May 28th. 2012. 7a.m- 10 a.m. Commuters from around the City meet to ride together from start points and converge at Yonge and Bloor for 7:30a.m. City start points are staffed with ride coordinators and a Police escort. Riders will receive a free Bike Month t-shirt as well as complimentary breakfast at City Hall (while supplies last). This event is organised by the City of Toronto and the Cycle Toronto.

The ride leaves from various start locations at 7:00a.m and meets at Yonge and Bloor for 7:30a.m. From there the ride heads to Nathan Phillips Square for 8:00a.m to enjoy a complimentary pancake breakfast and other festivities.

Below is a Google Map and list of start points

View 2012 Group Commute in a larger map
Group Commute Start Locations:

City Start Points:

7 am Bloor and High Park
7 am Yonge and Lawrence
7 am Danforth and Woodbine
7:30 am Bloor and Yonge
8 am Arrive at City Hall

Community Start Points:

6:45 am Don Mills and Lawrence
6:30 am Humber River Waterfront trail Thunderbird bridge
7:00 am Eglinton Park
7:15 am Artscape Wychwood Barns, 601 Christie Street
7:30 am Dundas East and Kingston Road

Toronto Bike Month 2012 is upon us, so if you haven’t already dusted off your helmet and climbed back in the saddle, now is definitely the the time to do it. The festivities kick off Monday with a group commute from Yonge and Bloor to downtown, and the City of Toronto and Cycle Toronto have organized numerous other events for the next few weeks to celebrate being two-wheeled and engine-free.

Toronto cyclist lay in shock with mangled leg after taxi hit him, court hears [Toronto Star]

A cyclist was in complete shock, lying in a pool of blood and surrounded by bone and flesh fragments after his leg was crushed by a taxi driver, a Toronto police officer says.

Const. Usman Haroon testified Wednesday he came across Krzysztof (Chris) Kasztelewicz lying on his back on the sidewalk at the corner of Dovercourt Rd. and Argyle St. around 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2008.

Bike with Mike this Sunday! [Cycle Toronto]

Mike Layton is hosting a Bike with Mike event this Sunday, May 27 from 12:00 to 5:00 at Christie Pits park on the street level part near Bloor St. We will be hosting a Cycle Toronto Ward 19 table to promote the activities of the Ward and organization generally. 

There are going to be lots of activities going on, including family friendly activities, as well as different organizations and community groups.

Cycle Toronto Requests Province to Order an Environmental Assessment on Jarvis [Cycle Toronto]

As evidence continues to mount against the decision to remove the Jarvis Street bike lanes and reinstall the fifth centre lane, last week Cycle Toronto (formerly the Toronto Cyclists Union) filed a request with the Province for an Environmental Assessment on Jarvis.

Last month, we made a similar request directly to the City of Toronto. However, the City’s Transportation Services department responded by refusing to acknowledge that the Jarvis reconfiguration is new project, and therefore doesn’t need a Schedule C Environmental Assessment. 

Riyoko Urban Bikewear pop up shop Toronto May 25 – 27 [Dandyhorse Magazine]

Fashion should be about comfort. Comfort in your own skin, comfort expressing yourself, and comfort cruising city streets on your bike.

Or at least that’s what Calgary-based fashion designer Kristi Woo thinks. It’s that philosophy that is the inspiration for her unique line of stylish made-for-cycling fashions. Riyoko Urban Bikewear makes fashion-conscious clothes for the female cyclist and urban traveller. She’s inspired to make her pieces by tackling issues found cycling in certain clothes, for herself and other fashionable cyclists.

Toronto cyclist struck by cab was walking away from dispute, he says [Toronto Star]

A former competitive cyclist who lost part of a leg after being hit by a taxi driver says he was walking away from a dispute at the time.

“When I woke up I was in the emergency room at St. Michael’s Hospital,” Krzysztof (Chris) Kasztelewicz, 40, testified Tuesday.

