MANITOULIN—Manitoulin Island Cycling Advocates (MICA) met on June 7 for its annual general meeting. Before the meeting itself, there were several presentations to bring members up-to-date on the many projects and behind-the-scenes happenings the organization is involved in.
Matthew Redmond gave a summary of the Manitoulin Passage Ride, which had taken place only days before. He really didn’t need to tell those in attendance that the event was a huge success, they had all been there—they saw for themselves. The ride was sold out at 250 cyclists registered and in the end there were 240 who took part. “There were smiles and much happiness all weekend long,” Mr. Redmond said. “Last year’s event brought in over $100,000 to the community and the total amount will definitely be higher than that this year.” He was thankful for all the volunteers who helped in so many ways.
“He’s so right,” Maja Mielonen, president of MICA, said, following Mr. Redmond’s report. “Volunteers are so important to our organization.”
Ms. Mielonen then introduced everyone to Ashley Whyte, MICA’s new intern. Ms. Whyte was not physically present, but appeared on a screen set up in front of the others. She spoke of her main objective: building membership, and was proud to report that several businesses have recently joined the group. Education and promotion are two of Ms. Whyte’s other objectives as she works on expanding the MICA website.
Both Ms. Whyte and Ms. Mielonen spoke about MODEM—Manitoulin Outdoor Digital Experience Museum—narrated stories, available through an app, while one is touring, preferably cycling, but one can enjoy these narrated stories while driving in their car, or in the comfort of their home, sitting at their computer. These stories are available in English and French, and can be downloaded from MICA’s website.
Rebecca Laurenti spoke next, explaining the goal of the Bike Kitchens that have been set up to instruct cyclists on repairing minor problems incurred along the roadside. Two of these Bike Kitchens have already taken place, in Gore Bay and M’Chigeeng, but there’s another planned for Sunday, June 18 in Mindemoya, at Maja’s Garden, 6152 Hwy 542, from 2 to 4 pm. Ms. Laurenti will show you how to fix a flat, instruct you on the proper tire pressure, bike fitting, helmet fittings, etc. Ms. Laurenti was the volunteer providing road assistance to the cyclists throughout the recent Passage Ride.
A new service has recently been provided for cyclists coming to the Island without a vehicle. Matt Bontje informed the group of his bike luggage service, available during the run of the Chi-Cheemaun from May to October. He will transport heavy packs and other paraphernalia to wherever the cyclist is heading. The cost to various locations is on the MICA website.
Next, Guy Nielen talked about the ebike system and how it works. In the next few weeks, 20 ebikes will be set up in various parts of the Island, roughly 30 to 50 kilometres apart (the bikes have a range of about 70 km on a charge). One will be able to rent a bike and take it to another station and leave it there, or ride it back to the station from which they came.
Gary spoke next on maps—MICA’s self-guided maps—of which he’s sent 244 in the past year to just about everywhere in Ontario, various cities and towns in Quebec and the United States.
Michelle Campbell and Ms. Whyte spoke about membership. Ms. Campbell is looking after individual memberships and Ms. Whyte is concentrating on businesses. They spoke of the advantages of becoming a MICA member. With regard to businesses, membership gives one’s business the opportunity to be seen on MICA’s website pages, with a live link to their business on the promotional pages of their choice. MICA map advertisements are available to MICA business members. MICA eatery business members are often chosen to provide food for Tour and Ride participants. Further information on all of MICA’s projects and activities can be found on their website: manitoulincycling.com.
The business portion of the meeting followed these presentations and the main focus was elections. All of the existing board members’ terms had come to an end. It was time to nominate and vote on a new slate of officers. Since the board can consist of as few as three and as many as seven members, the six people who were nominated and accepted these positions were all acclaimed, making short work of the process. The new board members are as follows: Maja Mielonen, Matthew Redmond, Peter Ford, Michelle Campbell, Nicole Pepper and Rebecca Laurenti. MICA board members are elected for a two year term. The meeting was adjourned shortly after, before the mosquitoes got too aggressive.
