Cycling club sharpens skills at workshop
The Swift Current Cycle Club is hoping that a recent Mountain Bike Skills Workshop has some Southwest cyclists more comfortable and confident on their bikes.
The clinic featured three sessions with five participants in each session. “It went really well. I think that was a decent turnout too for the kind of first go at it,” said SCCC President Sheldon Harrison.
“It was basic handling skills. Everyone is kind of self-taught at biking. But it was your turning skills, your body positioning on the bike, skills anyone can use. You don’t need a track to be taught, you could learn it in a parking lot. It is basically just where to be on the bike, how to position yourself safely, how to turn safely, where to position your body.”
The clinic was led by Eric Lett of Fresh Trails Mountain Bike Skills out of Regina. Harrison added that the club may look to run similar programs in the future.
“We’re hoping to. If we get good feedback and have some more requests we would definitely have Eric back. It’s for any skill level and any skill level can learn something. It’s not an advanced course. Anyone can kind of just refine where they are on a bicycle.”
The workshop was held at the Highland Coulee Trail, which was constructed for the 2019 Western Canada Summer Games.
“It’s more for safety too. With this new mountain bike course out there and lot of people being new to it in Swift Current, just to create that culture of safety and culture of feeling comfortable out there.”
The SCCC is still trying to build up its membership in Swift Current.
“We’re still building. It’s a slow process but we’re trying to get the word out there. I think it’s a club where we don’t do just racing, we’re more of a recreation based, not competitive based club. We are just trying to bring groups of like minded people together.”
The SCCC is into all forms of cycling and has something for everyone.
“We do a coffee ride at medium pace around town. We try and get one of those in a week. We try and get out on the trails once a week with a group if possible. We maybe do a longer road ride once a week where we do 40-60 km on the highway at an easy pace with no drops. The biggest thing is we never drop people,” said Harrison.
COVID-19 and the emphasis on social distancing has had a significant impact on the cycling community.
“I would say this year, yeah it definitely has picked up this year. Bicycle sales as a whole, around North America and the world, they have sold out of bicycles everywhere. It’s something people can do where you don’t have to be in a big group of people. It’s enjoyable.”
The increased number of people biking in Swift Current has been noticeable in 2020.
“It definitely helped it a lot because it is something that you can do, maybe not organized, you can keep distanced, you don’t have to be on top of each other, and your not handling each other’s equipment. You have your own bike and you go out and do your own thing. You can do it with a couple people without being super close to each other.”
For more information on the Swift Current Cycle Club visit their Facebook page or their website at sccycleclub. com. “We just really want to bring awareness that it is for any age group and any skill level,” added Harrison.
The Highland Coulee Trail is approximately six kilometres in length and is located just off 11th Ave NW across from the Trail Campground.
“The trail itself is so well designed. It flows nice. It’s probably one of the better courses in the province for sure. We’re lucky to have it here.”