The former cyclo-cross enthusiast was biking home around 2:20 a.m. on Nov. 14, 2008, when he and a Beck Taxi met at the intersection of Dovercourt Rd. and Argyle St. in west Toronto.

Urban Car-Free Camping [The Urban Country]

Before now, I had always relied on a car to go camping. Whether pulling the car up to the campsite, or parking the car and heading to the campsite by canoe or kayak, I have always been reliant on a car.

This weekend a friend and I decided to do a short one-night, car-free camping trip in the city with our two dogs.

Bicycling Will Save Americans $4.6 Billion in 2012 [Momentum Magazine]

New data released by the League of American Bicyclists, Sierra Club, andNational Council of La Raza (NCLR) highlights the tremendous economic benefits of bicycling and its importance as a safe transportation choice that should be available to every U.S. resident.

Art of the Danforth – Danforth Bike Line [Cupcake Ride]

A few months ago I shared a project that Denise was organizing called Rush Hour Service. Unfortunately due to major TTC bureaucracy hurdles she had to give up on that project, but she’s come up with an even cooler one!

Danforth Bike Line

Taking the Can-Bike 2 bicycling safety course for a test ride [Toronto Star]

I’m extremely glad I took Can-Bike 2. I wish every cyclist would.

Designed primarily by the Ontario Cycling Association, the course is a triumph of sanity, common sense, logic and consistency — all commodities that are just a wee bit lacking on the streets of this city.

Eleven students signed up for my particular iteration of the course, which began on a Monday in May, continued on a Wednesday, concluded on a Friday. It cost $112.

About the News Cycle

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.

Other ways to get the News Cycle:

• All News Cycle links are shared first on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Every page of BikingToronto has a “The Feed” section on the right side.  Check there for the latest links.
• Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).

Announcing the details for the 2nd Cupcake Ride of the third season! Hope you can make it out!

Date: Saturday, May 26th
Time: 1pm

Start: Swirls Cupcakes
4158 Dundas St. West

- east on Dundas St. West to Old Dundas
- then into the Humber Trail
- out to Stephen before tucking back into South Humber Park
- east on The Queensway (bike lanes)
- cross bridge to Martin Goodman Trail east
- all the way to Logon St.
- left on Queen St. to

End: Desmond & Beatrice
750 Queen St. East

—
I know we can head directly to the Martin Goodman Trail from the Humber Trails, but in this political climate, it would be nice to show all the weekend drivers that there are indeed a LOT of cyclists that utilize bike lanes. So that’s why I’ve planned for us to ride on the Queensway.

—
If you are planning on TTCing out to Swirls (this part of Dundas West can be a bit bike unfriendly – despite the bike lane on Dundas West over the Humber River by Lambton Park), I would suggest taking the subway to Royal York Station and then ride north on Royal York Road. This portion of Royal York Road doesn’t have bike lanes but the bike map shows it as a ‘Suggested On-Street Route’.

—
• Sorry gents! This ride is for girls only!

• Please check out my ride rules prior to the ride!

• You can RSVP at the Facebook event page!

—
The Cupcake Ride is organized on a volunteer basis and it is not a professional organization. As such, each of us is responsible for our own safety and well-being during an organized event. The organizer is not in any way responsible for any participant on the trip. However, as a group of friends, we make an effort to look out for one another to the best of our ability.

Next month Built is in Toronto during NXNE Interactive. Built is our series of talks by people who create. It’s a make and tell event with 5-minute presentations by diverse speakers covering a wide-range of topics. This attendee favorite has played in Austin for SXSW and Portland during WebVisions. We’re very pleased to bring the show to Toronto during NXNEi.

We’re on stage in the NXNE Lounge at 1:20 to 2 each day from June 13-15 and want to hear what you’ve got to say about your projects, the cool stuff you make or do. How you take the ordinary and create the extraordinary.

Tic Brown on stage during Built at SXSW 12

Submit your talk now. Built our flavor of Ignite with the bike as a backdrop or a Pecha Kucha. Each presentation is 5 minutes with 20 slides that automatically advance every 15 seconds. The beauty of the format is, the presentations change like Seattle weather. If you’re not that interested in one talk, wait for another.

