Category Archives: Announcement

What’s Up With SABA?

Hello everyone! Welcome to another awesome season of cycling! We’ve got some great news and updates from the world of SABA and we’re finally able to share!

Our very first Annual General Meeting was held in April with great success. Some excellent conversation was had, board positions were filled, and events were discussed for the year!

Group Rides

Once again, SABA will be running group rides on Thursday nights, however this year we’re changing the structure a bit and alternating week to week between recreational rides and mountain bike rides. Pending demand from membership we’re looking at offering a casual road ride as well.

To assist with sending group ride updates (for spontaneous rides, cancellations due to weather, location changes, etc) we’re going to use an app called TeamApp.  All members will be encouraged to download the app to their iPhone or Android, or those that prefer can also simply use their email addresses.  Any updates to group rides will be sent through the app, ensuring that everyone gets notifications to their phones or email right away in case of last minute updates!

Also, we’ve set up a club account on Strava!  If you use the app to track your rides and would like to share with other members of the club, feel free to join the group!

Find us on Team App  strava button

Events

SABA will once again be attending the City of St. Albert’s Canada Day event!  Looking forward to the change of venue and hoping it’ll be another great day!  If you’re interested in volunteering to help out with the day, please drop us a line at admin@bikestalbert.ca

In August we’re planning a special 18+ group ride that will tour us around a few of St. Albert’s favorite watering holes!

Keep an eye on our website and social media pages for updates, or sign up for our Chain Mail to get info to your inbox!

Our SPIN class was a tremendous success last year, and while we unfortunately missed our opportunity to run a “Spin into Spring” event (or, judging by the weather of late – maybe not?) we are still planning on running a SPIN class and possibly some other types of cycling related fitness classes throughout the year.  Similar to last time there will be member and non-member pricing, with discounted rates for members!

Memberships

We’re excited to announce some big changes to our membership structure. We’re switching insurance providers, and through our partnership with IMBA Canada, we’ve found coverage at a significantly reduced rate – allowing us to pass the savings on to our membership!

We’re also updating our membership year to be from May 1st to May 1st, instead of starting on the calendar year of Jan 1st.  This brings our membership renewals more in line with the cycling season and seems to just make more sense. 🙂

Group Rides!

It seems every year around this time like we’re saying goodbye to summer and starting to prepare ourselves for the long winter months ahead. Last week we finished off our official group rides for the 2014 season, and I’d like to say thanks to everyone that joined us for both the recreational rides and our mountain bike rides!

We hope everyone had fun and that we’ll see you out with us next year!

Depending on how favourable the weather stays over these next weeks and months we’ll run ‘unofficial’ group rides when opportunity permits. Because they’ll be scheduled fairly last minute we’ll be using more ‘real-time’ media to announce them than our website. Please follow us on twitter, or subscribe to our group on facebook to make sure you get our messages. Group ride announcements will also be sent out to our membership email list in case you don’t use the above social media sites.

https://www.facebook.com/stalbertbikeassociation
https://twitter.com/bikestalbert

2014 Summer Group Rides

Our 2014 group ride schedule has been set and posted! The first group rides start on June 5th and this year we’ll be running both mountain bike rides and recreational rides on Thursday nights.  You choose how you want to ride!

Our mountain bike group rides will take place in Edmonton and will be staged out of either Terwillegar or Emily Murphy Park, depending on the date.  Recreational rides will take place in St. Albert and will start at the statues behind St. Albert Place.

As a liability requirement of our affiliation to the Alberta Bicycle Association, membership is required for attending our group rides, however you can always ‘test drive’ a ride once before making the commitment to join SABA.

For anyone interested in mountain biking, we encourage you to come to our May 29th Mountain Bike Clinic.  We’ll use this event to assess your skills and show you some of the features and terrain you’re likely to encounter on one of our off road group rides.  This is an all-skills, all-ages event and is intended to demonstrate and assess the necessary skills for riding your bike off-road.

Also, don’t forget that members of SABA can attend any of Cranky’s group rides by simply showing your SABA membership card and providing a little information for record-keeping.

Check out our events calendar for SABA rides and Cranky’s events page for their group ride schedule.

Helmets are mandatory, and don’t forget your water!

SABA group rides run rain or shine, but in the event of severe weather or other last minute changes, please watch our facebook or twitter page for last minute updates!

Not a SABA member yet?  Sign up here!

 

New Club Partner!

SABA is excited to announce a new perk for members!

Cranky’s is now the exclusive St. Albert bike shop partner for the St. Albert Bike Association!

Discounts

Show your SABA membership card at Cranky’s and receive:

10% off regular priced parts and accessories
10% off one bike for yourself (includes sale bikes and special orders!) Note: the bike must be purchased for you and does not include spouse, family members, friends, etc
30% off Cranky’s branded clothing

Group Rides

Cranky’s and SABA will now be sharing group ride schedules, and members from each club will be able to partake in the other club’s group rides.

