Welcome to the 3rd week of March!  Looks like it’s going to be a warm and sunny one!

Here are the bike events going on this week, to help you plan your next 7 days.

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page, or follow our special @BikeTOevents account on twitter!

CBN Workshop – Flat Fix/Intro to Bike Repair

• Tues, March 16
• 7 – 10 PM
• 761 Queen Street West (map)
• Participants will remove their own rear wheel and tire and go through a tube repair and installation.
• more details

CBN Workshop: Wheelbuilding Part I

• Wed, March 17
• 7 – 10 PM
• 761 Queen Street West (map)
• The wheel building workshops will teach with standard wheels in a 3-cross lacing pattern. We will cover spoke calculations, lacing the wheels, truing and tensioning. Participants must take both classes.
• more details

Carol Sebert – Bicycles Art Exhibit Opening

• Thurs, March 18
• 5 – 8 PM
• Crema Coffee, 3079 Dundas St. W. (map)
• ink on paper and oil on canvas)
• more details

Bike Pirates Craft Night

• Fri, March 19
• 7:30 – 9:30 PM
• 1292 Bloor St. West (map)
• Break out your puff paint, bedazzlers, and DIY spirit! BYO Craft supplies and Beverages, Homemade snacks! Tea! Mini-workshop on making jewelry out of bike parts!
• more details

Know of other events going on this week?  Share them with BikingToronto readers in the Comments below.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!  You can also follow @BikeTOevents on Twitter.

Welcome to the 2nd week of March!  Looks like it’s going to be a warm one!

Here are the bike events going on this week, to help you plan your next 7 days.

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page, or follow our special @BikeTOevents account on twitter!

Mon, March 8th

Rathburn Road Bike Lanes Open House

• 6:30 – 8:30 pm, Etobicoke Civic Centre, 399 The West Mall, Meeting Rooms 1 & 2
• We invite you to attend a Public Open House to learn more about this project, which runs from Kipling Ave.- to Mimico Creek on Rathburn Rd.  Drop by anytime to view information displays, provide your comments and speak one on one with project staff
• more details

Mon, March 8th

Toronto Cycling Advisory Committee Meeting

• 7 – 9 pm, Committee room 3, City Hall, 100 Queen Street West
• The Toronto Cycling Committee is designed to advise City Council and its departments, agencies, boards, and commissions, on the design, development and delivery of bicycle policies, programs and facilities to promote and enhance cycling within the City of Toronto.
• more details

Wed, March 10th

Lawrence Bike Lanes Public Open House

• 7 – 9 pm, Blythwood Junior Public School, 2 Strathgowan Crescent
• The public is invited to attend an open house to learn more about planned bike on Lawrence Avenue East from Yonge Street to Bayview Avenue. This bike lane will be part of Toronto’s Bikeway Network.
• more details

Thurs, March 11th

North York Cycling and Pedestrian Committee Meeting

• 7 – 9 pm, North York Civic Centre, 5100 Yonge Street
• We will be discussing our plans for Bike Month, as well as current cycling issues. and updating people on recent meetings we have attended.
• more details

Know of other events going on this week?  Share them with BikingToronto readers in the Comments below.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!

Happy Monday!  Hope your post-Olympics hangovers aren’t too bad.   What a great couple of weeks!  I wonder when Ice Bike Racing will become an Olympic sport?

Here’s some events going on this week.

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page.

Mon, March 1st

Dan’s Mountain Bike Repair Public Opening

• 1501 Woodbine Ave
• For the past seven years Dan’s Mountain Bike Repair has been a private repair shop. This season Dan is opening the doors to the public. Dan and his crew have seven years experience customizing building and repairing bikes. If you think like we do, shops these days are charging to much, that is what DMR was made for.  (more details)

Tues, March 2nd

CBN Workshop – Bike Repair: Bearings and Wheels

• 7 – 10 PM
• 761 Queen Street West
• CBN is now offering classes in bike repair that build on our introductory (‘Flat-fix and Tune-up’) class. Registrants should be familiar and comfortable with the subject of that class before taking the intermediate class(es). (more details)

Wed, March 3rd

CBN Workshop – Flat Fix/Intro to Bike Repair

• 7 – 10 PM
• 761 Queen Street West
• Participants will remove their own rear wheel and tire and go through a tube repair and installation. (more details)

Wed, March 3rd

BikeSauce Volunteer Meeting

• 7 – 9 PM
• Ralph Thornton Community Centre, 765 Queen St. E.
• Bike Sauce – Toronto’s newest bike org – is having a volunteer meeting. We’re going to be opening a DIY space + social space in the Spring and need more hands getting started. If you’re into bikes, bicycle advocacy or community building, this is a great opportunity to work to launch a new organization. (more details)

Thurs, March 4th

Complete Streets Working Group Meeting

• 7 – 9 PM
• Centre for Social Innovation, 215 Spadina Avenue
• Complete Streets policies, adopted by over 100 jurisdictions in the United States, require that the needs of the most vulnerable road users be considered at every stage of road development, construction and reconstruction. In doing so, the goal is that our streets will be safer for everyone. (more details)

Fri, March 5th – Sun, March 7th

Toronto International Bike Show

• Better Living Centre, Exhibition Place
• The Toronto International Bicycle Show is the best place to shop for bicycles and accessories, preview the newest trends in cycling from the top manufacturers and distributors plus enjoy thrilling action-packed events. The show is celebrating its 24th year in production and is one of the largest exclusive bicycle consumer shows in North America. (more details)

Know of other events going on this week?  Share them with BikingToronto readers in the Comments below.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!