I’m also talking about being a maker and creator during NXNE. I’ll ride all over Toronto, mayor Rob Ford be damned!

Researchers at UBC and Simon Fraser University have come up with a way to rate how good major Canadian cities are for cycling.

Modelled on a site called Walk-Score, researchers tallied up three factors: topography, bike accessibility to shops and the number of bike lanes. The results are then colour-coded on a map posted on a website.

The Fixer: Cycling on Kew Gardens paths is no crime after all [The Star]

He did a computer search on the bylaw noted on the signs — 319-69 — which later became 1969-319, and “it turns out the bylaw was repealed 15 years ago and the city just hadn’t taken down the signs.”

Between the date of our column and Leroux’s investigation, all but one sign was removed, he said, noting that “the entire Fixer article is incorrect.”

June is Bike Month across Canada [Dandyhorse Magazine]

Toronto’s Bike Month has evolved from a single Bike to Work Day in 1998 to become one of the largest events of its kind in the country. Bike Month is organized by the City of Toronto and theCycle Toronto (formerly Toronto Cyclists Union). Below are a just a couple of events dandy will be at, but check out their calendar for full event listings.

Urban Planet: Why Kids Don’t Ride to School Anymore [Spacing Toronto]

Did you ride your bike to school as a kid? According to this piece on NPR, back in 1969 nearly half of children got to school on foot or by bike. Today, that figure is closer to 13%. Reporter David Darlington talks about what has changed – from concerns about liability to sprawling neighbourhood design to a changing understanding of bikes as recreation rather than transportation.

Behind the scenes at Cervelo Cycles in Toronto [BlogTO]

Cervélo might just be the most innovative bike company in the world — and its Toronto-based headquarters is the type of place to send a tingle up and down the average roadie’s spandex-clad back. One wall is entirely whiteboard — with sketches, equations, and complex diagrams offered as an inadvertent equivalent to decor. Men with rings on their pinky fingers spend their days tinkering with the latest and greatest in software applications, trying to find that optimal balance between strength, stiffness, and aerodynamics.

Cyclist hospitalized after downtown crash  [CityNews]

A cyclist was rushed to hospital after a crash in the city’s downtown overnight Saturday.

Police tell CityNews the victim was biking near Queen and Victoria Streets just after 1 a.m. when a driver slammed on the brakes, causing the cyclist to crash into the back of the car.

Councillor and TTC chair Karen Stintz bike infraction earns her a ‘scolding’ from police officer [National Post]

The Toronto police officer in the cruiser behind her pulled the councillor over and reminded her she had to come to a full stop, like other vehicles.

“I said I was sorry, and that I would be more mindful in the future,” said Ms. Stintz, who tweeted about her encounter as a public service announcement. “The way she was scolding me, I’m fairly certain she did not know who I was,” she laughed.

Waiting on Wellesley [NOW Magazine]

It’s becoming a not-so-proud tradition in Toronto: propose a bike lane, approve a bike lane, and then delay building the bike lane.

The city has consistently fallen short of targets set out in the official Bike Plan 10 years ago, and it appears the separated cycle track planned for Wellesley St. is the latest project to be pushed back. According to a report going before the public works committee next Wednesday, the separated lane from Queen’s Park Crescent to Sherbourne Ave. won’t be completed until 2013, a year later than originally planned.

About the News Cycle

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.

Other ways to get the News Cycle:

• All News Cycle links are shared first on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Every page of BikingToronto has a “The Feed” section on the right side.  Check there for the latest links.
• Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).

I frankly can not believe that Hyedie is getting flack for organizing a very successful series of bike rides. Yes, they’re only for females, but so what? Almost *everything* in the cycling world is male dominated, and Hyedie is trying to encourage more women to ride their bikes for fun and for utility. Is there anything wrong with that? Hell no. In fact, it should be commended.

