More than 100 people cycled 50 kilometres on Saturday morning, part of the Heartland Tour that made eight stops in various communities around Nova Scotia over the past week or so.
“This year, our numbers are the highest they’ve ever been,” said Kathy Saulnier, a committee leader who participated in all eight Heartland Tour stops this month.
This was the 11th year the event rolled through Pictou County. They also had 50 walkers and 10 children who took part in the kid’s event in the parking lot at the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
The Heartland Tour is not a fundraiser, Saulnier added. It is a means to promote a healthy and active lifestyle. They made their way toward Pictou – “the blue route,” says Saulnier – and headed over to Lyons Brook where they would be greeted by a bagpiper before finding their way back to the Pictou County Wellness Centre.
“Every year, we select a safe route in Pictou County with a moderate but challenging distance that can appeal to the avid cyclist,” she said, adding that the tour took about three hours to complete, including some “nutrition stops.”
The goal is to attract more and more people to the annual event, Saulnier added, “to build our youth and walkers component, and to keep attracting cyclists. We’ll be back next year. This is an event to get people moving and off the couch.”
