2022 Sticker Challenge Sticks Out as a Highlight of The Summer

Jordan Glowicki, Event Manager

his summer Capital Bike put on another of the region’s biggest and free cycling events. Originating T out of the COVID-era Go By Bike Week, the Sticker Challenge was a way to engage the community in a physically distanced way. What started as a one-off to help people stay active blew up and now it’s a standalone event. This year the two-week long event had over 60 organizations participating. For the first two weeks of August, participants found exploring by bike more rewarding than ever, led by the guiding principle that the more places you visit by bike and collect stickers from, the more prizes you can win! “I ride my bicycle to commute to work daily and for chores, but the Sticker Challenge aptly challenged me to find out just how far I can go and what I can find,” said Tim Ford, winner of the Colour Master Prize Pack. “Acquainting cyclists and newbies alike with the pathway network and the many businesses connected to it via a scavenger hunt is a great way of fostering community and local interest.” This year we featured an even bigger geographic reach with region-specific coloured stickers. Summer is the perfect time to plan a bigger bike ride so spreading the geographical range to include more of the Westshore communities and up the Saanich Peninsula gave participants more options for these bigger bike adventures. Organizations loved it because it brings new patrons to their doors, and riders loved it because they discover awesome places to visit, shop, and explore that they might not have otherwise discovered. Different regions, or zones, had different coloured stickers, giving participants the change to collect some of each colour. One participant, Kelsey van Dyke, toured zones with her boyfriend. “On Saturday we biked into town on the Lochside Trail,” she said. “We stopped for a drink at a brewery in Vic West, souped up my ride at a bike shop in North Park, and ate supper at a restaurant downtown before heading back. On Sunday we went further up the peninsula to Sidney.” We are honoured to have partnered with so many awesome locations this year, and many offered additional incentives to visit their locations like free coffee, drop in passes, free mini golf, or other discounts. “The Sticker Challenge is such a fun reason to hop on your bike and explore new places in the capital region,” said Stacey Toews of Level Ground Coffee, who offered a free coffee to participants. “We love welcoming people into our tasting room and seeing the joy they get from a great drink, a great view from our patio, and a shiny new sticker.”

This year’s Sticker Challenge had over $2000 worth of prizes to be won including a roundtrip on the MV COHO for two people and two bikes, whale or bear watching, and multiple prize packs valued at over $125 each. “Capital Bike continues to host great events. Their latest community event... sparked the challenge of visiting all 62 locations, and allowed me to try some awesome new treats along the way,” said Nichola Kennell, the winner of the Selfie Challenge. “Keeping movement fun is a big part of why I love to be active, and Capital Bike really does a great job encompassing that in their events.”

Next summer we plan to make the challenge even bigger and more family friendly than this year. We hope you can join us along with hundreds of other folks next summer to collect those stickers!

Photos from left: a family shows off its sticker collection, photo credit: Felix Hay; the selfie-challenge winner, photo credit: Nichola Kennell; a selfie-challenge entrant, photo credit: Tyler Johnson