Happy Thanksgiving!

The velodrome turns 1 year old on Friday, and they are celebrating! If you are at all interested in the velodrome, come by on Friday, October 16 for an open house event we will be part of. Hang out at our tent and show folks how cool we can be ;) The event lasts from 6pm till about 9pm. If it is your first time at the velodrome, you can access it via the main entrance. Head to the RIGHT and there will be a set of gates. The gates should be open or someone will be at the gates to let you in during the open house time. There is a free dinner and (paid) drinks after 8pm!

  • The open house will have 30 minute “Try The Track” slots at 7pm and 7:30pm. These are available to anyone and get you on the bike on the apron (the flat part). They will be completely free, but it's first come first served. You should bring a helmet, but do not otherwise need a bike. Pedals and shoes if you like as well, but a good set of runners is perfectly fine. 

  • For your safety and the safety of those around you, Friday Velodrome sessions will require some recent velodrome experience beyond our Monday sessions thus far, as we will focus on fitness-based workouts. This means you’ve been riding consistently over the summer, whether that be open track, track league, or our summer velodrome sessions. If you don’t know, ask a coach. If you show up and are inexperienced, you may be asked to go home. If you ARE a newly minted Velodrome rider, attend some Monday sessions and maybe an open track session or two, and you’ll be welcome to come too!

    Want your photo in the next newsletter? Send them in!

    Pic: Coal Lake Cruisin’  C: Michelle

Club Updates: 

  • Thursday hills - Forwards hills will start at the regular time and end at the usual time, which means half of the ride will be during dusk or dark. Reverse hills will start at 5:30 at Gallagher. Can’t make 5:30? The group will be at Legislature at approximately 6:30-6:35 (and stay until 7ish), and will end around 7:30. Lights are required the entirety of the ride. Please make sure they are charged.

Velodrome Updates: 

  • Activity Messenger Linkie: https://activitymessenger.com/org/4494/

  • Please continue to RSVP on both Activity Messenger and strava, however only RSVP on Activity Messenger if you are certain you are able to attend, and if you must bow out, to let somebody know ahead of time, as slots are limited to ensure a good experience for everyone and to ensure we are not in violation of safety regulations. We recommend only RSVPing for sessions 1 week in advance, as it has happened where people RSVP for multiple sessions in advance and have forgotten / no showed. 

  • Interested in Friday Sessions? Send $100 via e-transfer to treasurer@ertc.org and then email me the completed screenshot. This is non-refundable, and please don’t make me chase you down for payment. We are all adults, and any shortfall from people not paying has to be covered by our budget. Wondering if you are able to come? Just ask one of the coaches!

Ride Updates:

  • All is quiet on the home front.

Racing/Event/ABA Updates:

  • Wednesday Night Worlds - happening at Capilano this week at 6:30pm. You’ll have already seen the strava invite, but this is purely for information. Come by to check out the vibes or to race. ERTC members race for free.

  • Next ABA race is this weekend, down in Sundre. Check it out - https://www.albertabicycle.ab.ca/alberta-race-calendar

General Reminders:

  • The end of our midweek evening rides are now during dusk. Please ensure you have “to see” lights, rather than “to be seen” lighting on your bikes if you intend on attending!

  • Official Rides are posted on strava. If you haven’t requested to join, please do so here: https://www.strava.com/clubs/2845 if you’ve applied and haven’t heard back, e-mail me, but first, make sure your strava name matches your registration name. Strava RSVP is REQUIRED for 2026. Ride leaders reserve the right to send people home if the ride is over capacity, especially if you RSVPed near the ride start time. We use strava to ensure that rides have adequate resources. An early RSVP (more than 12 hours prior) is preferred as it gives us time to ensure there are enough ride leaders.

  • Day to day communication and general chatter is via slack. You can join here: https://join.slack.com/t/edmontonroada-7u36621/shared_invite/zt-1t5qvezds-JotWB~e_EJcXrD9NArQarA - this is where you can get real time updates about unofficial rides, talk bikes with club members, and sell your stuff to other club members! If you identify as female and would like to be included in the WoERTC communications and event announcements, please message Heather Curtis on Slack to be added to the private WoERTC channel. Please remember to use the “reply in thread” feature when using slack, especially in the general channel.

  • River Valley Hospitality (Owners of Dogpatch, Little Brick, and Bread+Butter) is joining us as a sponsor for 2026. This means 10% off all regularly priced food and drink with presentation of your membership cards at any time. Don’t have a membership card? Ride leaders carry a few on them, so just ask! Also especially for members is for all morning rides that start at Little Brick, They will be doing a $5.50 Tea/Coffee + Pastry Special or a $8.50 Premium Coffee/Latte and Pastry Special before the ride, so make sure you come early enough to capitalize on it!

  • We’ve partnered with the City of Edmonton to offer 20% off monthly memberships and 15% off punch passes at all COE Recreation centers. If you want to use to program, send me an email or a message and I will write you a letter you can present to the front desk (showing them the email is fine) You can find out the full pricing and information here: https://www.edmonton.ca/activities_parks_recreation/corporate-wellness-program