Biking in Toronto
Total 128 Posts
If you bike, jog or walk the waterfront trail just west of the Humber Bay Arch Bridge, you've likely seen the new Toronto sign that's been erected this week. Local artists Thelia Sanders-Shelton and Julie Ryan built it from driftwood that washed up on a nearby beach. It's only driftwood,
Last week, I rode east on the Waterfront Trail to check out the newly opened Trillium Park and the William G. Davis Trail at Ontario Place. This was once a private parking lot. I hope that has Joni Mitchell smiling. They tore down a parking lot and built paradise: 7.
I've been thinking a lot about Xavier Morgan, the five-year-old who died while cycling the Martin Goodman Trail last week. When I was a kid, I cycled the Martin Goodman Trail, and I still do so today. In fact, I literally biked it today as I wanted to visit the
There's a new app for cyclists in Toronto, and it's called Biko. I installed the Biko App on my Android phone last week and have been using it to record my rides. The key benefit of Biko is the digital reward points you collect for each kilometre you ride. These
For the third calendar year in a row, I set a personal best for kilometres cycled. I finished 2016 with 8857.43 KM cycled. Here's how I got to 8857.43. Due to travel, I lost a week in February, a couple of weeks in August, and another week in
My wife recently started a children's clothing company called Mint + Chip. She does lots of custom orders, and sells various kids stuff that she makes at home. I'm no expert, but I'm told it's well made quality clothing and she enjoys hammering away on the various sewing machines. She sells
I just finished a 32.31 KM bike ride bringing my May 2016 total to 1014.16 KM. This is the first calendar month of my life in which I cycled more than 1000 KM. Here's how I did it.
The Star has an article today about the worst streets for locking up your bike. Not surprisingly, downtown is where most of the thefts occur. Toronto is the bike theft capital of the world with more than 18,000 bikes reported stolen between Jan. 1, 2010 and June 30, 2015.
Well, they're not locking their bikes to bikes, but locking posts in the shape of a bicycle. This may exist elsewhere, but I've only ever seen it in Germany. In Denmark, people are so trustworthy, bikes are often only locked to themselves, if they're locked at all. I walked past
On days like this, I bike east on the Martin Goodman Trail. That cycling trail is actually maintained by the city during the winter, so they plough and salt. And they really, really salt. I get why they dump so much salt down, as their primary concern is safety, but
This is it. It's the last month-over-month cycling comparison I'm going to post. I surpassed my 2015 goal of 5000 KM way back in September, but I felt like I should see this through until the end of the year. December was awesome for cycling. Most days felt more like
In 2014, I biked 4693.42 KM. It was the most I had ever cycled in a calendar year. I wondered if I could reach 5000 KM in 2015 and set that as my goal. Earlier today, I went for a brisk 30.28 KM ride along the lake and
I went through an old bin of stuff I've saved for decades, throwing some stuff out and keeping a few priceless gems. In this bin of memories I found a couple of guides I received 25 years ago. One is entitled "Cycling Skills" and taught me the rules of the
Yesterday, at about noon, I crashed. Literally. Let me tell you about it... Much like today, it was warm out, but rainy. Ice certainly wasn't a concern, as we were nowhere near the freezing mark. It was just another rainy ride. There's a little loop near the Port Credit Yacht
In the spring of 2014, I wrote about the stretch of the Waterfront Trail between Norris Crescent and First Street. This is really the only part of the trail that's not off-road, not on quiet side streets and doesn't have a designated bike lane. I followed that entry up with
That was the best November I've ever cycled. Sure, there were a couple of toe-numbing days, but only a couple. The rest were ideal for biking. Here's how my November 2015 stacked up against November 2014. November 2015: 659.44 KMNovember 2014: 434.26 KMI'm now at 6859.76 KM
Toronto's winters are very bikable, so there's no need to put your bicycle away until spring. I biked through the past two winters and now have it down to a fine art. Sure, you'll need to skip a few days when it's actively storming or when the temperatures plummet below
Having surpassed my 2015 goal in mid-September, I'm now fulfilling a contractual obligation by comparing my year-over-year distances through December. Although there were a few chilly, wet days in October, overall it was a great cycling month, with the sun shining and mostly double-digit temps. Here's how my October 2015
My goal for 2015 was to bike 5000 KM. I had never biked that much in a single calendar year, and it seemed like an attainable goal if I stayed healthy. It turns out I hit that goal in early September, and just kept going. September was an amazing month
In the spring of 2014, I wrote about the stretch of the Waterfront Trail between Norris Crescent and First Street. This is really the only part of the trail that's not off-road, not on quiet side streets and doesn't have a designated bike lane. I followed that entry up with
If I stay healthy, I should demolish my goal of 5000 km for 2015. I'm actually on target to surpass 5000 km by the end of September. Here's how my August 2015 stacked up against August 2014. August 2015: 613.59 kmAugust 2014: 387.81 kmI'm now at 4517.53
I set a personal best for KM cycled in a single month in June, but I trounced that number in July. July was an amazing month for cycling this city, and I made the most of it. Here's how my cycling in July 2015 measured up against July 2014. July
You shouldn't wear headphones while you bike. At least that's what I tell my kids. The fact is, when I'm biking alone, I always wear headphones. I used to wear the buds that come with your smartphone. Then, for my recent birthday in June, my wife surprised me with a
June 2015 was an amazing month for cycling. The temperatures were pretty ideal, there wasn't much rain until last weekend, and we even got new trails to ride. I rode more kilometres in June than I have in any other month of my life. Here's how my cycling in June