Happy Monday everyone!  What a beautiful sunny weekend we just had… hopefully you had a chance to get outside on 2 wheels sometime to enjoy the sunshine.

Here are bike-related events going on this coming week, for your schedule-planning pleasure.

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page.

Tuesday, Feb. 23

• CBN Workshop – Build Your Own Truing Stand
• 7:00 – 10:00 PM
• 761 Queen Street West (map)
• For people who want to “true” their own wheels (make sure they are straight), a stand comes in handy.  Learn how to make one from the Community Bicycle Network
• $30 + GST

Wednesday, Feb. 24

• Trinity Bellwoods Multi-Use Path Open House
• 4:00 – 8:00 PM
• Trinity C.R.C, 155 Crawford St. (map)
• The public is invited to attend an open house to discuss proposed upgrades to the existing multi-use path in Trinity Bellwoods Park.

Wednesday, Feb. 24

• Community Bicycle Network Workshop: Bike Repair – Brakes and Gears
• 7:00 – 10:00 PM
• 761 Queen Street West (map)
• The class outline is structured and focused to cover as much as possible in a relatively short amount of time. As a beginner to bike repair, we expect you will learn a lot and come away feeling much more comfortable with the workings of your machine. It is also an ideal refresher for someone who has taken a class in the past, or has some limited, but spotty experience. You will almost certainly learn some new techniques and tricks.
• $30 + GST

Friday, Feb. 26

• Critical Mass Toronto
• 6:00 – 8:00 PM
• Bloor & Spadina (map)
• An event that takes place on the last friday of every month in cities all over the world.  Critical Mass is at different times a rally, a protest, a party, and a community that advocates for a bicycle’s right to use public streets.

Know of other events going on this week?  Share them with BikingToronto readers in the Comments below.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!

Via Paul Young of the South East Toronto Bicycle User Group:

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Location: EMS Academy , 895 Eastern Avenue

Leslie Street (between Lakeshore and Queen) will be reconstructed for the light rail line.

At our SET BUG (South East Toronto Bicycle User Group) meeting last week we thought that this presented a huge opportunity to make improvements to Leslie St. for walkers and cyclists currently dealing with a dangerous and chaotic roadway. The retail shopping (Loblaws Price Chopper, Canadian Tire) and the Leslie Spit ( Tommy Thompson Park ) are very well used destinations for walkers and cyclists on Leslie.

Please attend if you can and highlight the need for a safer “complete street” that meets all the road users needs with a priority on transit, walking and cycling. Tell a neighbour.

Thursday, February 18, 2010
Time: 6:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m.
Location: EMS Academy , 895 Eastern Avenue

Background:

The City of Toronto and the TTC are planning a New Light Rail Transit Vehicle Fleet Maintenance and Storage Facility to support the 204 new low floor light rail vehicles that the TTC is acquiring to replace the current fleet of streetcars and to enhance accessibility. The existing maintenance and storage facilities at Roncesvalles and Russell Carhouses cannot support the full maintenance requirements of the new LRV fleet. Therefore, the construction of a new facility is required. The preferred site is located at the southeast corner of Lake Shore Boulevard East and Leslie Street . New tracks are proposed along Leslie Street to connect the proposed facility with the existing streetcar tracks on Queen Street East. A transit museum may also be developed within this site.

At the upcoming Open House, City of Toronto and TTC staff will present details of the site selection process for the Fleet Maintenance and Storage Facility, as well as the evaluation of alignments considered for the connecting track.

Conceptual layouts for the facility will be presented and preliminary evaluation details will be provided.

More Info:

Paul Young, health promoter
South Riverdale Community Health Centre
955 Queen St. East, Toronto , ON
M4M 1W7

Tel. (416) 461-1925 ext. 241
Fax (416) 469-3442
e. paul@srchc.com
www.srchc.com

Happy Family Day, everyone!  Hope you’re spending time with family, whether it’s your family-family, or a family of friends!

Here are the bike events going on this week.

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page.

