Hey Toronto cyclists!
I’m off for two weeks, so this little section of BikingToronto is going to be pretty dull. No need to fret! Here’s what you can do while I’m gone:
Nominate Toronto’s Best Bike Lane
Explore Our Fantastic BikingToronto Blogs
Keep Up-to-Date on the Latest Cycling News on the BikingToronto Main Blog
Participate in BikingToronto Forums
And most importantly…
Get out and Ride!
The street seems to narrow along the stretch between Trinity Bellwoods Park at Strachan all the way to Bathurst and beyond.
Physically, it may not have lost some width, but with the sheer volume of traffic from cyclists, motorists, streetcars and pedestrians rubbing elbows here can make you feel a little claustrophobic.
Street parking is hard to come by, both for cars and for bicycles. This area is a shopping, eating, lounging and people-watching destination and on a sunny day the crowds slow their pace. Whether you throw a blanket down in Trinity Bellwoods or wait in line for a coveted table at Terroni’s the best way to get here is to ride your bicycle, just don’t expect to get that post and ring right out front.
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 4
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 3
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 2
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 1
Great news travels fast over Twitter!
Today, possibly right now, the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee is voting on the proposed separated bike lanes to run along University Avenue.
In Portland they’ve moved beyond voting and have started implementing advancing bicycle lane designs, most notably the Cycle Track.
Here’s a fantastic video on how it works:
On the Right Track from Mayor Sam Adams on Vimeo.
Between the nightlife of Queen and Beaconsfield and the shopping of Queen and Niagara is a strip undergoing quite possibly the most important revitalization of this entire area.
As CAMH tears down old buildings and introduces newer, brighter spaces for their residents, the community also benefits from the open spaces on the south side of Queen Street.
Meanwhile, you can still buy used appliances from a cramped store while out browsing the art galleries here. Stop in for a coffee and park your bicycle out front on one of the many ring and posts.
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 3
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 2
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 1
You should really go to this!
The Canadian Corps Club at 201 Niagara Street, $7 gets you in the door with magazine in hand!
I found these fantastic photos of the new “school buses” on Toronto Island at Sarah Rosensweet’s blog, sweet thing(s). Here’s the story behind them:
Many of you know that the Island we live on is a car-free community (about 700 people in 250 houses on one end of Toronto Island- a skinny 6 km piece of mostly parkland, a 10 minute ferry ride from downtown Toronto)
Service vehicles are allowed, including schoolbuses, but Asa’s school recently gave up their little bus. Last year the one teacher who had a bus license left the school, and instead of getting another licensed teacher, the whole school walked everyday to and from school. it is a 20+ minute walk from the ferry docks to the school- great exercise for the older kids but a bit hard for little 2 year old legs twice a day- and sometimes in heavy rain, wind, or snow.
through grants, donations, and fundraisers- like selling t-shirts and lemonade and bike-a-thons the school raised enough money to buy the cargo bike and bicycle cart (built by an Islander with a custom bike cart company)
these bikes and the commitment of the school to car-free living make me so happy!
For more photos visit sweet thing(s) here.
Cargo bikes are going to be big in Toronto this summer. BikingToronto contributor cFletch has also introduced one to her family’s life, check it out on her blog Fletcher Five.
While slightly more rural than Toronto, this video of BikeShopGirl‘s daily commute resembles much of what anyone here in the city will experience. Lack of infrastructure, short cuts where cars can’t go and tense bridge crossings are familiar territory here.
Music by Red Sonia
The Harry Rosen storefront on Bloor Street displays a few interesting accessories for Spring.
Trek Belleville
Gary Fisher Simple City
Electra Bikes
Train bridges are marvels of engineering. The weight they must support is incredible. It’s no wonder that train bridges inspire us and scare us and change the landscape wherever they are built.
The Dufferin Jog, long since separated, is in its final days. Dufferin will once again connect at Queen Street.
Yet, Queen Street is still disconnected by the physical sensation of passing under these bridges. Parkdale ends in the east at the Jog, on the other side, West Queen West is taking on a new shape, sometimes good, sometimes bad. Bike life here remains a constant, even as the scenery changes almost daily.
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 2
Toronto Bike Life: Queen Street Part 1
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Joe T.
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