If you have a problem with the “girls only” nature of the ride, or just want cupcakes for yourself, then go out and organize rides of your own. What’s stopping you? Only yourself.

Keep on organizing Hyedie. You’ll always have a promo partner in BikingToronto.

Hyedie’s post starts below:

———————————————

Thanks to the Cupcake Rides I’ve met so many awesome women who’s main mode of transportation is a bicycle.

Before I organized these rides and met all these amazing lady bikers, however, I only knew a handful of women who biked in the city. And within my close circle of friends in Toronto, I’m still the only girl who bikes regularly in the city.

When I show up to meet my friends somewhere with my helmet dangling from my arm I am met with comments like, ‘I can’t believe you bike in the city. I’m too scared.’ or ‘No way, drivers in Toronto are too crazy. I don’t know how you do it.’

Sadly, these sentiments aren’t exclusive to my group of friends and they probably represent the main the reason why so many women don’t bike in Toronto and North America.

Statistics show that in Toronto roughly only a third (and only about a quarter in North America) of cyclists are women.

Taken from the City of Toronto 2010 Bicycle Count

This cyclist gender disparity is the reason why I started the Toronto Girls’ Cupcake Ride.

I should really create a FAQ page, but in the meantime hopefully these points shed some understanding on why my rides are for women only.

Why are the Cupcake Rides segregated?

• To encourage more female cyclists to bike in the city.
• aka to take some Affirmative Action.
• To create a special ride just for women, much like there are sporting events just for certain groups of people (a person from Europe can’t compete in the PanAm games, and American athlete can’t compete in the Commonwealth Games).
• To create a ride that is non-competitive and welcoming.
• To create a ride that allows first time or newbie cyclists to feel comfortable riding on city streets while being sandwiched by more experienced riders.
• To build female camaraderie within a bike culture that can sometimes have a chauvinistic side

So those are great reasons, but why do we need to encourage more female cyclists to ride anyway?

• Our roads are clogged with pollution emitting vehicles and our public transit is bursting at the seams, by getting more people to bike we can alleviate the pressures on traffic and public transit ridership plus help to reduce pollution.
• Strength in numbers! More cyclists on the roads can help create safer bike trips because drivers become more careful.
• Strength in numbers! More cyclists can strengthen our voice at City Hall.
• Modest increases in bike ridership could yield major economic, health benefits
• If you love riding your bike, why wouldn’t you want other people to enjoy this wonderful activity?

I’m sure over time while I mull this over I’ll have more to add.

These are my reasons for creating a women’s only ride, which I wanted to share to counter some of the, at times nasty, comments that I receive from *ahem* guys who feel left out.

And to be frank, I volunteer my free time to organize these rides. As such, I should be able to organize them in anyway I want.

While the Toronto Cyclist’s Union Cycle Toronto’s effort to force the city to conduct a time-consuming environmental assessment before removing the Jarvis bike lanes continues, it’s published city collision data showing changes from the period before the bike lane was put in, and the one-year numbers since the bike lane went in. The results, as Cycle Toronto puts it, are pretty definitive.

Toronto News: Jarvis safer since bike lanes, report shows [The Star]

Cycle Toronto, Board Election Results and Annual General Meeting Recap [Toronto Cyclists Union / Cycle Toronto]

Bikes of Bamboo [Torontoist]

How did Bixi do in its first year in Toronto? [TorontoLife]

OpenRoad: How construction projects can occupy bike lanes—legally [OpenFile]

For about a month last year, Toronto cyclist Lizz Bryce avoided the stretch of St. George Street near the Rotman School of Management at all costs. The building was under construction and the project spilled out onto the sidewalks and beyond, often blocking the street’s heavily-used northbound bike lane.

The Grid guide to cycling etiquette [The Grid TO]

How should people behave in cities? The Grid’s Urban Etiquette video series gives you a few tips on how to be a polite city dweller.

This week, we ask Andrea Garcia, the Advocacy Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union, to advise us on why cyclists shouldn’t run red lights, how often to ring your bell, and whether bike flirting is an acceptable practice.

