Helping out at the MEC Bikefest

Patrick speaking with the Pedal to Petal guy
Patrick speaking with the Pedal to Petal guy

It has been a long time since I last posted, but I haven’t been any less busy. Today was case in point, as I helped out with the Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition‘s “booth” at the MEC Bikefest in Market Square, one of many that MEC plans to hold across the country. Aside from the GVCC, on hand were the Pedal to Petal composting people, Moksana Yoga, South Island Mountain Bike Society (SIMBS) and bunch of smaller outfits.

Like any good bike event, free tuneups were had, this time by no less than three different groups, including MEC itself. This begs the question whether MEC will get into selling bikes, to which the answer is “it depends”. Speaking with an MEC staffer, here in Victoria we are unlikely to see MEC enter the market anytime soon, due to lack of staff and space, not to mention the massive amounts of competition already here. However, you can already buy bikes from their Vancouver & Toronto stores, with more on the way.

All in all, we had a blast. The weather was great and lots of people stopped by, including one of the people from the Santa Barbara Bicycle Coalition who was making his way back down the coast by bike. You can see more pictures in my 2009 MEC Bikefest Flickr set. See you all tomorrow at the Organic Islands Festival.