Today was the warmest Jan 30 on record in Toronto, i.e. the warmest, coldest day of the year, ever. A comparatively large crowd showed up at City Hall for an organized ride to mark the occasion.
This is the crowd at the start. By the time we got rolling, there were probably twice as many people as you see here.
Bixi was there to loan out bikes.
Many councillors were there for the photo op. This was encouraging. Here Councillor Parker talks to the press.
More councillors.
and still more. (note that my councillor from Ward 13 was not there)
Jared Kolb of Cycle Toronto gets the event started.
Joey talking to the press. He was in a T shirt, it being +13°C. I thought about it, but I was in my rain gear. I should have ditched the rain cape for the ride.
Hamish almost smiling as he talks to Adam Vaughan. I had to preserve the moment for posterity.
Mike Layton announces that he as several other councillors of Wards along Bloor are trying to get the Bloor Bike Lane EA back on track. It is fantastic to have a councillor like Mike who is clearly pro bike, and who can marshall support from other councillors, however transient.
BTW he has a really nice city bike, his summer ride, that he brought out today. The frame isn’t anything special, but there are a lot of nice touches. The first thing that I noticed was the City of Toronto headbadge.
The chainguard in a similar theme.
Here is the bike in motion, where you can see the scorcher type handlebars, the rubber bulbed horn, nice metal fenders and fancy rack.
A mom on a Nihola. Although two kids could fit in the front, she says that she prefers to have the little one in the back where she can talk to him.
Here is everyone at Metro Hall after the ride. Given the numbers, I bet they ran out of treats and hot chocolate!
It’s always interesting to see what bikes show up at an event like this. I noticed this Miyata city bike with the homemade pogies.
I was wondering what the tube was near the front wheel, when the owner came up to unpark the bike.
Martin bought it at Bicyclesport where he used to work for Mike Barry.
The tube is for a skate pole that he uses to probe the ice when he goes skating on lake ice by the island (he is an island resident).
I like this little detail; apparently it is a trailer hitch.
Here’s a video of the ride.
It was a bit like an officially sanctioned Critical Mass. My favorite moment was when a bicycle cop strode into the intersection at University and Wellington and started corking traffic against a green light so that we could all turn right and keep together. It was also nice to get out on the pink bike in January, however briefly. Thanks to Cycle Toronto for organizing the ride, the police for their support, and city councillors for showing up and thus attracting more media attention.
UPDATE: the Star’s take on the ride, written by someone who didn’t go on the ride. Also no mention of the interest by several councillors in renewing the EA for bike lanes on Bloor. Pretty poor reporting.
I get the message; “This video is private.” !?
sorry, try it now.
It works now. Thanks.