Bixi Toronto bike rental service turns 1 [CityNews]

Bike Collision Rates are Down on Jarvis Street [Toronto Cyclists Union / Cycle Toronto]

Toronto Cyclist Union changes name to “Cycle Toronto” [OpenFile]

 We’ve briefly mentioned this story before, but the decision was finally made last night: the Toronto Cyclist Union had to decide whether to keep the word “union” in its name, or go with a more generic term. The results were pretty overwhelming.

About the News Cycle

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.

Other ways to get the News Cycle:

• All News Cycle links are shared first on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Every page of BikingToronto has a “The Feed” section on the right side.  Check there for the latest links.
• Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).

Toronto Cyclists Union Releases New Mission, Vision, Guiding Principles & Goals [Toronto Cyclists Union]

Cycling Advocates Consider a Rebrand [Torontoist]

This week, members of the Toronto Cyclists Union will consider a proposal from their board of directors to change the organization’s name to Cycle Toronto. The rebrand, which members of the union will put to a vote at the TCU’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, is part of an ambitious strategic plan to build membership and advocacy programs beyond the city’s downtown core.

Ride the Ravines [Toronto Cyclists Union]

Spotted: Ghost Bike Posts | cityscape [Torontoist]

Back in November, we learned that Astral Media, which has a contract with the City of Toronto to provide street furniture (bus shelters, trash bins, et cetera) had been cutting down bike posts to make room for their new (and reviled-by-many, including us) information pillars—not just removing them but sawing them off, rendering the posts unusable and the bikes that were still locked to them an easy target for theft. 

The Unconventional Urban Citizen Bicyclist  [The Urban Country]

dandy at Dragon’s Den with Maya Cycle [Dandyhorse]

Marta Staniszewski, director of operations at Stamettech, invited me to ride a bike pulling one of her Maya Cycle single-wheel trailers on Dragon’s Den.

I’m a huge fan of the show and was really excited to “model” the Maya Cycle trailer for her. The trailer also converts into a wheelbarrow. I rode a BionX bike (but didn’t get to use the e-assist) and Troy Mitchell, proprietor of The Mobile Bike Shop Ltd. rode the other bike-and-trailer set on set. 

May 2012 Cupcake Ride Details[Cupcake Ride Blog]

Action Alert: Connect Chaplin Station to the Beltline Trail! [Toronto Cyclists Union]

 The preliminary design for Chaplin Station presented by Metrolinx last Wednesday does not include any direct connections with the Beltline trail.  The primary (accessible) entrance is on the north-east corner of Chaplin and Eglinton.  A secondary entrance is placed on the south-west corner of Chaplin and Eglinton, forcing LRT users to ascend a lengthy set of stairs to reach the street level, exit the station, and then descend another steep set of stairs to to reach the Beltline at path level.

About the News Cycle

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.

Other ways to get the News Cycle:

• All News Cycle links are shared first on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Every page of BikingToronto has a “The Feed” section on the right side.  Check there for the latest links.
• Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).

1. Bikelane Map - yeah! a map of Toronto’s bikelanes!

2. Meet a fellow Cyclist and Her I Bike T.O. Shirt

3. Should the Toronto Cyclists Union change their name to Cycle Toronto?

4. How To - how to do stuff regarding your bike!

5. Winter Rider Profiles

6. 2012 Changes for BikingToronto

7. Sweet Ride 2012: Cupcake Edition!

8. Maps - sweet sweet geography

9. 2012 Sweet Ride and Cupcake Ride Schedule 

10. Photos from the Sunday Sweet Ride: Cupcake Edition

As well, here are the top 10 popular posts overall (or, at least since August 2010).

