Gary Holland and his girlfriend Dana Marcano have launched the first electric bike rental service in Kamloops.

Image Credit: SUBMITTED / Electra Bikes

KAMLOOPS - You can now zip around the streets and trails of Kamloops with the city’s first electric bike rental service.

Gary Holland, an owner of Electra Ride, says the launch was a long time coming. He and his partner Dana Marcano were hoping to have the bikes on the streets earlier this summer, but an issue on the supplier's end meant that they only have a fraction of the bikes they wanted.

“It's just starting, and we only have six bikes," Holland says. "We're waiting on four, and we were supposed to get them three weeks ago."

Despite the delivery delay, Holland says today, Aug. 21, the first day of business, he has received calls for four rentals.

Holland says the rental fee includes a helmet, bike lock, bag and a bike map.

The bikes are made by iGo Electric Bikes and he says the bike can travel for nearly 50 kilometres on one charge and will go further depending on the amount of peddling you want to put in. He says its a great option for those who want to get out and exercise or a simple activity for those who just want to enjoy the ride.

“You’re out riding around and you’re seeing everybody, you’re seeing the scenery, not sitting in a room sweating on a bike to do your cardio,” Holland says.

The bikes are the Fat Folding model which can be folded up to fit inside most cars.

Holland had planned to run outdoor tours along trails in Kamloops and the Shuswap but says that waiting on the bikes has made him postpone that idea until next year.

“We went to the Shuswap and kind of handed some cards out and told everybody about it… we're going to try to set up out there next year,” he says. “The whole Scotch Creek Park, there's probably about a good 50 miles of trails in the park… and the trails into Kamloops, there are bike trails everywhere."

Holland says the abundance of bike-friendly trails in the areas means it should be easy to plan tour routes. Holland has a trailer where he rents the bikes from but plans to have a storefront. He says by next summer he will have more than enough bikes to offer rentals, sales and tours.

“We want to get a store going because we notice people ride them and they want to purchase them, but it’s the delivery time on them, you have to wait,” Holland says.

He says his plan of a storefront location in the downtown core would allow for easy access to locations in Kamloops that visitors often like to check out, such as Riverside Park.

"We’ve been promised by the company that by November well have 30 bikes in the storage room and then hopefully by come spring, we're going to try and find a place downtown somewhere that we can rent them out and people can go right to the park with them," Holland says. "Maybe on Lorne street if there’s one of those newer buildings available … we want to stay right in the community downtown.”

To rent the bikes, a deposit, credit card information and identification must be presented. Riders must be over 18 years old.

For more information, you can check out the Electra Ride website here or call Holland at 250-214-5263.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Jenna Wheeler or call (250) 819-6089 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

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