as many kilometers as you can.” 

The city hopes that by advertising and letting people know it is happening, more people will get involved. 

City councillor Tony Zabinsky said he aims to ride 20-25 kilometers daily and hopes to complete 500 kilometers during the summer. 

“It’s a fantastic initiative…and the nice thing is when you’re on your bike, you get to see a lot of the community,” he said. 

The city, he said, has so many “beautiful” walking and bike trails, which he would like to take advantage of. 

“It’s always a great [way] to start your day, to get out and there are so many people, walking and riding,” he added. “It’s always great…[to] show that we are not just an energetic city [with the] resources in our community, but we’re also [taking] advantage of why we have these numerous bike trails and sidewalks in our community.” 

To track rides, people use GoByBike BC’s participation tracker.