Explore Winnipeg by bike!
Bike Winnipeg put together a number of guided bike tours between April and October each year, as well as a few select winter rides. These 2-3 hour tours are interpreted by lively and knowledgeable experts and guided through the city by ride marshals to help ensure your comfort and safety. All tours travel at a leisurely pace with plenty of stops along the way.
We offer a mix of free and paid rides, however all rides except for the Doors Open ride require registration. Space on the rides is limited, so register early to reserve your spot!
Please note that as a result of the current health restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, no group rides are currently scheduled. In their absence, please take a look at some of the self-guided tours we and other organizations are offering.
ArtRides
Join Bike Winnipeg and the Winnipeg Arts Council on an informative ride and get to know the artwork that punctuates and brightens your city!
Rides run 2 to 2 1/2 hours, and are always at a casual pace, with lots of stops along the way where you’ll have the opportunity to learn a bit more about some of our favourite public art works.
Cost: Free
Blue Rapid Transitway – Thursday, July 15th
Starting Location: Seel Station (1550 Seel Ave)
Start Time: 7:00 pm
End Time: 9:30 pm
Distance: 13kms
This 13km tour will start and end at Seel Station Park & Ride. Artworks we will visit include:
- Rooster Town Kettle & Fetching Water by Ian August
- テンサイ (TENSAI) by Kelty McKinnon and Cindy Mochizuki
- (Un)Still Life with Spoked Wheels by Warren Carther
- Métis Land Use by Tiffany Shaw-Collinge
- Salt Fat Sugar & Your Water is Safe by Bill Burns
- ROW ROW ROW by Public City Architecture and Urban Ink
- Furrows on the Land (The Field) / Furrows in the Land (The Wheel) by Jeanette Johns
Tour participants are responsible to provide a bike and helmet. Ask us for bike rental recommendations!
Tours will run as scheduled rain or shine but will be cancelled in the event of a thunderstorm.
Please respect physical distancing and stay home if you feel unwell. Face masks are encouraged.
Our Stories (August 26th)
Starting Location: Fountains behind the Manitoba Legislative Building (450 Broadway)
Start Time: 7pm
End Time: 9 pm
Length: 7 km
This 7km tour will start at the fountain behind the Manitoba Legislative Building. We will visit public artworks including:
- Louis Riel by Miguel Joyal
- Mediating The Treaties by Rolande Souliere
- Electrical Currents by Julie Nagam
- The Square Dancers by Kenneth Lavallee
- O-Ween Du Muh Waun. (We Were Told.) by RBOY Inc.
- emptyful by Bill Pechet
- Bloody Saturday by Noam Gonick and Bernie Miller
- Phare Ouest by Marcel Gosselin
- Louis Riel by Marcien Lemay
- Monument by Michel de Broin
Tour participants are responsible to provide a bike and helmet. Ask us for bike rental recommendations!
Tours will run as scheduled rain or shine but will be cancelled in the event of a thunderstorm.
Please respect physical distancing and stay home if you feel unwell. Face masks are encouraged.
BLUE Rapid Transitway (September 16th)
Starting Location: Seel Station (1550 Seel Ave)
Start Time: 6:30 pm
End Time: 9:00 pm
Length: 13 km
This 13km tour will start and end at Seel Station Park & Ride. Artworks we will visit include:
- Rooster Town Kettle & Fetching Water by Ian August
- テンサイ (TENSAI) by Kelty McKinnon and Cindy Mochizuki
- (Un)Still Life with Spoked Wheels by Warren Carther
- Métis Land Use by Tiffany Shaw-Collinge
- Salt Fat Sugar & Your Water is Safe by Bill Burns
- ROW ROW ROW by Public City Architecture and Urban Ink
- Furrows on the Land (The Field) / Furrows in the Land (The Wheel) by Jeanette Johns
Tour participants are responsible to provide a bike and helmet. Ask us for bike rental recommendations!
Tours will run as scheduled rain or shine but will be cancelled in the event of a thunderstorm.
Please respect physical distancing and stay home if you feel unwell. Face masks are encouraged.
South Winnipeg (October 7th)
Start Location: St. Vital Park Duck Pond (190 River Rd)
Start Time: 6:00 pm
End Time: 8:00 pm
Length: 20 km
Discover public art in South Winnipeg! We’ll explore several artworks during this 20km art ride including:
- Écobuage by Plain Projects + Urbanink
- Watershed by Collin Zipp
- Land/mark by Jacqueline Metz & Nancy Chew
Tour participants are responsible to provide a bike and helmet. Ask us for bike rental recommendations!
