September 2026 Dismount Social Ride

Back in June, I finally got to join Dismount Bike Shop for their Wednesday evening social rides. At the time, I appreciated the reasonably quick pace and riding on some gravel trails such as the Cedarvale Ravine. For this past Wednesday's ride, we skipped the gravel but did bike along the West Toronto Railpath and through High Park.

As with the last ride, about 30 to 40 people took part, though I noticed the crowd was more gender balanced this time as opposed to being mostly male. The bike that caught my attention this time around was this custom-built peach coloured one with mountain bike sized wheels with drop bars.

One rider – Nico – had his bikepacking gear on. I found out he rode from Los Angeles since mid-June.

After a brief word from the ride leader, we were on our way.

A quick regroup before crossing St. Clair.

Along Rosemount Avenue.

By the time we got to Davenport Road, it was starting to get dark, and we needed to turn on the lights.

Entering the West Toronto Railpath. Unfortunately, my Samsung A57 is not great with taking fast action photos at night.

The West Toronto Railpath was busy with runners, walkers, and other cyclists even at almost 8 PM. There were supposed to be weekday closures from Perth to Dundas until November, though they were not in effect by the time we rolled down.

Heading south on Sorauren Avenue.

A regroup after climbing the hill in High Park.

East along Dupont Street.

As was the case last time, the ride ended at Bartlett Parkette across from Blood Brothers Brewing. After a drink and some chatter with old and new friends, it was time to head home along Bartlett and Bloor at a fast pace.

Thanks Dismount as always for hosting these weekly rides. While I’m not sure whether I will do another ride before the year is out – especially with the shorter daylight hours – I definitely want to do them more often next year.

For those looking to do more group rides this fall, I recommend checking out this Sunday's South Scarborough Loop Ride with The Driveside this Sunday (10 AM at Guildwood GO), next Friday's Critical Mass (details TBD), and next Sunday's Ride The Loop Close The Gaps ride with Community Bikeways (9 AM at Distillery District).