Despite the world being turned upside down by Covid-19 the summer at New Hope Bikes has looked pretty normal. We had a great group of summer staff supported by the federal governments Canada Summer Jobs program and the provinces Summer Experience Program. We were able to hire three university students and one high school student for 8 weeks of the summer, all of whom were essential to the organizations success during the busiest summer ever!
Two of the students spent their time at Gage Park at the Pump Track staffing our Ontario Trillium Foundation sponsored bike lending program. Staff lent out bikes, completed basic repairs and fit helmets at the pump track. This program was a huge success with 316 bike sign outs, 201 basic repairs, and they counted 991 track users during their 8 weeks staffing the program. , and the other worked in the shop to keep our busy repair queue under control.
To cap off the summer, our staff team and a few friends took an overnight bike packing trip to Rockwood Conservation Area (just east of Guelph). The route was great, there was a grocery store nearby, swimming at the park and everyone got to tryout their bike packing set ups. Some opted for the traditional rack and pannier set ups while others opted for the newer style frame bags and ultralight camping options.
