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).

I’m finally done, and was able to take 11 minutes of video down to 3.5, as well as pairing it with a peppy pop song that has been in my head for a few months (thanks to CBC Radio 3). I give you the Sweet Ride paired with “Big Blue Wave” by Hey Ocean.

In addition to the photos I posted on Sunday, be sure and check out the photos Hyedie posted on her Cupcake Ride Blog.

The next Sweet Ride is on Saturday, June 23rd.  We haven’t picked a food theme yet, but will soon.   Stay tuned.

If you are female and can’t wait for June, Hyedie is planning the next Girls Cupcake Ride for Saturday, May 26.

If you want to keep up and informed about future rides, you can also follow BikingToronto and the Cupcake Ride on Facebook and Twitter:

BikingToronto: Facebook | Twitter

Cupcake Ride: Facebook | Twitter

I ended up taking 149 photos and videos along the way.  Most of those (about 100) are short little videos I’m currently editing into one for you (it’s taking a while), but here are the better photos I took.

Details about the next ride are after the photos.

The next Sweet Ride is on Saturday, June 23rd.  We haven’t picked a food theme yet, but will soon.   Stay tuned.

If you are female and can’t wait for June, Hyedie is planning the next Girls Cupcake Ride for Saturday, May 26.

If you want to keep up and informed about future rides, you can also follow BikingToronto and the Cupcake Ride on Facebook and Twitter:

BikingToronto: Facebook | Twitter

Cupcake Ride: Facebook | Twitter

I’ll have the video edited and posted as soon as I can.

Just over a week ago, the Toronto Cyclists Union let their members know that they were thinking of changing their name to “Cycle Toronto“, which is to be held to a  vote on May 2nd at their next Annual General Meeting.

I’ve included excerpts from that announcement below (click here for the full text), and then following that, some links to arguments for and against the change, as well as some questions that I’ve had as I’ve been mulling over the proposed change.

2011 was an amazing year for our organization. Through our shared efforts, we were able to double our membership from 1,018 to over 2,100 since our last AGM. In the meantime we’ve worked as a group to refer new members, both through word of mouth and our Refer-A-Rider Campaign. We’ve found amazing local business partners who now reward our membership through the Member Discount Program, giving us new inroads to the business community. We’ve continued to advocate for the changes Toronto must make to ensure that cyclists are treated as equals on the road, leading the charge to Save Jarvis while continuing to push for expanded Complete Streets infrastructure across the city. We helped keep cyclists safe through our Get Lit campaign and, along with our volunteers, spoke with thousands of Torontonians about our mission and cause. Truly we have many reasons to celebrate.

…

Over the past years, we have run into unexpected pockets of resistance when applying for grants as well as in recruiting business members and individual donors. There is a large group of cyclists in Toronto that don’t feel connected to our organization, and they have often expressed that our current name is largely responsible for that disconnect. Considering all of the positive impacts that we want to have as an organization, the Board of Directors does not want our name to prevent a single cyclist from joining our organization. Our strategy and trajectory demands that we be accessible and essential for everyone who rides in Toronto, and we feel that now – as we are poised for record growth – is the time to address this issue.

In the next few weeks, you’ll be receiving the agenda for our AGM, scheduled for May 2, 2012. The board requests your support in changing our name, not as a change of direction, but as a step towards better alignment with our current strategy and in an effort to ensure we are able to reach as many of our fellow riders, and other street users, as possible. We feel that the future of this organization is much brighter, and the possibilities greater, with a new moniker: Cycle Toronto.

At the AGM, we would like your support when we a vote to accept the new name. According to our bylaws, a two-thirds majority of member voters at the AGM will carry the name change.

