CFB Esquimalt to see revamped Navy Bike Ride

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) Paul Fenton of the Personnel Coordination Centre (Pacific) shows off his bike and cycling gear at Duntze Head, April 5. CPO1 Fenton is an ambassador for this year’s Navy Bike Ride, which takes place on May 25. Photo: Peter Mallett, Lookout

Peter Mallett, 
Staff Writer 
— 
This year’s in-person Navy Bike Ride has shifted gears from last year’s event at Belmont Park in Colwood. It features a new course designed for fun, exercise and camaraderie along the scenic cycling trails of Victoria.

Participating members will see fewer steep inclines covering a looping course along the Capital Regional District’s regional trails towards Victoria’s downtown and back. The decision to change this year’s route was to make the ride more accessible to more riders of varied abilities and to do it in designated bike lanes and on recreational trails.

Chief Petty Officer 1st Class (CPO1) Paul Fenton, an official ambassador for this year’s ride, fully believes in the mandate behind the Navy Bike Ride. This is because no recorded times or winner’s medals are handed out.

“This is a great event because it focuses on the experience rather than a competitive race,” CPO1 Fenton said. I was invited to participate in this year’s ride because of my involvement in last year’s ride and my passion for cycling.”

CPO1 Fenton is a lifelong recreational cyclist who brings a bike wherever he goes. He has enjoyed a 36-year career in the Royal Canadian Navy  and is currently the Coxswain of the Personnel Coordination Centre (Pacific).

CPO1 Fenton says he rides the course twice or more during any given week  to help him stay in shape. It is challenging enough to raise most cyclists’ heart rates but not gruelling enough to discourage novices.

“The ride course was selected to highlight the local trails and to help illustrate that cycling from the base is a viable activity to add or supplement a member’s personal fitness activities,” said CPO1 Fenton. 

CPO1 Fenton says that those looking for a more challenging ride should consider the Navy Bike Ride’s virtual options.

Putting the ‘fun’ in ‘fundraiser’

Founded in 2016, the Navy Bike Ride encourages the well-being of military members and their families by motivating them to stay healthy through cycling and raising money for the Canadian Armed Forces community. Monies raised from this year’s registration fees and other donations will go to the Canadian Naval Benevolent Fund, Support Our Troops, and Soldier On.

Maritime Forces Pacific’s Health and Wellness Strategy Active Living Working Group and the Office of the Base Commander are the organizers of this year’s in-person rides in Esquimalt. 

• Signature Ride, the Navy Bike Ride’s first virtual option, is a 28-km distance that participants can complete wherever they are during June.
• The Admiral’s Challenge involves riders completing a 100 km ride within 24 hours. 
• The Masthead Challenge involves a competition between Royal Canadian Navy vessels, with the winning team receiving a $1,000 prize for the ship’s charitable fund. 
• The in-person ride commences Saturday, May 25, at 10:30 a.m. and covers 18 km along the Capital Regional District’s Galloping Goose and E&R Railway trails. A free, family-friendly, and youth ride over a shorter course in and around CFB Esquimalt begins at 10 a.m.

The riders begin their ride at the base in the CANEX parking lot in Naden. They proceed to the E&N Rail Trail at Colville Road, travel eastbound towards the Inner Harbour, cross the Selkirk Trestle over the Gorge Waterway before turning north along the Galloping Goose Regional Trail. They then turn west along the Galloping Goose in Saanich before eventually reconnecting with the E&N Rail Trail in View Royal for the last leg of the journey back to Esquimalt.

Course marshals along the ride will help riders make the proper turns and changes of direction along the course.

In-person rides are happening in Esquimalt, Halifax, Quebec City, and Ottawa, while three virtual event options exist for riders who cannot participate in person.

The cost to register for in-person or virtual rides is $30. It includes a challenge coin and a commemorative Navy Bike Ride shirt. 

To learn more about the Navy Bike Ride or to register, visit navybikeride.ca