The post We’ve invited people with stolen bike police reports to our events for over a decade appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>We are honoured to be Bike Index Ambassadors, we’re the only Ambassadors in Calgary.
https://bikeindex.org/news/
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]]>The post 2023 Alberta Bike Swap Impact Report appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>I think we made a splash in 2023 – this is a diagram of our impact report.
What’s not on this report is:
We started an endowment for UCalgary Kinesiology;
Supplied bikes to Olds College students;
Mentored software, sustainability, and technology students;
Participated in several Repair & Re-Use events;
Supplied our community bike racks to keep events green;
Pledged cyclists in charity rides (Branch Out Neurological Foundation, LifeCycle4Kids, and Tour Alberta for Cancer);
Presented Bike Mythbusters at Calgary Public Library;
Gave bikes to those in need through McMan
We sponsored tech, software, innovation, and dozens of other events and even more
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]]>The post Need bike racks for your community event? We loan these out to keep events green and get more people cycling. Not my first choice for naming our bike rack patent, but it’ll do. appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>The post Need bike racks for your community event? We loan these out to keep events green and get more people cycling. Not my first choice for naming our bike rack patent, but it’ll do. appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>The post An unexpected outcome appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>40+ years have passed and the formation of sclerotic plaques in my brain and spinal cord slowed down and I received the astonishing news that I can consider myself unlikely to ever have another MS exacerbation. I beat MS.
But a cure isn’t just aging out like I did, it’s keeping those neurons firing; both physically and mentally, and being positive. I’ll bet most of you didn’t know that I lived with what should have been a terminal illness for decades.
So let us be nice to each other because I’ll bet I’m not the only one that lived with a life limiting secret.
The post An unexpected outcome appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>The post Bike racks?! Yes, we have community bike racks appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>The post Bike racks?! Yes, we have community bike racks appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>The post Selling a bike at our bike swap appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>We tech check every bike so that someone’s bike issues are not passed onto the buyer;
There’s a small fee to get it into the swap (we do this to recoup some of the costs in the rare chance your bike doesn’t’ sell);
You’ll provide some info so we can pay you;
We’ll verify that the bike hasn’t been reported as stolen through our software that taps the real-time stolen bike database Bike Index;
You’ll decide the price you want (coach you too);
We’ll sell your bike for you then send you an e-transfer or cheque less 15%;
If you volunteer you get the bike in for free and get 10% consignment fee, yes we’re looking for volunteers https://albertabikeswap.ca/volunteer/
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]]>The post Innovation and Bikes appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>We tried to get access to Canada’s National Stolen Bike database, but the RCMP, police, and even the Justice department said that Bike Index is far more relevant and timely. When we. designed and patented our bike swap software we partnered with Bike Index to check that any bike in our swap event hasn’t been reported as stolen. We also have the only bike swap software in the world. We’ve spoken at local, municipal, provincial, national, and international innovation, sustainability, and bike events for the last 10 years about what we do to prevent bike theft.
Alberta Bike Swap also designed (and patented) bike racks for our event use and anyone that needs to promote cycling to / from their events. These bike racks are used almost every weekend during the spring and summer, and we’re honoured to be able to help other groups.
We’ve also supported the circular economy for well over a decade. What’s the circular economy? It’s repairing, reusing, and recycling bikes, bike parts, and keeping those bikes out of the landfill. By tech checking every bike, making sure the bike fits the purpose and rider, registering those new bike owners on Bike Index, then providing bike safety so that the person rides their bike. Just giving a person a bike isn’t enough, they have to feel safe and confident while riding. We at Alberta Bike Swap deliver a full circle of bike reuse.
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]]>The post Bike Donations appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>Only certain bikes can be used for adaptive cycling so CPKids and Families in Calgary and You Can Ride2 in Edmonton always get to pick bikes so that their bike techs can modify to make someone smile while riding.
Only certain bikes fit a child or youth, so we work with Sport Central in Edmonton, Winston Churchill High School (Youth en Route) in Lethbridge, and Two Wheel View in Calgary. Why only these groups? Ask us by email on the form below this blog.
The hundreds of other bike donations go to B4H, Bike Edmonton, Medicine Hat Cycle Guild, Centre for Newcomers, and anyone that emails us with a kind and polite request. We’ve helped several people on AISH and dozens more of families in need. Together we can share the resources to help others.
One of our favourite strategic alliances, Bicycles for Humanity (B4H) has two sea cans at Spyhill landfill facility where they collect and process bikes for their overseas programmes. Bikes collected at Bike Swap go to Spyhill for further handling. B4H services bikes donated through other channels for sale at our Bike Swap. We do not charge any fees and those funds go directly to supporting transportation or sea can costs.
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]]>The post Chris Grant: CAN-Bike Master Instructor appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>I’m an engineer and do all the software testing to make sure that our fit-for-purpose software UI is clear. I used to go to police bike auctions, buy bikes, and repair them for others. Laura calls me a barnyard engineer because I can fix nearly everything. The bike swaps are a bigger impact and a way that Laura and I can give back our decades of cycling knowledge. The swaps also provide transportation security through the groups we give bike donations to. We started the swaps to ensure that people have access to good used bikes, pledge cyclists in charity rides, and support the 55 groups we work with.
We also support safe cycling education. That initiative started with the Safe Cycling card that we have printed and distributed tens of thousands of copies. When someone needs first aid training they go to a reputable and knowledgeable place like St. John’s Ambulance or Red Cross. For safe cycling education that recognised source is CAN-Bike. https://canbikecanada.ca/who-we-are-2/ I am the only CAN-Bike Master instructor in Alberta and our friend Don is the only National Examiner in Alberta. A Master Instructor can train new instructors and we plan to have 5 new CAN-Bike instructors in the next 5 years. CAN-Bike training helps cyclists be confident on the roads, pathways or cycling infrastructure. Want to improve your bike riding? Then please consider a CAN-Bike course. CAN-Bike is the only nationally recognised source of cycling proficiency education. Need more? Then please email me at bikeeducation@albertabikeswap.ca.
Want to feel safer and more confident while cycling?
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]]>The post The History of Bikes From My Perspective appeared first on Alberta Bike Swap.
]]>One of the reasons we started the swaps was to provide a safe place to buy, sell, and donate bikes. But we also pledge cyclists that cycle for a great cause: Branch Out Neurological Foundation, Tour Alberta for Cancer, and the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation.
We are truly honoured to be a conduit for bike donations to great charities like CP Kids and Families and You Can Ride2 who adapt bicycles for their clients, and Two Wheel View and Sport Central in Edmonton who help youth in so many ways.
We also fund safe cycling, validate that every bike that’s sold hasn’t been reported as stolen through our fit-for–purpose patented software (I’m a woman in tech), and we help over 55 other strategic alliances that you’ll read about over the next few months.
Bicycles have always been part of my life and every bike bought, sold, and donated helps us at Alberta Bike Swap help others.
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