Tour de Mississauga 2022

Sunday was a great day for the 15th Annual Tour de Mississauga which saw over 2000 people take part. This family friendly ride has five ride options to choose ranging from 5 km to 100 km, while those doing the 50 km or 100 km had rest stops with complimentary food and drink. I chose the 50 km which – combined with biking to and from Downtown Toronto – lead to my first century ride since the Ride to Conquer Cancer in 2014. The ride offered a good sampling of Mississauga’s trails and bike lanes. Let’s take a look at some of them.

dandyARCHIVE - Your 2018 Pre-Election Bike Plan Update

NOTE: This article originally appeared on Dandyhorse's website on September 13, 2018 and is being reposted here since it is no longer available.

Story by Robert Zaichkowski and Albert Koehl

With over three months left to the end of 2018, we already know that this year will be another heart-breaking one for many Toronto families. To date, 25 pedestrians and 4 cyclists have been killed, while many more families have to deal with life-altering injuries to their loved ones. The three memorial rides in June alone sparked renewed calls for a real network of bike lanes in the city. The response from City Hall has been disappointing; exacerbated by the failure to live up even to installing the infrastructure promised in the ten-year cycling plan passed in 2016. In fact, even if this year’s planned projects (see our table) are all completed --- never a sure thing in our city --- we will only be on pace to complete the plan by 2049 instead of 2025.

Bike lane ends sign at Poplar Plains (via Albert Koehl)

High Park Policing Shenanigans

Over the past couple of weeks, there has been considerable outrage by Toronto’s cycling community over the ticketing and harassment by police officers in High Park. One cyclist got ticketed for going 26 km/h in a 20 km/h zone – something which rarely happens for drivers – while another got a $110 fine for rolling through a stop sign. There was even another case of a ticketing police officer driving into a cyclist who was reported to have earned $281,000 in 2021! If that doesn’t make your blood boil, Mayor John Tory claimed police do not deserve to be criticized for ticketing.

A Toronto Police officer ticketing a cyclist in High Park (via Dave Shellnut)

Let's Build a Cycling Loop in Scarborough

With today’s nice weather and a day off work, I went for a ride around Scarborough. It was a brutal 90 kilometre trek with 681 metres of elevation gain that took me to the northeastern part of the City and back. It helped give me a feel for what is needed to complete a recreational loop east of Victoria Park.

A Tale of Two Carfree Initiatives

The topic of carfree spaces in Toronto has come up with two upcoming public consultations for High Park and Kensington Market. One has this treatment every weekend since the COVID-19 pandemic began two years ago and the other has been demanded by advocates for decades. Let’s look at what is being proposed, as well as what the City of Toronto failed to consider.

Riding Toronto with Mayor John Bauters – Part 2

On Sunday, July 3, about 70 cyclists joined Mayor John Bauters of Emeryville, California for a ride around Toronto including on Yonge Street. After the ride and some ice cream, I had the chance to interview Mayor Bauters to learn more about Emeryville and his thoughts on cycling in Toronto and other cities.

Riding Toronto with Mayor John Bauters - Part 1

Back on February 9, Mayor John Bauters of Emeryville, California put up a poll asking where bike advocates wanted him to go for a ride this summer. He then replied to @SusieH33 saying he would do Toronto if 100 people separately replied with “Toronto”. In true #BikeTO fashion, we flooded his Twitter account with replies calling on him to visit this city. On Sunday, July 3, Mr. Bauters made good on his promise to ride with local advocates, as well as helped out the Toronto Bike Brigade on Saturday.