Hub & Spokes Annual Group Ride - July 2024

This year’s first Hub & Spokes ride took place on July 20. I’m referring to the all-bikes version, which featured good old-fashioned pedal power bikes along with their electric cousins.

We met outside CommunityWise in the Beltline. The weather was sunny and mild. Gerald Wheatley of the Arusha Centre came out and serenaded us with a few tunes. Then we set off, rolling east along 12th Ave.

Naturally, we made a few stops along the way. First up was Pixel Park, a game-themed meet-up spot with a skatepark, dog park, basketball court, pickleball courts, Player Hub, and electric vehicle charging stations — everything a modern Calgarian might need. Jared from the Hub slaked our thirst with fizzy water. Steve gave us the low-down on the park and its upgrade from a parking lot. Pixel Park shows how creative a city can be in rehabilitating those old asphalt eyesores.

Next we stopped by the Two Wheel View bike shop (@twowheelviewyyc on Instagram) in Inglewood to say hello to these fine folks. If you haven’t heard of them, Two Wheel View restores used bikes and engages youth aged 12-24, sending them home with a bike, helmet, fix-it skills and a repair kit — a great way to get kids rolling and boost cycling awareness in our city.

We continued through the East Village, stopping along the way to view the mighty Bow River. Thanks to our recent feeder main troubles, we now know that the Bow provides 60 per cent of Calgary’s drinking water — so let’s take good care of it, upstream and down.

We also stopped at Bow to Bluff Harvest Park in Sunnyside. Just south of the Sunnyside LRT station, the park features barbecues, harvest tables, ping-pong tables and a bocce ball court. Harvest Park was part of a citizen-led upgrade of the Bow to Bluff corridor, which turned the neglected corridor next to the LRT line into a miniature urban paradise.

We headed back along the Bow, crossing the Peace Bridge into Prince’s Island Park and returning to our starting point at CommunityWise. Then we headed over to the Civic Tavern and slaked our thirst all over again.

Hub & Spokes was a huge success. We got fresh air. We got exercise. We got to know some cool things about our city and found some great places to hang out. We were sheltered from cars the whole way and had zero trouble with automobiles. If you couldn’t join us, pump up your tires and get out there. This town is a great place to ride a bike.

written by Andy Kubrin