Upcoming Events

There are two major upcoming events:

The FOG club is organizing the Provincial Individual Time Trial on August 29th. Hosting the Provincial ITT and returning it to Birds Hill Park has been a passion for president Gary Edwards. It is a natural fit for FOG and Birds Hill Park is the premiere location for time trials in the province. Weekend races have been banned from BHP in the summer. A lot of hard work by the MCA has secured an exception allowing the ITT to return to BHP.

Returning the race to BHP does mean that the race has to run on a Saturday. There will be no official FOG ride from the legion that day. There will be the ITT and a group ride to follow starting from BHP at about 10:30. On the other hand, that also means there’s no excuse for FOG members not to volunteer or take part. FOG tries to make membership as easy as possible, but membership does not occur in a vacuum. Consider: FOG could not exist without the ride insurance it gets from the MCA* Those fancy bikes we all enjoy wouldn’t even exist without the push provided by racing. The MCA makes riding safer and more enjoyable for everyone** We all have different priorities, but if we can take part in 10-30 weekend rides in a year perhaps we can afford to give up part of one of those to give something back by either participating or volunteering.

Volunteers will be needed for sign-in from about 7:00 a.m. and for course marshals from about 7:45 a.m. till about 10:00 a.m. Please contact Gary Edwards at zoomdogster@gmail.com or me.

As with our May ITT we are purchasing event insurance so anyone can take part i.e. no licence required. Non-licenced riders will start first followed by riders with race licences. Technically there will be two identical races run back to back as rules for Provincials dictate that a rider must hold a UCI/CCA race licence, but everyone will be allowed to participate.


The other big event is Muddy Waters. This is going to be a huge event this year with the new association with Habitat for Humanity. See our previous post here for more details. This is a great event and I highly recommend everyone taking part. Remember registration closes two days before the ride. There will be a FOG ride on Saturday, August 8th though traditionally the ride the day before Muddy Waters tends not to go the full route to Birds Hill Park.

If you or someone you know would rather volunteer Don and the gang are still looking for volunteers. Contact Bailey at cycbyk@shaw.ca


* Insurance: This is a good time to explain a little about the ride insurance one receives with their MCA membership. As relates to FOG, the insurance covers therapy required as a result of mishaps that occur on organized club rides. It is one of last resort i.e. a rider must use any other insurance they have first. The other important point to note is that it only covers official organized club activities. So if I as the ride coordinator or another member of the executive acting on behalf of the club says there will be a FOG ride on such and such a day at such and such a time insurance coverage would apply (for example there is often an official extra ride on long weekends). If you are commuting to work or riding on your own it does not apply. If a member says lets get some people together for a ride the insurance does not apply. This does not mean that members are discouraged from organizing rides together, it is just something to be aware of.

**The MCA through its various programs and association with groups such as MPI, Bike to the Future, the Winnipeg Trails Association, etc. advocates for better awareness, better safety, better acceptance, and better infrastructure for cycling in Manitoba. But here’s the thing, although the MCA uses part of its budget to do all these things it doesn’t actually receive funding for them. Most of the MCA’s funding is based on competitive performance (numbers participating in races and high level results). Anyone who rides their bike in a public area in Manitoba; commuting to work, riding on trails, or taking part in a group ride benefits from MCA races.