I found out today that there’s a contest for naming a brand new condo at Yonge and Esplanade.

They are offering a $5000 prize (free iPads to #2 and #3) for the winning submission, and are being cool and having public voting to determine the 10 finalists.

Since the site for the new condo is right beside the Sony Centre for the Performing Arts (formerly the Hummingbird Centre), I submitted the name “Hummingbird“.

As well, hummingbirds are aerodynamic, active, constantly in motion and beautiful.

Why am I posting about this here? Well, I thought that if “Hummingbird” does end up being the winning entry, I thought I’d put the money towards BikingToronto. We have a revenue-sharing system here on the site with the most active of our awesome bloggers, so they would see some of the money… but also it would help immensely with covering costs of the site as well as going towards promotional materials and publicizing I Bike T.O. shirts (where all profits are given to charity)..

You can click here to vote for Hummingbird Condos

I’ve also set up some Twitter and Facebook pages for you to follow and like, if you want to.

• Twitter: @VoteHummingbird
• Facebook: Vote for Hummingbird Condo

A couple weeks ago I posted an opinion piece entitled “The Last Thing Toronto Needs is More Cyclists” and attempted to make the point that any Torontonian should not be labeled, stereotyped or pigeonholed based on the type of transportation they like to use.

Photo by MBeauchamp on Flickr

The post fostered much discussion, both among people who understood what I was saying and those who thought I was saying that cycling advocates or people who eat-live-sleep bikes are not needed (I suspect these people may have just skimmed the post?) … when what I was in fact saying was that regular, ordinary “people who ride bikes” are more powerful than people who choose to label themselves as “cyclists”.

Cycling advocates are very important in the pursuit of better and more extensive cycling infrastructure… and here in Toronto, nobody does it better than the Toronto Cyclists Union and the Toronto Coalition for Active Transportation.   They have a presence at City Hall, reach out to groups across the city, and generally are involved in policy stuff that regular non-advocates do not have time for.

My post “The Last Thing Toronto Needs is More Cyclists” made the point that the label of “cyclist” is not only a loaded one (media portrayals of cyclists in Toronto often involve mentions of rule-breaking and self-righteousness) but inaccurate (since most people who ride bikes in Toronto are also pedestrians, motorists and transit users) and that it is harmful to the promotion of cycling in Toronto to use it… because the vast majority of cyclists in Toronto do not identify themselves as such.

The following infographic shows the numerical ratio between “cyclists” and “people who ride bikes” and asks what group obviously would have more influence.   We’ve used the approximate number of members of the Toronto Cyclists Union (which does an excellent job of cycling advocacy) as a rough estimate of how many people self-identify themselves as cyclists.  These ~1000 cyclists should be commended for paying to join an organization with the purpose of lobbying for cycling infrastructure improvements. We’ve also used the 2009 City of Toronto survey which identifies dedicated and occasional users of bicycles in the city for utilitarian and recreational purposes.

INFOGRAPHIC: BY THE NUMBERS

Click for full-size version

Essentially, the label of “cyclist” is helpful because it’s a form of identification and unification… but it’s also a hinderance, as it allows mainstream media and society to lump us all into the same group and marginalize us as a monolithic group instead of the diverse and varied individuals we are.

Copenhagenize makes this point very well with the comparison of bicycle afficionados with vacuum afficionados… sure there are some, but there are far more people who simply find bicycles (like vacuums) a very useful tool to help make their lives easier and/or more fun:

We all have a vacuum cleaner, we’ve all learned how to use it and we all use it. But we don’t go around thinking about our vaccum in the course of a day. Only when the bag is full do we roll our eyes and sigh. Kind of like when our tire is flat/chain is loose and we chuck our bike into the bike shop.

We don’t have a ’stable’ of vacuum cleaners. We don’t buy vacuum cleaning clothes from our LVS or wave at other ‘avid’ vacuum cleaning ‘enthusiasts’ whilst we clean. The relationship to our bicycles is the same as to our vacuum cleaners. They’re both merely incredibly effective and useful tools for making our daily lives easier.

- Copenhagenize

What do you think?  Is it better for all people who ride bikes in Toronto to be lumped into the “cyclists” label… or is it better for them to just be people who happen to sometimes (or always) use a fun, green, cheap way to get around the city?