Members from both club will have more options for group ride types and days:

Sundays – casual road rides (Cranky’s) – 50-60kms paced at below 30km/hr
Mondays – casual road rides (Cranky’s) – 1.5hrs paced at around 25km/hr
Wednesdays – high speed road rides (Cranky’s) – 1.5hrs at a high pace
Thursdays – recreational paved trail rides (SABA) – 1.5hrs, family friendly rides on St. Albert’s paved trail system
Thursdays – off-road mountain bike rides (SABA) – 1.5hrs, singletrack rides on Edmonton’s trail system

Schedules, including times and locations, are still being finalized but will be posted on both Cranky’s, and SABA’s websites when complete.

Note: as a requirement of our affiliation with the Alberta Bicycle Association, all club group rides are designated as members only, and your membership to either Cranky’s or SABA must be confirmed before you’ll be able to participate.

First time riders with the group still are allowed one ‘test drive’ of a SABA group ride, but will be required to join the club if they choose to continue riding with the group.

Spin Into Spring : Class

Now is the time to prepare your fitness base for spring. Join the St. Albert Bike Association for a ten week spin class that has been made possible through a generous partnership with the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club.

This event marks the beginning of a membership drive and a drive to generate value for those in our community who are interested in getting more involved in cycling as a sport, a hobby, a means of transportation or even a as a thrill. Proceeds from this class will benefit SABA community programming.

“Spin Into Spring” begins on Thursday, February 13 at the Sturgeon Valley Athletic Club and runs for 10 consecutive weeks from 7:15 to 8:15 pm. Registration is live and space is limited.

Registration and information can be found here.

2014 Membership Registrations – Now Online!

Membership registration for 2014 is now online! Pricing is still $45 for 17 and under, and $55 for 18+

Register for St. Albert Bike Association

We’ve got some exciting plans and announcements for this year, keep an eye out here or on our Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/stalbertbikeassociation)

Bike Skills Park – Open Houses

It’s Here…Come On Out…Have Your Say!

The City of St. Albert wants your input on the proposed locations for the Bike Skills Park. Public consultation on the Bike Skills Park starts with two open houses and online survey. Survey will be available until January 24.

For more information come on out to one of the two open houses this week:

Public open houses:

Wednesday, January 15, 6:30 – 8:00 pm
Sir George Simpson School
50 Grosvenor Blvd., Lunchroom

Saturday, January 18, 1 – 3 pm
Grandin Clubhouse, 5 Grenfell Avenue

Online survey: https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/M93VRSC

http://www.stalbert.ca/bike-skills-park
https://www.facebook.com/stabikepark

Please help spread the word and share, like, tweet this with your friends!

Bike Skills Park Update

The proposed bike skills park once again went in front of Council yesterday (Sept 23rd).

Council was presented a report describing three different site proposals. Each site was scored based on a common set of criteria, and the top two sites were presented to Council as recommendations to host the skills park.

Each location has it’s own unique set of benefits, and we’re excited to announce that Council gave approval to go ahead with the next step of the project – public consultation – for both recommended sites!

Stay tuned here and on our facebook pages for details as we progress towards the next steps in this fantastic project!

St. Albert Bike Association
St. Albert Bike Skills Park

Thank You, St. Albert!

Our last official group ride for the season was Sept 15, and I just wanted to thank everyone that came out for one (or more) of our rides! I couldn’t be happier with the support I received throughout the season and I’m looking forward to seeing you all in 2014.

Things will definitely not be quiet for us through the winter months, even though most of us will have hung our bikes up for the year. Keep an eye on this site and our facebook page for updates on the proposed Bike Skills Park, 2014 membership info, workshops, and events we’re planning on hosting or attending!

In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy these few remaining days before the snow flies!

Behind the scenes…

Hey everyone! Hope you’re enjoying what’s left of our summer! We’ve had a lot of great riding days, but it sure seems like we’ve had a lot more rain-outs! Here’s a little update with all the latest happenings with SABA.

membership_cards

Online Membership Signup

We’ve created an online signup form so you can quickly and easily join SABA! We’re not able to accept payments online yet, but our goal is to have that piece up and running for the 2014 membership season. If you’d like to join us, hit the link and sign up! Once we get notification we’ll contact you to arrange payment.
https://www.bikestalbert.ca/blog/join

non_profit_approved

It’s Official!

Shortly after we ‘opened shop’ we submitted our application to the province to become a non-profit association. Well I’m excited to announce that we FINALLY received our approval package in the mail! St. Albert Bike Association is officially registered with the province as a not-for-profit organization!

Bike Skills Park

SABA is working diligently with the City of St. Albert to identify and score some new locations for the proposed Bike Skills Park. Three new locations have been found as suitable options and we’ve worked with the City to choose the top two recommendations. Once we have more details to release, they’ll be posted both here on the website, as well as our Facebook pages too. Stay tuned!

Group Rides

We’ve had some awesome group rides and turnout has been fairly steady each week at between 5 to 9 riders each time. This is a fantastic start for our little club, and we’re hoping to see this grow as the weeks go on! If you’ve joined us for a group ride and you’ve enjoyed it, you should consider joining the club and showing your support!

business_cards

Contact Us!

As always we value your input. If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact us via email or facebook!

admin@bikestalbert.ca
https://www.facebook.com/stalbertbikeassociation
https://www.facebook.com/stabikepark

Ride On!