Thanks to local cycling enthusiast Roberta Irvin, who is a retired dietitian, Cycling with Sarah will be establishing its first chapter outside of Winnipeg and it will be in Selkirk.
The first chapter was established in 2023, which has since grown to six chapters in Winnipeg. Selkirk will feature the organization’s seventh chapter in May 2027.
“I’m excited about starting a new chapter, and I was there at the very beginning with Cycling and Sarah, and I think it’s just going to be interesting to see how the the Selkirk chapter unfolds…I really hope that we get a lot of interest because it is so rewarding, and it may be small to start, but the idea is that it’ll expand and the word will spread,” Irvin said. “I’m really looking forward to meeting more people here. And I do a lot of things in Selkirk, and it’d be nice to get to be more part of the community.”
Cycling with Sarah was established in Winnipeg by co-founder Sarah Gravelle-McKenzie and to support and encourage women who are 55 years of age and older to cycle and to also help women rediscover their personal joy of cycling.
“It’s really exciting,” said Gravelle-McKenzie. “We’re we partner with Live Cycle in Canada, and they’re the only sort of major bike brand that’s totally dedicated for women, and so their motto or their mission is more women on bikes. So, when I became a Live Ambassador, I had to do a proposal, and so my proposal was more senior women on bikes. It’s a demographic that is often forgotten, and the wait list and how we’ve grown speaks to that.”
And because of Cycling With Sarah, Irvin has been able to increase the volume of her cycling. Irvin used to cycle as a form of commuting to and from work and now she mostly cycles for pleasure and exercise.
“Over the years I’ve done quite a bit of biking, but it’s just so much more enjoyable when you can be with a group, and you can be with a group of your peers because we’re all senior women,” said Irvin. “I just did a completed 100k ride, and I never would have thought I could do that.”
Irvin explained how the thought of cycling 30 kilometres or even 45 kilometres seem donating, but because of the group riding factor, women involved with Cycling with Sarah are able to work their way up to that kind of mileage.
“You have the camaraderie…People do amazing things.” Irvin said. “It’s a well-oiled machine, you know, bike machine, well-oiled bike machine.”
Sarah, who is a co-founder of Cycling with Sarah, told the Selkirk Times that the local cycling origination has established a cycling schedule with fixed cycling dates for the various chapters. The group rides take place from May to the end of August and get underway at 8 a.m.
Gravelle-McKenzie noted the benefit of Cycling with Sarah is the safety factor, which helps to encourage women to cycling further and to venture outside of their home neighbourhood.
“When you’re travelling in a group, you have a ride leader, you have a ride sweep who’s got the safety vest on, so you’re sort of within these these two women who are navigating the route for you and keeping you safe,”Gravelle-McKenzie said. “There’s safety in those numbers.”
Not only does Cycling with Sarah provide opportunities for women to participate in group rides, they also provide opportunities for women to increase their skills when it comes to cycling.
“They’ll ride to the ride. They ride after the ride, and again, that’s how they increase confidence and the skill of the bike too,” Gravelle-McKenzie explained. “So we’ll do a lot of skill teaching and talk about gearing. A lot of the women are returning to cycling, and after many years, and they don’t they don’t know how to use your gears effectively, braking properly.”
In order ride with Cycling with Sarah on sanctions rides, cyclists need to have a helmet, headlight or reflectors, working breaks, and also have a paid membership in the Manitoba Cycling Association.
“That is how our riders are insured. Roberta will plan the routes, and then we submit to the Manitoba Cycling Association, and those rides are sanctioned,” Gravelle-McKenzie said. “When we’re on a sanctioned ride, if anything happens, the insurance is there for the rider.”
Cycling with Sarah will be hosting an information session in East St. Paul on Oct. 21. The event is by invitation only, however, if people want to attend, they can email cyclingwithsarah@gmail.com.
“It’s the education, it’s the sense of community,” Gravelle-McKenzie added. “Skills and confidence makes a huge difference.”
For more information visit cyclingwithsarah.ca.
