Bikes and Blues festival uses cycling to build community and collaborative science in the Upper Grand

There are over two billion bikes in the world, and an equivalent number of people without safe drinking water. The leaders of a new University of Waterloo initiative, Water Cycles Expeditions, believe the connection between water and cycling is more than a mere coincidence. Next month, all are invited to join the Water Cycles Bikes and Blues Festival, held in Belwood, ON on September 9^th to explore how cycling can reconnect people and water and help to empower communities to understand and address local water challenges.

Water Cycles Expeditions is a social enterprise focused on reconnecting people and water through cycling. Through bike events, tours, and experiential learning, Water Cycles is working to establish a global network of “water cyclists” to crowd source data on water use and values and help to build community capacity to put this data to use. Cyclists of all types, from the school-aged rider and seasoned adventurers to those with different types of abilities, will participate in bike rides that use the bike to tell a story about water. Rides are designed to get communities involved in the “scavenger hunt” for hard-to- reach data crucial to effective water management, from water pollution to water shortages. The group has been covered by CBC and the LA Times with a great set of partners coming into focus, highlighted locally by its new flagship partner: the Waterloo-Wellington Groundwater Children’s Festival, serving upwards of 5,000 students annually.

Their focus in 2023 is to build a network of water cyclists anchored in community hubs where research partners are ready to coordinate tours and local teams. Throughout the summer, partners from Kansas to Kenya have participated in the “summer of water cycling”. In Kisumu, Kenya, for example, Elisha Ochieng and Lorna Otieno, led a ride through the city of Kisumu to the banks of Lake Victoria, continuing on by boat, covering the gamut of issues from safe water in informal settlements to secure transit of women fishing entrepreneurs through community bike-for-work programs. The Kisumu Water Cycle brought together a diverse group, such as Cycling out of Poverty (COOP) Kenya, local politicians, activists, and scientists, including Cersey Onyango Ochieng, who offered a study tour of water issues and identified ways that water cyclists can support science and action. These rides are being replicated around the world and throughout the Grand River and Southern Ontario.

In September, Water Cycles Expeditions is “going local” and celebrating its first summer of activity with Water Cycles bikes and blues festival in Belwood, Ontario. Belwood is part of the Upper Grand, in the vibrant rural region near Elora and Fergus. Only 45 minutes from Waterloo, Belwood feels a world away and offers a great opportunity for the Waterloo water community to reconnect after summer and the impacts of covid. All at the University and our partners are warmly welcomed.

Co-founded by Water Institute member Dustin Garrick, Professor and University Research Chair in Water and Development Policy, School of Environment, Resources, and Sustainability, Water Cycles Expeditions will run the event through free community rides of different lengths along the Grand River - from a 15km family ride along the smooth and forested Elora-Cataract trail to more adventurous all-surface rides (gravel or hybrid bikes) that weave across the bridges of the Grand and take in the majestic Luther Marsh. New riders and children of all ages can also take part in the costume bike parade.

The free community rides will be followed by a benefit concert. Starting at 2:30 pm, join in for the live music, food, and beer garden at the Skol House in Belwood, ON, next to Belwood Lake. Some of the leading blues, rock, and bluegrass acts from the community will be performing including:

• Bradley Craig
• Kristine Schmitt and Andrew Penner
• Shane Cook and Emily Jean Flack