On June 21, a five-day, 550-kilometre journey came to an end at Fort Battleford.
The Battle River Watershed Alliance organized a bike ride around the theme of healthy people, healthy communities and a healthy environment whose goal was to travel a collective 1,700 kilometres (a kilometre for every kilometre of tributaries of the Battle River) over a six-day period.
"We recognize that in order to have healthy people and healthy communities, we need a healthy environment. That's why we planned this ride," says Nathalie Stanley Education and Outreach Coordinator at the BRWA.
"We are 70 per cent water. We can't pretend water quality doesn't affect us!"
The ride started at Battle Lake near Edmonton, Alta. and finished at Fort Battleford. Participants from as far away as Germany biked, walked, rollerbladed and canoed to support the ride, with 12 people taking part in at least one day of the tour.
Along the way, the BRWA held community events in Ponoka, Camrose and Wainwright, Alta. and visited classrooms in Ponoka and Hardisty, Alta. to promote the message that health depends on active lifestyles and a clean environment.
Shane Mascarin, a range biologist at CFW Wainwright, was one of the riders who made the entire trip from Battle Lake to Battleford.
"It was an unreal experience to be able to dip my wheels where the Battle River starts at Battle Lake and then dip my wheels where it meets the North Saskatchewan River. Along the way I got to meet and ride with new people, cross the river multiple times and see new areas of the watershed," he explained.
"It was an eye-opening experience to how great our little watershed is and the people it holds."
The Battle River Watershed Alliance is an inclusive, collaborative and consensus-based community partnership that is working to guide, support and deliver actions to sustain or improve the health of the Battle River watershed. They seek to achieve this through knowledgeable community participation and an adaptive approach.
BRWA is based in Camrose. For more information on the organization or the bike tour, visit their website at www.battleriverwatershed.ca or phone 780-672-0276.