These are not cyclists - Photo by Xander N'Dante

It’s a controversial post title, isn’t it?   However, it’s true.

BikingToronto member Todd pointed me towards a great article over on Publicola about how if we want our cities to be more bike-friendly, we need less “cyclists” and more “people who ride bikes”.

Essentially, the point of the article is that no one should be identified as a “cyclist” unless they do it professionally (the same way race car drivers have “driver” as their occupation).  People who ride bikes are not “cyclists”… they are people who happen to ride bikes.

You may think this is a case of “splitting hairs” but think about it.

If you are a bike afficionado or spend all day thinking about cycling infrastructure or advocacy, you are in the minority in Toronto.  Do you think your neighbour/sister/friend cares what kind of bike someone rides, or if there is adequate cycling infrastructure in Toronto?

No, they don’t care.

They care about what they *should* care about… namely – themselves, their kids, and their lives.  They don’t have time to obsessively track how many KM of bikelanes are painted every year in Toronto.  They don’t care what a sharrow is or that there are organizations in Toronto who lobby City Hall on bike issues.  It doesn’t matter to them nor should it.   They have their own lives.  If they bike to work or bike on weekends with their kids, it’s because they enjoy it… not because they are “cyclists”.

"I'm Going for a Ride with my Best Friend!" - photo by Xander N'Dante

What Toronto *needs* for cycling to be more mainstream is less “cyclists” and more people who just happen to ride bikes.  People who don’t feel any desire to spend more than $1000 on a bike, or dress up in spandex, or protest some imagined political or legal injustice by riding around downtown with a big group of other cyclists.

I’m one of these people.    I feel uneasy being indentified as a “cyclist” because it’s such a small part of who I am.  I’m a guy who rides a bike (and runs a biking website that does a pretty good job of organizing Toronto biking info), but I also have a regular office job, a new house I’m renovating and many many interests outside of biking.  I’m not a cyclist… I’m a guy who likes to use his bike to get to work.

These people can do more for riding a bike in Toronto than any organization.  They can make it mainstream.

Just by riding.

Not as a cyclist, as a person on a bike.

That is what we all are.

Toronto’s BikeMonth runs from May 31 to June 30, and as we do every year, BikingToronto is getting ready by making sure it’s easy for you to know what’s going on every day of it!

Check out our new BikeMonth section, featuring:

• Links to details about each and every BikeMonth event – including a dedicated discussion forum for each event!
• A blog, which, starting next week, will update every day of BikeMonth and give you a list of all the events coming up over the following 7 days!
• A RSS feed, which you can subscribe to and track, so you can get BikeMonth info any which way you like!
• A dedicated twitter account “@bikemonth“, which will also update daily… and we’ll try to feature any tweets by Toronto cyclists about BikeMonth events!

Duncan means business. Look at all that black clothing!

I’d like to welcome Duncan to blogging here on the main blog of BikingToronto.

For those of you who have been visiting BikingToronto for a while, you’ll know that Duncan started the first of many member blogs on the site last summer.  His City Rides blog has been a great read, featuring personal stories and photo-posts about dressing with style and how to carry stuff by bike, as well as general larger-topic issues.

Here’s a little bit more about him from his “About” page on his City Rides blog:

In early 2009 I realized I needed a change. I was rapidly gaining weight and couldn’t stay awake past 9 pm most evenings. I had given up my car to save money, but that money was going to transit instead. So, I bought a bicycle.

First, I’d just take trips around town. Then I began to commute to work by bike. 25 km each way. This one, simple change has improved my life. Read about it on my blog.

Follow me on Twitter: Duncan’sCityRide

Duncan has already posted once here on the main blog a few days ago ( Toronto Board of Trade; “Embarrassing” Commuting Times for GTA ) and I am sure we ca expect lots of interesting posts from him in the future, too.

Please join me in welcoming Duncan to the main blog!

(cue applause)

Hi everyone,

I just wanted to post quickly to let you know that since re-launching BikingToronto in early January we’ve had 100 people register on the site as members!!!

Pretty good for just 2 months, I have to say.  Those were winter months too.

If you are one of those 100 people, then thank you and welcome to the site.  You are posting and discussing and biking and making the site better.

