Instead, try face-to-face communication, even for potentially challenging conversations. Sometimes, the Right Voice needs to be used with the right communication method. 😁

My horoscope for the day yesterday - which I superstitiously consult for fun each day - had this to say: "You can, if you wish, try to act as a peacemaker in a dispute of some kind but the planets warn you probably won’t be successful. Sometimes, the best course of action is to stand back and let others get on with their petty vendettas."

Here’s where I’m going with this.

I’m a co-captain in our community cycling club, One Aim. Our club’s mission is to help riders from our team and any team train up for the annual Enbridge Tour of Alberta for Cancer, in which riders roll for 200 km over two days. Part of that involves training rides in some beautiful locations in Southern Alberta, one of which is in and around Priddis.

Cyclists have been casually parking for free in the Priddis Community Hall parking lot for many years as a starting point for training rides that are typically 40 - 100 km.

This leads to conflicts because cyclists will take up a parking space for 2 to 6 hours, depending on the length of the ride, which lessens parking availability for folks using the Hall. Cyclists also show up in significant enough numbers to affect the, ahem, human waste costs for the PortaPotties, which the Priddis Community Association and the hamlet of Priddis pay. They cause the non-profit community association to pay to empty the facilities weekly rather than bi-weekly or monthly when outside of cycling season.

The community association has tried all sorts of measures to educate cyclists about the negative impacts they occasionally have on the community. They’ve tried signage and volunteers informing visitors that the lot is being used by folks who have paid to rent the facility and, by extension, the parking, etc. Another measure they took was to post a sign that said community association membership holders were the only ones who could use the parking lot. However, many cyclists ignore the community association and community’s requests.

Our club recognizes the value of the “free” parking and has purchased memberships with the understanding that if there’s an event at the hall, we’ll find other parking. We also proposed car-pooling to help minimize the number of individual vehicles.

This conversation has been ongoing in Priddis and throughout Foothills Country for well over 14 years . The problems have become particularly acute since the pandemic, with more and more people discovering cycling.

Last night, these issues were brought forward at a meeting in Priddis at their Community Hall.

The meeting was well attended, including community members, the RCMP (😳), and Foothills County officials. As the only captain of our club available, and despite the horoscope, I went to the meeting to hear the community members' thoughts and perhaps speak on behalf of our club and cyclists.

Our club, One Aim is one of many that ride in the area to help train. There were at least two other Cancer Ride clubs represented there, representing two of the best fundraisers for the cause, and along with our club, contributing a lot of cycling experience to the discussion.

Several long-time residents who spoke were also cyclists.

The meeting was surprisingly positive and very informative. Long-time residents expressed legitimate concerns, mostly about safety but also about the costs imposed on their businesses and the community.

One local Diner owner mentioned something that most cyclists would never have thought of: that when so many cyclists fill the Community Hall lot, local users of the Community Hall are forced to park in the lot usually reserved for their customers across the street and also along the street in a line of vehicles as long as a quarter kilometer down the road. As a result, many coming for brunch assume by the number of cars that the place is packed and move on to another choice. She mentioned having brunch prepared by her staff and being ready to go in anticipation of a big crowd, and on more than one occasion, literally watched them drive by."

Some of the safety stories that emerged for motorists and cyclists were harrowing.

The police spoke of only two riders injured last season in the area, but many expressed their relief that it was only that many. Farmers who haul wide equipment repeatedly spoke of how dangerous their job became when they crested a hill in the area and came upon a group of cyclists riding 4 and 5 across. That’s an unacceptable safety breach by cyclists who don’t realize the danger they put the farmer and his equipment in, as well as themselves. There’s a reason there are signs saying riders must ride single file on those roads.

In any case, the evening ended with the feeling that the majority of participants who were community members definitely recognized the opportunity presented by tourists and cycling tourists and wanted to keep the community “open.” The next steps include exploring several options presented by a Foothills County councillor and hopefully having a plan in place for the 2025 cycling season.

A lot of people think texts, emails, and even video calls are the best way to resolve some issues.

In a multistakeholder situation, at a certain point, nothing can replace the value of a face-to-face interaction where mediated conversation leads to well-thought-out options that benefit the greatest number of people.