Do you bike during the winter? We want to help you share your story and encourage more people to keep riding through the snowy months.
Each week, we’ll be posting one profile of an Ottawa-area winter cyclist on our Twitter and Facebook profiles throughout December, January, and February. We’ll also post one per month on our website.
Everyone is welcome to contribute, whether this is your first winter or thirtieth. We are looking for a wide variety of people to profile, so families, immigrants, women, children and seniors are especially encouraged to participate, as well as folks from different parts of the city.
How do I participate?
Want us to help you tell your winter biking story? Choose five or more of the questions below and email your responses as well as a few photos to events@bikeottawa.ca with copy to editor@bikeottawa.ca. We will select a profile to publish each week, and include the most intersting responses provided. Please begin your answers with”Twitter-ready” statements (140 characters or less!), but feel free to expand in case you are also selected for one of the profiles on our website.
Please note! The questions will not appear, so answer with complete statements that can be understood on their own.
- Why did you start cycling through winter?
- Where do you most frequently cycle during the winter?
- Why do you continue to cycle through winter?
- What is the one piece of winter riding gear you can’t do without?
- How do you keep out the cold?
- Are there any conditions you WON’T ride in?
- Wouldn’t driving or taking transit be easier?
- What is the largest/oddest item you transported by bike during the winter?
- Is there any existing infrastructure that has helped your commute, school run, grocery run, etc.?
- Are there any changes that would significantly improve your winter rides?
- What kind of bike do you ride, and why did you choose it? (ex: second hand, beater bike, fat bike, single-speed…)
- Do you have any tips for people who may not have cycled in winter conditions before?
If you would like to be tagged or identified, please provide your full name and/or twitter handle. We will not identify you if we have not received permission.