Recap of York Region Bike Month 2014

What began in Toronto as a Bike to Work Day celebration in 1989 has evolved to become one of the largest events of its kind in Canada and is now coordinated by Cycle Toronto. Bike Month brings together families, artists, commuters and community groups to promote cycling at hundreds of events all month long.

BikeMonth 2014 is supported across The Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area by Metrolinx and locally by The City of Toronto, The City of Mississauga, The City of Hamilton, and York Region.  I want to recap some of the happenings that took place in York Region.

 

Smart Commute organized Bike to Work Day events on May 24th at Newmarket Riverwalk Commons, Hwy 7/Leslie Street area in Richmond Hill, and York University.  The first two had about 175 and 150 participants respectively.

 

Bike to Work Day - Richmond Hill

Bike to Work Day - York University

 

Bike to Work Day - Newmarket.  Viva/YRT launched Bike N Bus now has bike racks on their entire fleet.

Vaughan Bicycle User Group hosted a "Discover Your Inner Cyclist" event at Sonoma Heights Park in Woodbridge.

Regional Councillor Deb Schulte

MPP (and now Minister of Transportation) Steven Del Duca

Bicycle Valet at Mill Pond Splash in Richmond Hill

Bike Day at Woodbridge Village Farmers Market

Oak Ridges Trail Association hosted the Moraine Relay Adventure.  The 160km route across the Oak Ridges Trail is a non-stop running/cycling/canoe race with 15 participants per team.  There was a record 35 teams this year.

Here's one of my teammates, Paul.

Pedal power smoothies at Nature's Emporium in Maple

 

New this year was a June Bike Challenge organized by Smart Commute Central York, with the grand prize of a $800 gift certificate from Spoke O Motion bike shop.  The more days you cycle, the greater your chances.  307 people participated, with an average of 11 days of cycling.  Fantastic.

 

Cycle on, friends!





Testing the Greenbelt Cycling Route

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust has received funding from the Greenbelt Foundation to implement a new cycling route connecting communities throughout the Greenbelt. The project will create a signature provincial cycling route from Northumberland to Niagara (460 km) using existing infrastructure, and is expected to launch in late summer 2015.

I was fortunate to be one of the over 200 people who participated in the Greenbelt Route Mobile Workshops from May 5-10. The Workshops were a great opportunity to hear presentations from visiting and local experts on cycle tourism, cycling infrastructure and services; network with other cycling, tourism, business and Greenbelt leaders; and, most importantly, experience and evaluate the route.

Here are some of the highlights of the 63 km York Region segment of the route from the mobile workshops on May 7 and 8, 2014.

Greenbelt Route Mobile Workshop from Shawn Smith on Vimeo.

Trail-a-bike to the park

Last month, my family rode our bikes to Mackenzie Glen District Park in Maple.  As you can see in the video clip (which is the segment near the Maple Community Centre), my son really enjoys riding with me using a trail-a-bike.  However I see now that he doesn't always pay attention!  The 2km journey each way is very easy by bike, and fun for the whole family.

Cruising the new Hwy 7 Buffered Bike Lanes in Richmond Hill

They're FAST (faster than car traffic at certain times of the day), COMFORTABLE (even more than I suspected), and part of a larger VISION (across Hwy 7 from Markham to Vaughan, and Yonge Street from Richmond Hill to Newmarket).  The Hwy 7 rapidway from Chalmers to East Beaver Creek opened last summer.  It has been transformed from a car-oriented highway to a complete street: designed for all ages, abilities, and modes of travel.  We'll see the bike lanes extended from Hwy 404 easterly in Markham soon, as they are currently under construction.

"If you want to see the future, go to Richmond Hill and check out Highway 7" ~Honorable Glen Murray, Minister of Transportation, speaking at the Ontario Bike Summit on April 15, 2014.

Here's some video of Hwy 7 from a cyclist's perspective.  At 6:15 and 7:45 of the video, check out an example of the new curb inset left turn queue boxes that were just installed this month.  So new, they don't have bike markings on them yet.  I believe these could be the first of their kind in North America!

A winter bike ride in Maple

On Jan 29th, I went for a bike ride around Maple.  Temperature was -5C.  It turned out to be a very comfortable and enjoyable ride.  Many think that winter cycling is quite daunting, but the main things you need are warm clothes and plowed snow!  It you have these then you are good to go except in the most extreme conditions.  Ride on, friends.
Here’s a map of my route.


A winter bike ride from Shawn Smith on Vimeo.

For some winter cycling inspiration, check out this video from the 1st Winter Cycling Congress in Oulu, Sweden.

Winter Cycling For Everyone from Anders Swanson on Vimeo.

Bring on the trails!

After participating in a mountain biking section of the Oak Ridges Trail Adventure this past June, I was compelled to get myself a mountain bike and take to the trails.  I asked for a Ghost SE 2920 Mountain Bike for my birthday.  What a sweet ride.  I love the 29 inch wheels.

Here's a map compiling my online research about mountain bike trails in York Region.

View Mountain Biking in York Region in a larger map

I decided to check out Centennial Park in King Township.  It has about 5km of single-track mountain bike trails, categorized into three skill levels: beginner, intermediate, and advanced.  It was exhilarating to travel these forest trails by bike!  I can see myself getting more into this sport.  Here are a few pictures I snapped of Centennial Park (entrance on the east side of Jane, north of 16th sideroad).

There are no park signs on Jane, and there's a long driveway, so the park is easy to miss.  Here's the view from the park looking toward Jane St.

King offers a Mountain Biking Camp for ages 9-14

Entrance

Trail map.  Yellow is easy, orange is intermediate, blue is advanced.

Caledon Trailway in Fall

The Caledon Trailway follows the path of an abandoned railway line that once lined Hamilton and Barrie. The multi-use trail spans the Town of Caledon from Terra Cotta in the South-west to Palgrave in the North-east, about 35km.  The flat terrain and crushed limestone surface make it very pleasant riding even with a road bike.

My family did an outing to the trail near the Durham/York boundary to a bike ride.  Driving west on Hwy 9, we headed south on Mount Wolfe Road.  We accidentally drove past the trailhead, which crosses Mount Wolfe Road just north of the railway tracks, but eventually found it.  We rode the section through Palgrave.  There aren't too many amenities along the trail in this section.  A good picnic spot, gas station, saw a sign for a bakery down the road.  It was a lovely ride and I hope to come back to cycle, hike, or ski more of this trail.

The road crossings all have narrow gates.  Our Chariot Carrier just managed to squeeze through.  There's parking for a few vehicles at all the road crossings.

Trail Guide: http://www.walkandrollpeel.ca/trails/pdf/TPL-0029.pdf

Interactive Map: http://www.walkandrollpeel.ca/map/themap.asp#caledon_trailway