Tuesday, Feb. 16th

Community Bicycle Network Workshop – Flat Fix & Intro to Bike Repair

Learn how to fix flats and get acquainted with other basic maintenance issues to keep your bike in tip-top shape!  Participants will remove their own rear wheel and tire and go through a tube repair and installation. 7-10 PM at 761 Queen Street West (more details)

Wednesday, Feb. 17th

CBN Workshop – Wheel Building II

The wheel building workshops will teach with standard wheels in a 3-cross lacing pattern. We will cover spoke calculations, lacing the wheels, truing and tensioning. Participants must take both classes. 7-10 PM at 761 Queen Street West (more details)

Know of other events going on this week?  Share them with BikingToronto readers in the Comments below.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!

Last night I went and checked out Icycle 2010, the Ice Bike Races held at Dufferin Grove Park every year.

Beforehand, I met up with Todd and James Schwartz (of TheUrbanCountry.com) at 3-Speed (I highly recommend their sirloin burger) and we chatted about cycling, Toronto neighbourhoods and Chinese New Year.

We then walked over to the park and enjoyed a fun evening of people racing bikes around a sheet of ice!

Zoom! Thrills, Chills and Spills!

James and Todd watching the action

BlogTO has an excellent run-down of the evening.

Here are some photos and video from the Races:

Videos:
(the first two are from the Mens Finals, the last is from the “Rubber Race” with normal bikes, so it’s a lot slower)

Flickr Slideshow from Tino:

Flickr Slideshow from me:

Flickr Slideshow from Yvonne Bambrick of the Bike Union:

Share your own collections of photos or video in the comments below.

Hi everyone!

It’s the second week of February… the weather is a bit colder now… pretty seasonal for winter… but gladly the roads are still clear (which means bikelanes are too!) so hopefully we’re all throwing on a couple extra layers and cycling for fun and commuting (and commuting by bike is fun!).

Here’s the bike events going on this week… lots of good stuff going on!

You can always find this info or events far into the future on the always updating Events page.

Tuesday, Feb. 9 – Ward 30 Advocacy Meeting

Cyclists in Ward 30 have formed a bike advocacy group. New members welcome to meeting @ Auld Spot 347 Danforth (Google Map) 7-9 PM at The Auld Spot, 347 Danforth (more info)

Tuesday, Feb. 9 – CBN Workshop – Bike Repair: Bearings and Wheels

Learn more about adjusting bearings (this class teaches more advanced stuff) and also how to replace a spoke and true your wheel. 7-10 PM at 761 Queen Street West (more info)

Wednesday, Feb. 10 – BikeSauce Volunteer Meeting

Toronto is getting another DIY BikeShop (this time in the east end), and they’re having a volunteer meeting this Wednesday.  Come to the corner of St. Andrew and Kensington at 6:45, and a Sauce volunteer will show you where the meeting is, just a few yards away.     7 PM (more info)

Wednesday, Feb. 10 – CBN Workshop: Wheel Building I

The first of two workshops that CBN offers… The wheel building workshops will teach with standard wheels in a 3-cross lacing pattern. We will cover spoke calculations, lacing the wheels, truing and tensioning. Participants must take both classes.  7-10 PM at 761 Queen Street West (more info)

Saturday, Feb. 13 – 2010 Ice Bike Races (Icycle)

7-10 PM, Dufferin Grove Park Rink (more info)

This has got to be one of the funnest (most fun) events of the Winter Cycling season in Toronto.

Most of the night is filled with pretty hardcore icebikers (these are people who spend hours and hours customizing bikes to perform well on ice … including drilling hundreds of tiny screws into their tires) zooming around and around the rink.

All those tire-screws come in handy… it’s unbelievable watching these guys and gals going this fast on ice.

Having said that… watching the rare wipe-out is fun too.

The last race of the night is the “Rubber Race” when anyone and everyone is invited to take their regular bikes out for a few laps. Picture every single rider falling a lot, over and over, despite going really slow… and you can get the idea. Very very fun to watch.

by Shapelike_O_o on Flickr

by jnyyz on Flickr

2010 Ice Bike Races (Icycle)

Know of other events going on this week (or in future weeks)?  Let BikingToronto know in the comments below, or use the contact form… or even add an event yourself from the Events page.

Click here to punch in your email and get event goodness in your email every week!

This past Saturday saw the Coldest Day of the Year Ride, and after a very mild January, the weather co-operated with -17 weather for the large group of cyclists who came out to ride the waterfront.

This post has photos from myself, Duncan, and Jnyyz… you can click each of these photos (just a few from the larger sets) to go to the blog posts and collections they are from.

This is maybe half of the whole crowd

Councillor Adrian Heaps being interviewed by Global TV

Councillor Heaps is rocking the winter bike gear.

Everyone gathers around for Hot Chocolate and Speeches

Hitting the Martin-Goodman

I heard these two little ones chanting and singing along the ride

Crossing Lakeshore

The new section of the Martin-Goodman near Ontario Place

This years ride was twice as cold, and saw twice as many participants as 2009…. but I’m not wishing for the same trend to continue next year.  -34 would be a good challenge, though.