Toronto News:

2011 Hero: Bixi Toronto [Torontoist]

When Bixi Toronto launched in May, we were surprised at how quickly we fell for the sturdy, practical rides that popped up at solar-powered stations across the downtown core—turns out that the bike-share system appeals to even habitual TTC users and bike owners. Stormy when you leave home? Take the TTC or a taxi, and when the sun’s shining later, you can hop on Bixi and pedal home. Planning to paint the town red? Bixi out, dock it and forget it; you won’t have to return for your wheels the next day. 

Bikers brave bitter cold, snow for year-round freedom [CTV News]

Urban cycling advocate Yvonne Bambrick, also a year-round biker, said that cyclists should go with their comfort level.

“For folks afraid of cycling for the stated reason that it’s icy and snowy you can rest assure that those conditions are not everyday,” she said. “It is actually quite feasible to ride comfortably if you dress appropriately and keep some things in mind.”

Support Councillor Matlow’s Motion to Fine Illegally Parked Cars! [Toronto Cyclists Union]

The text of the motion has been revised somewhat from the original - read the General Manager’s report here.  The fine has dropped from $500 to $150, but the rush hour period is now from 6-10AM and 3-7PM on weekdays.  Even better, illegally parked cars in bike lanes are always subject to the $150 ticket with no time restrictions.

Call for Submissions: 365 Days of Cycling Photo Exhibit [Toronto Cyclists Union]

The Toronto Cyclists Union invites amateur and professional photographers to submit their works to 365 Days of Cycling: An Evening of Art and Cycling.  The show is intended to highlight cycling in Toronto throughout the 4 seasons. 

2011 Year End Wrap Up [The Urban Country]

As we approach another new year, I have been reflecting on the events of 2011 and how they have shaped both myself and this website. In many ways, 2011 has been a coming of age for The Urban Country. We have reached record levels of readership and have been told by many people that we are one of their favourite bike blogs.

Winter Biking:

How to choose a winter bike [Dandyhorse Magazine]

While just about any bike can be pressed into service [for winter riding], I generally recommend something other than a strict sport road bike. For a winter specific set up, I really like fixed gear and internally geared bikes. The reduction in cables and external shifting components simplifies maintenance and helps keep snow and slush buildup to a minimum.

Winter biking basics [Green Living Online]

 Winter cycling is no longer the domain of daring bicycle couriers or mountain biking aficionados. With rising gas prices, environmental footprint concerns, and improved infrastructure for city riding, commuting by bicycle year-round is a growing trend. 

Other:

Sleek Bike Charges Its Own Headlights And Your iPhone [Fast Company Design]

The math on your bike doesn’t seem to add up. The sweat from all those thigh-burning, hill-climbing miles evaporates into thin air, as you change batteries in your bike light and drag your GPS inside to charge it. Now a German bike company says it can transfer all those pedal revolutions into energy you can actually use.

10 bicycling myths debunked [Grist]

When it comes to bicycling, the pastime that can solve all of America’s most pressing problems, we’re like heat-seeking missiles in search of myths and misinformation. Our goal is simple: to get you to trade in your four-wheeled gas guzzler for a lean, clean, calorie-burning machine. Here are the top 10 myths that we debunked this year, all linked up and annotated for your enjoyment. 

Bikestravaganza: Grist’s top bike stories of 2011 [Grist]

I spent the day yesterday digging through 18 — count ‘em, 18 — pages of search results in a quest to find Grist’s Overarching Narrative of the Bike in 2011. I laughed. I cried. I almost blew tea on my laptop. Then I biked home on streets that were blissfully bereft of automobiles. Without further ado, I give you the good, the bad, and the pee-your-pants funny from the past year in bicycling.

[top illustration from the Torontoist]

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.  If you have an item you would like to see in The News Cycle, please email it to me at joe[at]bikingtoronto.com

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Whether you’re thinking about biking to work this winter, or considering some fun recreational rides to feel like a “True Canadian“, battling the elements, we’ve put together some Winter Biking photos from the past few years of the Photo of the Day that you can look at and say “If they can do it, then *I* can too!”

Winter Viaduct

Winter in Tommy Thompson Park

Harbord Winter

Winter Blur

IceBike Race Blur

Surfing On Ice

Tricky Turn

Winter Bikelane

Snowy Morning

Frank de Jong in Winter

Winter MiniSkirt

Winter Courier

Tracks

St. George

Finding a Path

Winter on the Leslie Spit

Snowy Dundas

Pembroke Street

Snow Speed

Red Rider

Rider in the Storm

After a Storm

Starting Line

Portlands

Cycling on the Leslie Spit

Waiting

Polar

Sub Zero Spadina

Bike Path

Making Tracks

Return of the Bikes

Slushy at Spadina

Sunlight Crossing

St. George & College

College St. Winter

Visibility

Bloor and Brunswick

Snowy Street in the “South Annex”

Directions

To help get Toronto Cyclists ready for it (especially if you’re thinking of biking through winter for the first time)… we’ll start with this collection of links for you:

Winter Biking in Toronto

• tips from the City of Toronto – They’ve posted a handy-dandy brochure (PDF) to help those new to winter cycling get into it.

5 Ways to get You and Your Bike Ready for Winter

• Winter cycling may sound hard and/or crazy… but here in Toronto it’s surprisingly easy and enjoyable… helped by the fact that we have milder winters than most of Canada.Here are some tips to get you out on two wheels easier and safer:

Forum Topic: How To Bike in the Winter

Forum Topic: Winter Cyclists – how do you clean the salt and grunge off?

Illustration from the City of Toronto

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.

A BlogTO columnist tried to answer this question earlier this week by posting a story named “Do You Have to Be Crazy to Ride Your Bike In The Winter?” so you’d think they’d actually try winter cycling (like Catherine Porter of the Star did with Yvonne Bambrick of the Bike Union), but instead they just asked a few people at a U of T BikeChain workshop why they bike in the winter.

Photo by Tom Cardoso for the Varsity

The Varsity reported on the BikeChain workshop, with a great list (expanded on the Varsity site) with what you need to pay attention to if you want to bike when it’s cold and frosty out:

1. Regular tires are fine.
   
2. Some days are too cold.
   
3. Ride it out.
   
4. Avoid splashing.
   
5. Be prepared to hit the ground.
   
6. Dress appropriately.
   
7. Be good to your bike.

In my opinion, the list shows that you don’t have to be crazy to bike in the winter in Toronto… you just have to be very prepared.

Hard Core Cyclists Do Not Fear Winter

We’ve met on a sunny morning and set off in search of winter’s axis of evil: snow, slush and ice. Now that we’ve found it, Bambrick instructs me to push into it, slowly, but with confidence. “Don’t lose your nerve.”

Look at her: tall, long black coat, chic red hat dotted with a delicate bicycle pin, dark sunglasses. She could be shopping in Paris.

Her bike is a grey Dutch seven-speed, the front basket adorned with bulrushes, white plastic flowers cascading off the back.

How could you spout epithets from your car window at this woman? If the old cycling crowd is Kensington Market, Bambrick is Uptown. She is gentrifying the image of cycling in the city.

Her tool is the Toronto Cyclists Union. Bambrick, 33, is its executive director, her salary paid mostly through the dues of its 800 members, proof in itself of the rising class, and commitment, of cyclists.

More at the Toronto Star.

(Also posted in the News discussion group)