The True Meaning of Neighbourly: Bike Racks, Strategic Alliances, and Family Adventures

This past weekend, Calgary celebrated Neighbour Day—an annual event that holds a very special place in our hearts. It is a time to look back at the resilience shown during the 2013 floods and to look forward to how we can continue supporting one another. For us at Alberta Bike Swap, being a good neighbour means showing up with the practical tools and infrastructure that help our communities thrive.

Keeping Neighbour Day Green and Free

To ensure local community block parties and events could stay green, active, and accessible, we set up our bike racks out to several communities across the city. We believe in being neighborly. Providing safe, secure parking for active transit is our way of giving back to the city that has supported us for over a decade. Alongside these local celebrations, we were also incredibly proud to deploy our bike racks to support the wonderful team at the Wildrose Women’s Events.

A Deeply Personal Journey: Family & Adaptive Cycling

While we rarely talk about our private family life, this week gave us a beautiful opportunity to reflect on why we do what we do. When we aren’t managing bike swaps, mentoring, or software, we are honoured to step into our roles as grandparents. Caring for our grandchildren is a journey—sometimes taking us 2, 3, or 14 hours of travel—but it is an adventure that is always worth it to provide care, love, and support.

One of our grandchildren is incredibly special to us. Experiencing their unique path firsthand is a major driving force behind our deep, lifelong commitment to adaptive cycling. It is the direct reason why we have built and maintained a dedicated, decades-long strategic partnership with CP Kids and Families.

CP Kids and Families and You Can Ride2 are just two of our 104 strategic alliances. We have intentionally chosen to build this deep network over the last few decades because we know that true community resilience isn’t built in isolation. It is built when businesses, non-profits, and families lock arms to make active living accessible to everyone—regardless of their physical abilities.

Every kilometre traveled for family and every bicycle rack deployed for community is a reminder that the effort to care, love, and help is always worth the adventure. Thank you for being such wonderful neighbours.