Dave Meslin (you may know him as “Mez”) who was the driving force behind the initial founding of the Union posted a blog post that laid out why the name should NOT be changed.  I recommend you read the full post yourself, but his main points break down as follows:

1. Toronto Cyclists Union Branding: there are tons of existing t-shirts, buttons, tents, booklets, flyers, and stickers. Changing the name essentially makes all of this stuff useless for branding
2. Search Engine Optimization: will people be able to find (formerly) Union work if it’s under a new name?
3. Administrative Effort: Changing the name on forms, bank accounts, receipts, invoices, templates, etc. etc.

You should also read the comments on Mez’s post.  People make a lot of good points (some of which I’ll include below in my questions).

Nick Cluley, who is on the Board of Directors of the Union, has also written a post FOR the name change (again, I encourage you to read the full post), which can be summarized as follows:

1. Marketing Plan: There will be a plan for the name transition.  There will be some overlap in the names for a certain time.
2. Little Control of Name: Lots of names are currently used for the organization – Toronto Cyclists Union, Bike Union, TCU, BU… so let’s change it to assert more control.
3. Less Politicization of Cycling: The word “Union” (even though it’s not a labour union) alienates cyclists on the right of the political spectrum as well as some companies and organizations.  Let’s make cycling apolitical, and the organization more powerful in terms of finances and representation of Toronto’s cyclists.

Finally, here are my questions about the name change.  I’m only one member of the Union, and I think a good job will be done by Jared, Andie, and all the many many volunteers no matter what the name is… but I also realize that BikingToronto is widely read, so instead of coming down on one side of the debate, I’ll simply ask some questions which should be addressed or thought about by the Union’s Board of Directors and Union members when they consider their vote.

1. Branding: Branding is extremely important.  Your name and logo is how people know you.  If the Union is considering changing their name to Cycle Toronto, they need to consider how the name will impact branding.  Is the phrase “Cycle Toronto” available on Twitter? Facebook Page addresses? Website URLs? Flickr? Pinterest? Instagram? etc. etc.  Currently the Toronto Cyclists Union has a “bikeunion.to” URL for their website, which has people calling it the Bike Union (myself included – it’s far easier to say and write)… are we looking at the possibility of Cycle Toronto having a CycleTO.ca  or Cycle.to or some other website URL or facebook page?  Whatever the name, branding has to be consistent.  The simpler the name, the more likelihood it will be “taken” in the digital sphere.  A unique name is much easier to establish consistent brand identity for.
2. Why Cycle Toronto?  I’ve seen quite a few comments about the blandness of the name Cycle Toronto.  It is a rather generic name (I know, I know… “Biking Toronto” isn’t super-exciting – it was chosen because I wanted the site name to reflect what the site was about) and frankly, kind of forgettable.  It has no “personality” (yet)  and could be confused with any Toronto cycling organization, club, website, or even bikestore.  The other thing that I think Union members should know or think about is HOW “Cycle Toronto” was chosen.  Was it one of many names considered?  Why that one?  Why wasn’t there a vote on what the name should be changed to?
3. Is it Inclusive or Exclusive?  The one reason for the proposed name change which seems to have most people talking is the fact that the word “Union” is repugnant to those individuals and organizations and companies on the right of the political spectrum.  So, Cycle Toronto is more inclusive, politically…. but it will probably alienate the initial, core left-wing cyclists and activists which started the Toronto Cyclists Union.  As well, and this is just semantics and optics… does changing the name to Cycle Toronto take the emphasis off “cyclists” and the concept of “strength in numbers” and put the emphasis on chasing and securing financial contributions and grants from companies and organizations.  It could be perceived as such, even if that is not the case.
4. “Union” isn’t the Problem: There is nothing wrong with using the word “Union” to describe a coming together of cyclists in a common purpose.  That is the definition of the word.  Just because the political right equates any use of the word “union” with labour rights and strikes and the “left” does not mean it is wrong to use. Perhaps an education campaign is what is called for?
5. Alternate Names: Can alternate names be considered that get away from using “Union” but still keeps the spirit of the organization and the reputation it has built over the past few years?  Is there a name that is distinctive, appeals to all political philosophies, and represents the coming together of all cyclists and organizations interested in making cycling better in Toronto?  Toronto Cycling Alliance? Toronto Cycling Coalition? Toronto Bike League?  Toronto Bike Alliance?  Toronto Bikes?  Toronto Bike ____?

