Today was our Kids and Cargo Bikes event, advertised as a meet up for anyone interested in cargobikes, and or wanted to have a short family friendly ride a la Kidical Mass. I made some flags appropriate for the occasion. The Less Car More Go logo was from the Less Car More Go website by Liz Canning, who is putting together a film about the cargobike movement.
The plan was to meet up at Perth Square park between 10-11 and then to have a short ride on the nearby West Toronto Railpath. I wasn’t sure how many people would show up since the facebook RSVP’s were about 16, and the usual yield on such things was less than 50%. I was also somewhat concerned that Bells on Danforth was on the same day (although when I fixed the date for this event, BoD was supposed to be on June 7)
We had a pretty good turn out after all. There were a surprising number of cargo bikes from the neighbourhood as well. At the peak, we had over a dozen cargo bikes, including a pair from Sweet Pete’s, and one from Curbside. We had fun test riding each others bikes. I’m not sure that there were more than a handful of cargo bike non-owners. As someone observed, the gathering was more like preaching to the choir, rather than spreading the word about how great cargobikes are. The parents got to geek out about their bikes (there was a good variety), while the kids hit the playground. We even had a guest appearance from Brian the tile guy.
About 15 minutes before ride time, we recalled the kids by breaking out the freezies. A cold treat is an essential component of a kidical mass ride. In this case, having the treat before the ride worked out great.
Fortunately, I brought enough freezies for all the neighbourhood kids as well.
The folks from Sweet Pete’s had to leave early.
A group picture before the ride.
At this point several bikes had already left.
A fuzzy picture of us leaving the park.
Lots of cargo bikes on the Railpath!
Thanks to Dave from Curbside for showing up and riding with us!
There were also three 100dayin1 events on the railpath, so it was fun to see all the activity in the neighbourhood.
I think I heard a couple of calls to do it again next year. I think we will, and I’ll also think about having one in the east end on a separate day.
note: one kid’s hoodie was left behind in the Babboe box bike from Curbside. Message me to reclaim it.
Update: Vic has some excellent pictures here.
Fun. There were a batch of cargo bikes etc. on the Bells on Danforth ride. It was big too; glad weather cooperated.