• Left-Wing Pinko I Bike T.O. Shirt

• Bikelane Map

• 10 Secrets to Cycling with Traffic: Part 1 of 10

• The Jack Layton I Bike T.O. Shirt

• 10 Secrets to Cycling with Traffic: Part 3 of 10

• 10 Secrets to Cycling with Traffic: Part 9 of 10

• 10 Secrets to Cycling with Traffic: Part 4 of 10

• BikeShop Map

• Rob Ford releases “Transportation Plan”

• Maps

I think the main thing is treating cycling as nothing special. If you have Option A and Option B, and Option A takes you 15 minutes, it’s comfortable, Option B takes you 25 minutes, it feels dangerous, most people will choose Option A. … The bottom line is just making it the most attractive choice.

Nurse gets new bike after previous one stolen outside hospital [Toronto Sun]

After finishing a 12-hour shift at the hospital on Apr. 16, the nurse came out and found her $1,000 road bike was missing. The only thing left behind was a U-Lock and cut cable lock.

But a day after her story appeared in the Toronto Sun, a man whose heart went out to the 33-year-old nurse, dropped off his Raleigh hybrid sport bike at the hospital.

Complete Streets Forum 2012 Highlights [TCAT]

What a great day! A record breaking number of delegates participated in TCAT’s fifth annual Complete Streets Forum on Monday April 23, 2012 at the Evergreen Brick Works. There were 230 delegates gathered in Toronto and another 20 joined in through webcasting for a total of 250 participants!

Awarding Toronto Silver Bicycle Friendly Community Award Irresponsible in Light of Statistics [Toronto Cyclists Union]

Yesterday, the City of Toronto received a Bicycle Friendly Community award, which recognizes long-term multi-faceted commitment to cycling. The Silver Award that is being presented to the City is proof that cycling is a major issue in Toronto and one that requires much more attention if we are to attain the Gold or Platinum standards shared by North America’s best cycling cities. 

Toronto’s biking problem: labels? Or that the argument isn’t over yet? [OpenFile]

“I like to say we have no cyclists in Copenhagen,” Mr. Rohl, manager of the City of Copenhagen’s bicycle program, told about 200 people at the Ontario Bike Summit at the Hyatt Regency on King Street West on Tuesday. “We have citizens who use bikes to get from A to B.”

Danish cyclist showing Toronto how to cope with sharing the road [National Post]

Denmark’s history of cycling, combined with Copenhagen’s dense and flat landscape, has contributed to its popularity. About 37% of trips to school and work are on a bike, compared with 31% in the car, 28% on transit and 4% on foot. “First of all it’s infrastructure, you can’t ask people to do something where they feel like they put their lives in danger.”

Motorist Convenience Trumps Safety [The Urban Country]

A poll on the left-leaning Toronto Star website shows that 68% of readers would not be willing to reduce speed limits to 30 km/h on residential streets and 40km/h on other city streets.

An article in the right-leaning Toronto Sun newspaper warned that Toronto would become “Canada’s worst speed trap” if speed limits in this city were reduced (because drivers would of course disobey the new speed limit just as they do the current speed limits).

TCAT releases new report: Complete Streets Gap Analysis [TCAT]

 On April 23, 2012 at the Complete Streets Forum, TCAT released a new report titled Complete Streets Gap Analysis: Opportunities and Barriers in Ontario. Produced, with funding from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, the report provides an analysis of the potential for Complete Streets in 17 of Ontario’s largest municipalities.

Big boost planned for city bike trails [Toronto Sun]

Projects proposed this year include extending the Finch Hydro Corridor Trail east of Yonge St. to connect with the Don Trail, extending the Waterfront Trail further west in Etobicoke and further east into Pickering, and commencing an Environmental Assessment for the expansion of the East Don Trail.

The public works chairman said the bikeway trails network would have investments of around $6 million a year for the next decade.

About the News Cycle

The News Cycle is a periodic post which brings together links to news, events and other things which may be of interest to Toronto’s cyclists.  

Other ways to get the News Cycle:

• All News Cycle links are shared first on our Facebook and Twitter accounts.
• Every page of BikingToronto has a “The Feed” section on the right side.  Check there for the latest links.
• Subscribe to our RSS feed to get The News Cycle in your feed reader, or subscribe to our mailing list to get BikingToronto posts in your email (maximum 1 email per day).