There we go.  Read the full announcement from the Toronto Cyclists Union.  Read Mez’s post.  Read Nick’s Post.  Consider the questions raised in those posts and the comments on those posts.  Consider the questions I’ve posed, and come up with questions of your own.

Finally, if you’re a member of the Bike Union, go to the Annual General Meeting on May 2nd and vote.  It would be a shame if a minority of members actually voted on this change.  A two-thirds majority of voting members is what is needed to change the name.

The Bike Union has also set up a “Name Change Conversation” website to help facilitate discussion.

I hope this post is useful to you.  Writing it helped solidify and organize questions I had about the name change.

We are so happy to present the first Sweet Ride of 2012! This ride is Cupcake themed and will happen on Sun, April 22 at 1 pm (which by the way is Earth Day)! (Note: the photo above is from our April Sweet Ride of 2011. Look how happy we all are! You don’t want to miss this!)

Everyone is welcome – so please tell all your friends!

This would be a perfect setting to bring along that friend who wants to ride in the city but is a bit intimidated. We don’t ride too fast and being sandwiched between experienced riders will help that person feel safer. Strength in numbers, right?

Here are the details!

START
When: 1pm
Where: Flour Studio, 883 Eglinton Ave. West

END
Where: Bobbette & Belle, 1121 Queen Street East
BlogTO Review of Bobbette and Belle

ROUTE: We have an amazing route planned that takes us on the Beltline, through Mt. Pleasant Cemetary, zooming down the Moore Park Ravine (be sure and make sure your brakes work!!!) to the Don Valley Brickworks and then down the Lower Don Valley and the Martin-Goodman Trail to Leslieville!

RSVP on Facebook to keep up with any communication we might have for the upcoming ride, or keep on visiting our blogs to keep up to date on all things Sweet Ride.

click on the map to view it larger!

Over on the BikingToronto Flickr Group, I always look for great photos of bikes and cyclists around Toronto (I’m looking into ways of highlighting these on the blog more, quickly and easily) but what I love to find is someone just rockin’ one of the I Bike T.O. t-shirts I designed.

Pictured below is Elli, a new(ish) cyclist in Toronto, looking amazing in an I Bike T.O. shirt, and below the photo is text by Elli telling us a bit about herself as well as why she bought the shirt.

So little bit of a background story on my biking adventures. I started doing long city rides with my best friend Luke in the summer of 2010. The rides have always ranged between 35km and 75km. Even though we were both born and raised in Etobicoke, we found biking around Toronto was such a different, interesting, and fun way to see parts of the city that you can’t see when you’re in a car. I used to go to university in Waterloo, so whenever April rolled around we would be itching to go biking again. Luckily this year I’m at school in Toronto so the biking has already begun with a trip to the Bluffs.

I came across the Biking Toronto shirts last summer while spending countless hours online looking through anything biking/city related. I finally decided a couple weeks ago that the wait had been long enough. A new season had just begun, and with that a new biking shirt had to be added to the wardrobe (to complement my new bike, of course!). When it comes to t-shirts I always prefer v-necks that are either black or white, so naturally I bought the womens black v-neck shirt. It arrived two weeks earlier than I was expecting it to, but of course that was just another plus. I love the shirt so much because it represents where I’m from and what I love to do. I think it is safe to say that I’m happiest when I’m on a bike.

I can’t wait to wear this shirt on my upcoming city rides and show it off! And perhaps I will even end up getting a few more of those shirts in the future. There are at least two others that have my attention.

Thanks Elli!

I hope you enjoy the shirt and that it helps you meet other cyclists.  Everyone seems to love them!