The new “sociable”, interactive and just plain better BikingToronto was planned to take the collection of Toronto Cycling info to the next level – and that level is YOU.   Whether “you” are a commuting, racing, touring or recreational cyclist, or whether you are involved in a bike organization or a bike store or supplier – what you think and how you interact with others is important.

If you’re not a BikingToronto member yet, you can register here (don’t worry, it’s free, quick and easy!).

You can also check out our Site Guide if you’re curious about the features BikingToronto has brought to Toronto cyclists to connect.

At any time, feel free to shoot me an email at joe@bikingtoronto.com if you have any questions (or just want to chat).

You may have noticed that BikingToronto is vastly different in 2010 than it was in 2009.  It’s more interactive, social and has, on average, 87% fewer references to Rob Ford.  Okay… just kidding.  Rob Ford is “good copy”, as they say.

Ben Elling of Third Rail Repository decided he wanted to interview me to figure out why I had made the changes and learn more about the evolution of the site as a source for great cycling information for anyone interested in bikes in Toronto.

Interview starts…. now!

(cross-posted from Third Rail Repository, an urban blog that believes that “cities serve as incubators of cool, whether through art, architecture, culture or music.  Through their demographic makeup cities also serve as indicators of social change”.)

Those of you who are avid TRR readers (I know you’re out there.  Hi Mom!), I’ve spent the past year flirting with bike commuting.  The more comfortable with biking I’ve gotten, the more I’ve gotten linked into sites that link me with other riders, provide me with tips and point me towards relevant news.

Of late one of my favourites has been BikingToronto.com.  I remember coming across the site quite a while ago, but looked it back up again following a recent relaunch.  I have been very impressed with the new site; it does a wonderful job of creating dialogue between bikers from relatively micro level issues such as the best way to clean your bike in the winter to macro issues like recent survey results on biking numbers in the city.

So far I’m digging it and encourage you to check it out, especially if you ride in the Toronto area.  I’ve dug it so much, in fact, that I asked BikingToronto founder Joe T. to sit down for a chat.

Third Rail Repository (TRR): Tell me a little about how BikingToronto came to be.

BikingToronto (BT): BikingToronto started as a personal blog in January 2006.  In 2005, the TTC ripped up the streetcar line I used to commute to work (the 506 Carlton-Gerrard), and with all the diversions, it was taking me twice as long to get to work.  Myself and a co-worker who lived nearby decided to give biking a try, since we lived near the Dundas East bikelanes, and we really liked it.

I started a blog on blogger.com to write about personal stories while biking… and started posting and organizing links to information, as I found it hard to find information about biking events and news about cycling infrastructure.  The city website (toronto.ca/cycling) is a great resource to start with, but there were a few websites and mailing lists than one would have to keep checking in order to stay up to date about what was going on.

I eventually moved the site over to the bikingtoronto.com domain and posted more and more “informational” things instead of personal blog posts.  I generally use the rule-of-thumb that if I need to organize types of biking information in order to find it (and use it) easier, others would be interested in it as well.

TRR: What prompted the recent revamp of the BikingToronto site?  What sort of changes have you made?

BT: I don’t know if anything “prompted” me… but the changes can be attributed to my need to make things better coupled with a strong do-it-yourself attitude.  Whether house renovations or a website, I’ll take things apart and figure out how to make them sturdier, prettier and/or more useful or practical.

The old set-up of the site was an extension of how the site began, which was the blog format.  As popular as the blog format is these days, it does have a number of limitations.  The first and most obvious limitation is that a blog is run by one person (or sometimes, a few people), so there is one “main” voice (the writer/blogger) and many “periphery” voices (readers/commenters).  This may be a fine set-up for something like a corporate blog, or a blog/website where the blogger/writer has control issues… but not for a website that is trying to inform and engage a group of people (namely, people interested in bikes in Toronto… not necessarily cyclists.).

The changes I’ve made have been done to make it more open and collaborative for anyone that chooses to participate.  Anyone can view anything on the site, and after a quick membership sign up, anyone can discuss anything on the site, as well as start discussion groups, create and publicize events, as well as interact with other members in numerous ways.

TRR: What do you hope the shift to a more “social” site will accomplish?

BT: This is something I thought a lot about before starting the process of changing the site.

A website with a goal of informing and engaging a group of people should provide the tools to properly interact with those people, and letting those people interact with one another.

