Seneca College (Finch/404): TTC/bike combos possible?
I need to get between Long Branch (Brown's Line/Lake Shore) and Seneca College (Finch/404) daily.
It's over 35 km one-way, and my classes start at 8AM three days of the week. That's a long way to cycle, and very early starts most days. However, in good weather, I wonder if I can combine TTC and bicycling.
I can't count on the subway (rush hour restrictions) and the Queen streetcar isn't exactly bike-friendly. That leaves cycling combined with bus routes.
I can think of two combinations that might work; both rely on bicycling from the Long Branch end:
1) Bicycle along the lake shore and up the Don Valley route, and then take a Don Mills bus north to Finch; however, it's still a long ride, and my utility bike isn't particularly quick
2) Ride up the various Humber paths to Finch and Islington, and then take buses across Finch or Steeles.
On the other end, it's not clear if there are any bike-friendly approach routes to Seneca. For example, if there was a good route paralleling Finch Ave, I could take a number of bus routes north to Finch in the west end, and bicycle across.
Finally, the bicycle portion of the route should be a reasonably pleasant ride, otherwise I might as well stick to the TTC. For example, although Don Mills has a diamond lane, it doesn't strike me as a pleasant place to ride; Finch and Steeles even less so.
Any ideas/suggestions?
I've taken various portions of the possible routes, so let me take a stab at ideas
If it were me, I'd actually bike downtown (via MGT), lock it up downtown and take the subway/bus up/back. That's probably the fastest, safest and nicest routing.
If you plan to bring the bike the whole way, some various options. Keep in mind that it's (substantially) uphill going north, so it's more fun/faster to have a longer ride coming home than going up in the morning.
Best north south route in the west-end is Royal York. Avoid the Humber for commuting. It is pretty, but will take far too long (unless you want the scenic route). Royal York has relatively few lights, varying degrees of (pseudo) bike lanes and lower speeds for an arterial. Only the section by Dundas is particularly unappealing.
From the top of Royal York, possibly go north east; zig-zag to Church/Maple Leaf; zig-zag to Bridgeland (there is a gap in the rail fence at the end of bridgeland). Cross the 401 at Dufferin -> Billy Bishop -> Wilson-> Faywood-> zig zag to Bathurst/Sheppard; cross the Don river on Sheppard; Senlac or Willowdale to go north and then across on Cummer. At some point there you'd probably hop on the bus. I've done this entire route both directions (never all at once though). If interested, I can explain (or map) some of the zig-zags as I optimized safety vs speed to try to avoid main roads while still being as direct as possible.
Alternately, from the top of Royal York, make your way back to the Humber to get to Finch and the bus. (I don't know the street ptions up there, but the map doesn't look good for avoiding arterials).
Other alternate - looking at the bike map, from the top of Royal Yok - if you head over to Wendell to cross the 401 (not too bad) and then follow the suggested routing towards York U, you'd end up at the Finch bus also.
Some of this is biased by the fact that I used to live @ Yonge/401 and commute once a week to Markham and airport area from there. (and now downtown to airport).
Starting at Seneca, your choices (if avoiding arterials) are really only Cummer east/west or route 51 south to the Don. Going the 51->Don->MGT route would be a nice ride - when you have plenty of time.
The other problem is that almost all the routings have at least 2 buses, even if you make it up to Finch in the north-west, as all the east-west buses will switch at the Yonge line.
Thanks for the ideas.
The Royal York/north Humber route seems the most interesting. Basically, I have to enjoy the ride to make this worthwhile, otherwise I might as well use my two hours on the TTC each way to do reading and reviewing notes.
I really wish there was some way to get to the base of the Don Valley trail, because I really have not ridden that since I moved to Long Branch; on the other hand, I've done the lakeshore ride, beautiful though it can be, lots of times.
I ran into someone locking his bicycle up to an (inside) stairwell. He was riding from Yonge and Eglinton and said it took an hour, which seems awfully slow for a compentent-looking cyclist on a modern and expensive-looking racing bike (possibly carbon frame). He was using arterials, like coming across Lawrence (oops, Bridle Path is a big loop) or Finch (he thought it was "reasonable"). Personally, if I was that close, I would ride more, but I wouldn't be enjoying it very much. Even less after I'm run over by a Finch East express bus, I guess.
take the Lakeshore path to Windermere, Windermere to Jane Station, and then the 35 Jane bus to Finch and the Finch bus to Seneca. Most of those busses have bike racks, and at least in the case of the Jane bus, you will travel against the flow of commuters.
John G. Spragge
Mariner, cyclist, pilot
Sublet yer Longbranch place and move up close to Seneca... Nice to think about a bike/TTC combo, but in February? In the dark mostly? If ya can give up the commute (move) you'll have more quality time for studying... and maybe live longer.
G'Luck
LoCk (who biked from the Harbour to Downsview and Don Mills for ten years)
Believe me, I thought about moving....for about ten seconds. And I looked at Humber's calendar, because I could bicycle there in ten minutes, or walk in twenty or so.
Alas, I'm the owner of a three-quarters renovated house. That means interior floors are drywall-dusted plywood, and the financial situation doesn't allow completion. Plus of course I have a bunch of stuff that I don't want to move for a two-semester course.
The frustrating thing is that I'd like to ride home on a nice afternoon, but most morning classes are way too early to allow a nice ride there. So I'm looking for a one-way ride; I would have to buy a bicycle at Seneca, ride home, and then sell it, I suppose.
Actually, a bike-sharing programme would work, as long as I could pick up at Seneca (or, say, someplace like Sunnybrook or Ontario Science Centre) and drop off at Long Branch. I wish!
I get to answer my own question, months and months later.
Ugh! Forget it!
I rode in from Long Branch to downtown on Monday, "Ride to Work" day. We were released early from jury duty, so I took my bike on the TTC up to Seneca, and rode down.
The facts: my cycle computer showed over 50 km for the trip. Start to finish took 2h 17m. From Seneca, I took McNicoll/Cummer, south along the East Don River, then roads from NW of York Mills/Don Mills to Edwards Gardens. Then the usual off-road paths to the lake shore, and west along the waterfront.
Given that my ride was downhill, on a windless, pleasantly cool day, I can't see making this a round-trip commute. Going the other way--Long Branch to Seneca--would be a long uphill slog and would probably make it close to a three-hour ride. The East Don trails have nice spots, but they also have a lot of blind corners. I'm glad they weren't particularly busy.
What really makes this ride suck is the central lakeshore section. They can't redo Queen's Quay soon enough. East of Bay is horrible pavement and construction. West of Bay is stop-start-stop as the signals keep anyone--car, streetcar, bicycle, pedestian--from getting anywhere in any sort of quick fashion. Knowing that I have another 16 km to go did nothing to improve my mood. I can't see any better alternative route across town.
Now, when the Finch hydro corridor gets trails all the way across the city, I'd be willing to try this again. But using the off-road trails, the ride is just too long to be enjoyable one way, and as a round-trip commute it would be suitable for the young and masochistic I guess.