awards

This Tuesday, the bike union and CultureLink will be going down to Washington, D.C. to receive the 2010 Innovation of the Year Award for it's partnership. The award is given out yearly by the US-based Alliance for Biking and Walking.

Together, the Toronto Cyclists Union and CultureLink have launched the Partnership for Integration and Sustainable Transportation to promote cycling among newcomers to Toronto with posters, a Cyclists Handbook, and workshops available in 16 of the city’s most commonly spoken languages.

“We’re honoured to be accepting this award on behalf of our partnership,” says Yvonne Bambrick, Executive Director of the Toronto Cyclists Union. “This project is helping us to grow roots in Toronto’s diverse communities, and to exchange knowledge about sustainable habits here and around the world.”

“In Toronto, 52% of people 15 and older are newcomers to Canada, and green initiatives must speak directly to them to be effective,” says Ibrahim Absiye, Executive Director of CultureLink Settlement Services. “At CultureLink, we are committed to bringing sustainable, affordable and healthy options, like cycling, to the newcomers we serve.”

Calvin Lau from Dear Toronto emailed to tell us that his video of this year's Toronto Bike Awards is now online.

The video features interviews with Rick and Yvonne from the Toronto Cyclists Union and councillor Adam Giambrone, plus footage of various awards recipients, the gold sprints, Clay and Paper Theatre, and much more.

And yes, of course, the highly praised "reverse strip tease" gets good coverage too (pun intended).

Check it out.

I Bike T.O. is pleased to announce the inaugural Toronto Bike Awards! Along with the Toronto Cyclists Union's Golden Spoke Awards, the City of Toronto's Bicycle Friendly Business Awards, we will presenting the I Bike T.O. Awards!

January 20th - Gladstone Hotel - Queen West and Dufferin
Doors at 7pm - Awards start at 8pm - Party starts at 9:30pm

Featuring:

• Valet bike parking
• Winter-layering strip-tease skit
• Clay and Paper theater performance
• Cool raffle prizes from MEC & Crumpler
• Live music from GUH
• Spinning by the fabulous DJ duo Dorian & Dorian
• 'Inauguration' Goldsprints with prizes for all winners (Obama themed!)
• A chance to mix and mingle with bike advocates, city staff and councillors.

Information on the awards:
The Bicycle Friendly Business Awards recognize and thank businesses and organizations in the City of Toronto that support and promote cycling. This support can take many forms, and includes encouraging employees, clients and customers to cycle.

Last year we presented the first I Bike T.O. Award to Justin LaFontaine and his tireless work on the Bike Train. We didn't know if we'd do it again after last year's presentation of awards at September Critical Mass, but now we know now and we will! This January we will be presenting our second I Bike T.O. Award to the cycling advocate of 2008 alongside the City of Toronto's Bicycle Friendly Business Awards and the Toronto Cyclists Union's awards.

Even though us bloggers have already made our choices, doesn't mean we want to leave the readers out of this! From now until the end of the day on Monday December 1st, we would like you to put in the name of a person with a brief (or not so brief) explanation of why you think this person deserves to be publicly recognized by I Bike T.O. We will then take your nominations and put up a poll where people can then vote for the Readers' Choice.

Come January we'll present an award on your behalf.

Bring it on! (in the comments below)

From the City of Toronto BFBA website here are the winners of the Bicycle Friendly Business Awards for 2007:

• Best Bike Parking Award - Winner: North American Findings
• Bicycle-Friendliest Suburban Business Award - Winner: Scarborough Campus Student Union
• Bicycle Commute Award - Winner: Quadrangle Architects Ltd.
• Best Small Business Award - Winner: ChocoSol Traders
• Best Large Business Award - Winner: Urban Space Property Group / Center for Social Innovation
• Best Skills Development - Winner: Ontario Cycling Association
• Best Overall Award - Winner: Butterfield & Robinson

Justin LaFontaine loading the Bike Train
Justin LaFontaine has won the I Bike T.O. First Annual Award for his tireless work in organizing the hugely popular Bike Train.

Last Friday at Critical Mass, the I Bike T.O. crew presented the award to Justin's colleague Briana Illingworth of Moving the Economy, as Justin was off traveling in California - loading his bike on the Amtrak train, reportedly.

Our runner-up was Hamish Wilson, a long term cycling activist, and Honourable mention goes to the popular Bike Pirates. All the winners will be getting some gear from Mountain Equipment Co-op.

Justin was in a large part responsible for getting the Bike Train off the ground. From the Bike Train website:

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Justin Lafontaine conceptualized the idea for the Toronto-Niagara Bike Train Initiative during a trip to the Niagara Region in April 2006. On that trip, he accompanied the Waterfront Regeneration Trust and several others from the region on their annual Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail cycle tour from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Grimsby. Impressed with the many trails, diverse landscapes, towns, cities and attractions, he was quick to begin planning another trip to the region.

We will soon issue our first ever, annual, iBikeTO award.

The lucky winner will be a person or organization from (or near) Toronto who has made a positive contribution of some kind to cycling in (or near) Toronto.

The awarded person/group will get the Award and their name on a plaque. Both the winner and an honorable mention will get some cool swag from MEC.

This year we want you to participate by bringing to our attention all those people and organizations who have worked hard to make the 2007 cycling year the best yet. If you feel it's worthwhile, you should also mention that special person within an organization who goes "that extra mile" for cyclists.

We're leaving the criteria pretty open this first time, but it will be us bloggers of I Bike TO who will be picking the winners (as well as making some of our own nominations), so please be sure to include a good reason why your pick would be the best.

Nominations close midnight Wednesday September 26 so you don't have much time to nominate your favorite!

The lucky winner will be announced at the start of September's Critical Mass, Bloor and Spadina, September 28th. 6:15pm

Keep the rubber side down,
I Bike TO Bloggers