Residents in the Wallaceburg area who are looking to enjoy the summer weather, ride a bicycle and meet new people are encouraged to take advantage of an upcoming event.
Community Living Wallaceburg is once again holding the "3 Rivers Roll" event this summer. The event is comprised of three separate rides that take place in different parts of Wallaceburg and include other fun activities.
Alisha Allaer, communications and fund development associate for Community Living Wallaceburg, said each ride will start off with a barbecue at 5 p.m. and will be followed by an hour-long bike ride at 7 p.m.
"Every ride is themed this year so the first one is health and wellness," said Allaer. "During those two hours [between 5 p.m. and 7 p.m.] we have a gymnastics coach coming, we have yoga, we have vendors coming, and then we also have a barbecue that's offering hot dogs, hamburgers, and veggie burgers."
The bike rides will take place on June 18, July 17, and August 15. Allaer said the event is geared towards being inclusive and slow paced so that it's easy to chat with other participants.
"Last year one of our younger riders who was sitting with her dad was six-months-old so we have little guys... all the way up to over 80," she said. "It's a really awesome, inclusive event and it really gets you to see parts of Wallaceburg that you would maybe never go to."
The "3 Rivers Roll" is now in its third year. Allaer said they first started organizing the rides in 2017 and were inspired by a similar cycling event in Detroit.
Over 200 people attended the first "3 Rivers Roll" ride and Allaer said it has only gained interest since then.
"Last year with the three events together we had well over 600 people participate," she said. "We average about 250 each event. Sometimes we have people who come to all three and then we always have a new crew."
Each ride is free to take part in. However, donations will be accepted during the barbecue portion of the rides. Money raised will go towards Community Living Wallaceburg. Allaer said they were able to buy a wheelchair bicycle using last year's donations, and this year they'll aim to purchase other accessible-friendly bicycles.
The first bike ride on June 18 will start at the Wallaceburg Legion. The second ride on July 17 will start at The Oak Retirement Village and the last ride on August 15 will start at Eternities Touch.