Riders rack up the miles for free tires
Dealer hosts contest aimed at getting riders on their bikes
What better way to enjoy your summer than riding around on your favorite two-wheeler? And what could be easier than riding for a chance to win an all-new set of wheels? Echo Cycle, in Edmonton, Alberta, is making one lucky rider’s high-mileage dreams come true.
Aaron Berg, Echo Cycle’s marketing and promotions coordinator, says that the team is excited to host the second annual high mileage contest. The contest typically runs from the end of April to September. “We run it from our season opener until our season closing party around the end of September; that’s usually our riding season in Alberta,” said Berg. “Last year we had about two dozen [riders participate], and this year we’re getting pretty close to that.”
Unlike a lot of other dealership contests, Echo Cycle’s high-mileage contest doesn’t have a set deadline to apply, says Berg, though the earlier riders sign up, the more mileage they can count towards their grand total.
“We don’t have any sort of deadline. We record the mileage off their bike when they register,” said Berg. “We just had a guy the other day that entered his new bike after his service, so it only has 1,000 km on it.” The mileage is counted from when the riders register to enter the contest; it doesn’t matter if the bike is old or new.
The winning mileage from last year was around 24,000 km (about 14,900 miles) by a rider named John on his 2013 Triumph Trophy. The dealership expects mileage somewhere in the mid-20,000s will claim the title this year. The winner will receive free tires, and those who are close in mileage, but do not win, will be rewarded with gift cards to the dealership.
While not being technically disqualified, the dealership has considered allowing the previous year’s winner to compete but will reserve the winning position to a newcomer from this year. “He’s still eligible this year but we were talking about doing that so it’s not the same guy … every year,” said Berg. “We just really want to promote [riding] and that when they buy bikes from us, they’re going to use them.”
Echo Cycle promotes its high-mileage contest through social media as well as a number of rides it hosts throughout the year. “Every second Thursday we do rides which are a couple hours each. Then we have a couple charity rides as well,” said Berg.
This year the dealership will host Ride for the Stollery, a charity ride that will benefit the children’s neurosurgery fund at the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, in memory of a riding group member’s daughter, who passed away from brain cancer.
Berg agrees that Echo Cycle wants to be able to give back to its community through charity rides and also give individual riders more reasons to total up their miles this summer. “We want everyone to use up their tires and really use [their bikes],” he added.
