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In today’s News, a look at part two of amalgamation in Greater Victoria Part 2 of 5, Page A3
NEWS: Tweed magazine takes top award /A2 ARTS: Students prepare to strut their stuff /A14 SPORTS: Sights from the Ford Worlds /A20
OAK BAYNEWS Friday, April 5, 2013
www.vicnews.com
Bike league soars to a start
Christine van Reeuwyk News staff
With a whistle of wind through their hair kids took to the air and land in the second BikeJam to launch the School Bike League last Friday. While the hoopla at West Shore recreation started the season, there’s still time for schools with riders from grades 6 through 12 to enter a team. “There’s no entry fee or other requirement and you don’t have to ride all nine events,” said Lister Farrar, SBL race director. “The idea is Over the next nine weeks SBL will a variety of venues and nine not only to test cover different kinds of cycling on mostly kids skills but Tuesday evenings April 9 through June 4. “You can do six out of the nine on develop them.” a mountain bike,” Farrar said. Some - Lister Farrar venues, like the velodrome at West Shore recreation, include free bike rental, while the hills and tracks of the North Saanich Free Ride Park are ideal for a mountain bike. “The idea is not only to test kids’ skills but develop them,” Farrar said “The competitive part is relatively low emphasis. … It’s really aimed at all levels of kids.” The bike league has been around since the 1980s during the mountain biking boom, with a surge in the last three or four years expanding to include a variety of styles. “We all believe that being good at all these different skills carries through into the different aspect of the sport you choose. … There’s lots of crossover when you get to the higher competitive levels,” Farrar said. The school must approve an adult supervisor for the team – which can be a lone rider – and email the commissioner esimonson@sd61.bc.ca to confirm participation with name of school and adult. Go to schoolbikeleague.com and download a waiver, get a parent or guardian to sign it, and bring to the school’s team supervisor. The School Bike League is open to all schools in Greater Victoria. Participants can earn points for their school toward league championships and prizes. SBL is offering a prize of three GoPro cameras this season, divvied into three age groups using the top three girls’ and top three boys’ scores at the end of the league. “It’s an incentive to get as many kids from your school out as many times as you can,” Farrar said. editor@goldstreamgazette.com
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Submitted photo
Oak Bay High Grade 9 student Una Farrar gets big air during the Good Friday BikeJam at West Shore recreation centre.
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