Last year I took part in Bike the Blossoms, an event put on for the past two years by Slow Food Vancouver and the Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival. There were 2000 cyclists on the streets of Vancouver that day. We ruled the road. I have never felt so safe in traffic. The cars just parted like the seas.
For the last two years, cyclists have visited cool restaurants that feature local food and sampled tasty tidbits along the way. They’ve popped in to hear a speaker or chat with a farmer or attended a workshop at a local community centre, all beneath a fragrant canopy of pink blossoms! Slow Food Van also organizes several farm bike tours out in the Valley.
In case you don’t know, Slow Food was founded in 1989 in Europe to counteract the fast food craze, reminding people to slow down and appreciate how the food tastes, to consider our food choices and how they affect the rest of the world. They have “conviviums” eating slowly around the globe.
Vancouver Area Cycling Coalition (VACC) partnered on the event last year and takes a lead position this year. Slow Food has bowed out. The tour is one of VACCs 2010 Great Rides. Organizers assure me there will still be tasty treats and many of the same cafés and restaurants are involved. Also music, entertainment and bike decorating! The event is this Saturday, April 17th. $10. With starting points at the Vancouver Museum and Brittania Community Centre. Register here.
Let’s hope the weather cooperates, the first year it snowed! And the blossoms were so early this year that many of them are done. But those big pink fluffy ones are in full bloom. Oh and you can take a rest and park your bike at the Solar Bike Tree (blooming with solar panels only) in front of Science World. VACC was one of my partners on this project! Enjoy the ride!