Bicycles are seen as an alternate transportation option in Toronto, and if people interested in bikes in Toronto (this includes not just cyclists but cycling organizations and bikeshops too) interact more with one another, it will only help promote bikes as a valid and reasonable transportation choice.

TRR: Have you noticed an increase over the past few years in interest from cyclists who are trying to make the leap from leisure biking to commuting?

BT: Yes, but I don’t feel it is due to anything that the city or any organization has done.  A combination of higher gas prices (especially after Hurricane Katrina) and general environmental awareness is making people thing about bicycles as more than just recreational playthings.

TRR: I work for an organization that doesn’t do all that much for people who commute by bike.  Any tips for employers that might want to make their workplace more bike friendly?

BT: I’d suggest consulting the city’s webpage (toronto.ca/cycling) which has a lot of great info about this… but generally… I would survey employees as to what obstacles they feel are preventing them from commuting by bike and use those as problems that need solutions.  You may find that a lot of people are interested in cycling to work but don’t know about how to get started.  Having you “nudge” them in the right direction can do a lot to get them “rolling” on their own (pun somewhat intended).

TRR: I first came across BikingToronto because I was looking for an online cycling route map that wasn’t a cumbersome PDF, which lead me to your Toronto Bike Lane map.  Was the map a collaborative effort?  Any future plans for the bike map?

BT: Funnily enough… your reason for searching for the map was the very same reason I created the map in the first place.  We needed a user-friendly online map, so I took it upon myself to create the first online map of Toronto’s bikelanes.  I did not partner with anyone on the creation of the map, but am happy to report that my idea has been duplicated on other websites… which is flattering and encourages me to continue thinking of new ideas to help people find cycling information.

TRR: What has Toronto done right in terms of facilitating biking?

BT: Toronto has done loads right to encourage cycling.  The city *is* behind on their BikePlan implementation… but it is rare that a government project (at any level) is completed on time, so I don’t worry too much about that.

Toronto has done a few substantial things to ensure that everyone thinks about cycling more as a transportation option.  This doesn’t mean that every Torontonian will turn into a 5-day-per-week bike commuter… but it does mean more people will try cycling as something more than a purely recreational activity.

Namely, the “Rack It and Rocket” project (bus racks on TTC buses) is a huge one for helping people think about the bicycle as a transportation option.  What started as a pilot project on a few bus routes has turned into a systemic plan which will eventually see a bikerack on *every* bus in the TTC fleet.

Another things the city has done is paying a lot of attention to the issue of bike parking.  People need and want a secure place to park their bike (and have their bike still be there when they return).  They’ve gone beyond just offering post-and-ring installation when people request it (although they still do that) to studying and implementing (at Union Station) the concept of a BikeStation – a facility dedicated solely to the secure storage of bikes.  As well, they are promoting the “intermodal” option by installing extra post-and-rings and bikelockers at TTC stations.

TRR: What could Toronto do to improve biking in the city?

BT: It’s already been done, and it’s the decision to mimic Montreal’s success with the Bixi Public Bike System (bixi.ca).  Due to launch this summer, it will provide low-cost biking to everyone in the central city.  Tourists will use it.  Cyclists will use it (we don’t take our bikes everywhere, all the time, you know!).  Non-cyclists will use it.  Companies may even use it to get employees to offsite meetings.  Providing that the administration of the program goes well… the Public Bike System will see an influx of bikes on the streets… an influx which will help all Torontonians think about bikes a lot more.

This isn’t to say the city doesn’t have anything else it needs to do… but this one thing, if done properly, can be the proverbial snowball of a future avalanche of urban planning that considers all modes of transportation equally.

TRR: Future plans for BikingToronto?

Definitely!

In the short term, we’re using the winter to test out the new features and their interactivity to make sure they’re all working great (I’m happy to report that apart from a couple minor things, everything is working according to plan).  As well, we’ll be promoting the site a little more to get more people interacting on the site.

In the long term, there are even more features planned to make the site as useful as possible for anyone looking for any information about biking in Toronto.

Also, I’m hoping to enable any member to create their own blog on bikingtoronto in the near future… and have a revenue sharing system in place to share any money coming in from advertisers.

Thanks for the interview Ben!  It was good to get all that down in hardcopy (e-copy?).