Author: Mel Saari

Word is out that it might be tough to get ferry reservations to Victoria unless you make them early.  Therefore anyone travelling from the Okanagan to participate in the Victoria Group Rides (August 24 – 27) should consider reserving a ferry ride now to make sure that you are not disappointed.

Some of you may also wish to car pool in order to reduce costs and plus save the environment.  This could be done from Kelowna or from the Tsawwassen ferry terminal.

A group dinner for all participants and ride leaders has been scheduled for 5 PM, Friday, August 25th at Browns Social House located at 809 Douglas Street. 

So far we have 22 registered for this event.  There is still space for 8 more participants.  If interested, please click here for more details and route maps.  Also click here for an update posted on May 8th.

Thanks to Don Brown for proposing  the following gravel group ride:

“We are considering a Kettle Valley Railway group ride on Friday, July 21, 2023. This ride is open to all riders with gravel bikes, mountain bikes and e-bikes and will start from the KVR Myra Station Parking Lot at 10 AM and head to Chute Lake Lodge for lunch, coffee or other favourite beverage, then return back to the Myra Station Parking Lot.  This is a flat (1-3% grade), 72 – 75 km, out and back, very scenic ride passing over the trestles.  At this time, we are looking for general interest, so look at your calendars and let us know in the comments below if this is something you are interested in doing. “

Route Map

All participants in Killer Beez group rides must adhere to our safety rules and assume all risks for their safety.  Therefore, a waiver must be signed in order to participate in the South Okanagan Group Ride scheduled for Saturday, June 24th & Sunday June 25th, 2023.  This ride will start from the Penticton Airport parking lot on Saturday June 24th at 9:00 AM sharp.  Please see blog post dated May 22nd for further details and route maps.

If you are planning to join this ride, click on the following link to read, and print the waiver.  Please sign and BRING the waiver to the ride. We will not allow anyone without a signed waiver to ride with us.

Killer Beez South Okanagan Ride Waiver

All participants in Killer Beez group rides must adhere to our safety rules and assume all risks for their safety.  Therefore, a waiver must be signed in order to participate in the Summerland Group Ride scheduled for Friday, June 16th.  This ride will start from the Summerland Middle School parking lot on Kelly Avenue at 9:30 AM.

If you are planning to join this ride, click on the following link to read, and print the waiver.  Please sign and BRING the waiver to the ride. We will not allow anyone without a signed waiver to ride with us.

Killer Beez Summerland Ride Waiver

Darrin Caruso of ChainLine Cycle has organized a Memorial Ride for Karl Kaesmodel who passed away last fall.  Karl may be known to some of you as he had participated in a number of our Killer Beez Sunday rides.  This ride will start at 9 AM from the Sails on Sunday, July 9th.  The ride will be approximately 65 km followed by refreshments at the Kettle Brew Pub.

Due to the rising temperatures in the Okanagan, it’s time to start our group rides a little earlier to avoid the hottest part of the day as much as possible.

Therefore:

The start time for the Wednesday Group Ride will change to 10 AM, effective immediately. 

The start times for the Saturday and Sunday Group Rides will change to 9 AM, effective immediately.

Set your alarms.

We are looking for more riders to participate in the two day, South Okanagan Group Ride proposed for Saturday, June 24th and Sunday, June 25th.  So far we have 9 riders participating but are looking for 11 more in order to justify the effort required.  Moreover, the Osoyoos motel rooms on hold for this event expire this Friday.

Please see the previous post dated May 22nd for complete details regarding this ride including route maps.

If you are interested in participating in this ride please email Angus at [email protected]  before Friday, June 2nd.

Angus has proposed an interesting two day group ride in the South Okanagan. 

The ride starts from the  Penticton Airport at 8:30 AM on Saturday, June 24th.  Carpooling is available by meeting at the Starbucks located at 101-2231 Louie Drive, Governor’s Market, Westbank, at 7:15 AM latest.  Secure parking is available at the Penticton Airport.  The parking rate for 2 days is approximately $10.00. 

On the first day we will ride to Osoyoos via Green Mountain and Keremeos.  We will overnight in Osoyoos at the Super 8 Motel.  15 rooms have been reserved there for the Killer Beez.  Please call the Super 8 at (250) 495-2633 to secure your room.  Support vehicles will accompany the riders and transport their luggage plus snacks and drinks.

On the second day we will return to Penticton by riding along Black Sage Road to Oliver, where we will take Fairview and Willowbrook Roads to White Road.  White Road will take us by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory to Highway 97.  We will then ride along Highway 97 back to Penticton.

The following links will provide detailed route maps for each day’s ride:

Day 1 Route Map

Day 2 Route Map

If you are interested in participating in this ride please indicate so in the comment section below.

Be aware that you will be required to sign a waiver of liability in order to participate in this ride.  You will be riding at your own risk.

The Killer Beez Victoria Group Rides scheduled for August 24 – 27 are definitely a go.  As of this date we have 22 riders registered with room for 8 more.

Riders will be divided into 3 groups based on pace.  Each group will have an leader fully experienced with the route and it’s potential hazards. Lawrence Berg and his riding buddies will lead us. 

We plan to have dinner for the whole group, including spouses, on the evening of Friday, August 25th.  If you have a favourite Victoria restaurant that can handle a group of 40 – 50 please let me know in the comments.

Our feature group ride will take place on Saturday.  This is the 2 ferry Saltspring Island Route.   A shorter route will be scheduled for Sunday to accommodate riders driving home that day.

Lawrence Berg will have copies of the Capital Region Bike Map available for all riders.  It can also be downloaded by clicking here.  This map will allow cyclists to plan their own ride if they don’t want to participate in the scheduled route for the day.

Each rider will be asked to contribute $20 which will be used to cover miscellaneous expenses and to purchase dinner for our ride leaders during our group dinner on Friday evening.

Stay tuned for more updates.

 

Effective immediately, the Killer Beez Wednesday Group Ride (Joyce’s Ride) will start at 1:00 PM (instead of 1:30 PM) from the Kelowna Cycle / Bread Company parking lot on Pandosy. 

This change, as requested by Joyce Mulligan (our wise ride leader), will allow us to finish the ride before the schools let out (less traffic) and allow participants from West Kelowna more time to drive home before rush hour.

Joyce knows best.