Tours will run as scheduled rain or shine but will be cancelled in the event of a thunderstorm.
Please respect physical distancing and stay home if you feel unwell. Face masks are encouraged.
Pedal into History
Curator of Seven Oaks House Museum, Eric Napier Strong, has drawn deeply on his historical expertise to develop this series of rides exploring different areas of Manitoba’s early history.
Ride participants are guided between historic sites by bicycle, and treated to in-person interpretation relating to the history of each site, local community and early Manitoba.
Cost: $10 + Fees
Birth of a Province Tour – Multiple Dates
We all know this year marks Manitoba’s 150th birthday, but how many of us really know the people and places that led to our province’s foundation?
This family-friendly ride along the scenic Red & Assiniboine Rivers will introduce you to the remarkable characters and exciting events that helped our home take shape.
The tour will help you better understand:
- Our local history before we became Manitoba
- The historical architecture of our downtown
- The differing cultures and perspectives of English and French Metis communities
- The impact of Canadian colonialism on local ways of life
Follow the links below to register now!
Across the Assiniboine (August 8th)
Start Location: St. James Anglican Church (540 Tylehurst Street)
Start Time: 1:30 pm
End Time: 4:00 pm
Length: 10 km
Winnipeg’s role as “Gateway to the West” made us more than just a metropolis: Our city became a model for Canada’s west-ward expansion, settlement, and colonization. What did that process really mean for the people of Manitoba, and what lessons can we learn from our rich architectural heritage?
This 10km tour will take you through the most historic neighbourhoods along the Assiniboine river. Along the way we’ll talk about the history of our city’s western expansion, and the impact colonization left on the prairies.
The tour will help you better understand:
- The development of West Winnipeg
- Evolving architectural styles from the 1850s to the 1930s
- Indigenous history along the Assiniboine River
- The role of city planning in colonization
Ride the Red (September 19th)
Start Location: Le Musée de Saint-Boniface Museum (494 Tache)
Start Time: 1:30 pm
End Time: 3:30 pm
Length: 11 km (19 km return)
St. Boniface, Point Douglas, and (West) Kildonan were perhaps the three most important settlement areas during the early Red River Settlement period, and offer many of the remaining examples of historic locations and architecture from the time.
Although their histories are deeply intertwined, each area had its own ethnic, cultural and political dynamics, and the people of each shaped the development of early Winnipeg in distinct ways.
Bike Week Rides
Winnipeg’s cycling culture comes together during Bike Week Winnipeg (June 7th-13th) for a week of events celebrating the bike. Hop on your bike and join us on a ride.
Unfortunately, all Bike Week Winnipeg rides were cancelled this year due to the COVID-19 epidemic. In their place, a number of virtual or self-guided events are being offered. Visit Bike Week Winnipeg for details.
We’ll be back in 2022 with a whole new set of rides!
Other Rides
We typically offer a number of rides that fall outside the above. These include rides that help explore some of the city’s festivals (Doors Open, Folklorama, …) or learn about the city through partner organizations such as Save Our Seine, Green Buildings Council, or the MB Master Gardeners Association.
Connections to Riel (August 15th)
Start Location: John Bruce Bridge at end of John Bruce Road West in South St. Vital. John Bruce Road is across from the St. Vital Arena on St. Anne’s Road south of Bishop Grandin.
Starting Time: 9:00 am
End Time: noon
Length: 10 km
Cost: $10 plus fees
Denis DePape is a former Board Member of Bike Winnipeg and of Save Our Seine. He is an avid cyclist, frequent user of the trails and forest along the Seine River in St, Vital and Manitoba history buff.
This tour, which spans from the Seine to the Red River in St. Vital south of Bishop Grandin, covers a number of stops connected by name or to the history of Louis Riel.
COVID-19 Precautions
To help ensure the safety of our ride participants, volunteers, and staff, we will be asking everyone to maintain a 2m distance between each other at stops and while riding. Sites have been selected to ensure space for social distancing, and we have limited ride sizes.
If you are experiencing any symptoms, we ask that you please stay home. We will be more than happy to provide a refund. Finally, please note that we are not requesting the mandatory use of masks during our rides.
Masks are encouraged