Whew! What a week!

The first week of Shifting Gears is over. On my end, it’s been a wild ride: over eighty-five workplaces signed up, 1200+ participants, media, incentive kits and more. It’s humbling to see the program really take off this year – we’re smashing records in the eight year history of Shifting Gears all over the place. I assembled over seven hundred incentive kits to go out the door, something that is totally unheralded in this program, and may very well be first for any program of its kind.

It’s tremendous to know that Peterborough can be the home of such an event. We’re a strong community, and the thing that really warms my heart is the thought that SG can give folks the opportunity to see more, and be more, public. Something as simple as transportation has a massive impact on the way we view the world, our experience of the environment around us. And every mode that SG supports – walk, bike, bus, rideshare – is about either being with other people, or being outside seeing your community. Eliminating the solitary, stale confinement of driving through space (one space is the same as every space) and replacing it with experiences unique and deeply connected to where we live.

Anyway, I’m looking forward to Chloë Black’s arrival in the next few days – a former pro rider and local cycling celebrity, she’s going to help me out with the overwhelming amount of visits and deliveries that need to be made in the next few days. Yeehaw!