TORONTO—Maja Mielonen and Guy Nielen, the driving forces behind Manitoulin Island Cycling Advocates (MICA) have just returned from an adventure to Ecuador and the Amazon, but before that had an encouraging annual trip to Toronto and the Toronto International Bicycle Show.
Each year, MICA hosts a booth at the bicycle show, helping to spread the good word about Manitoulin’s cycle tourism and handing out 1,200 copies of the hot-off-the-press 2019 edition of This is Manitoulin magazine.
“It was a great show and we had a great response for our tours,” Ms. Mielonen said when contacted by The Expositor, noting that as of February MICA already had 140 people registered for the annual Manitoulin Passage Ride and expected a sell-out event following the bicycle show.
With news that both Highways 6 and 540 will soon boast paved shoulders, both west and east of Little Current, this can only mean even better things for Manitoulin cycle tourism, Ms. Mielonen said.
For the icing on the cake, Ms. Mielonen also attended the Ontario By Bike Tourism Conference, which coincided with the bicycle show, where she was bestowed with the Regional Tourism Organization Region 13a Cycle Friendly Tourism Award for her work as proprietor of Maja’s in Mindemoya.
“I had the chance to speak for two minutes, so I spoke for 15,” she laughed. “I spoke about who we are, what we do and where we are now. It gave Manitoulin good exposure.”
For more information about Maja’s, visit majas.ca or check out her Facebook page.
