race

The editors of I Bike TO have been working on a subliminal scheme all winter long to get all of our readers to attend the Icycle 2009 Ice Bike Races. Our banner image at the top of the page is currently a crop of the starting line from a previous year's "rubber class" race, and earlier in the winter we featured a home-made studded tire.

But now we're being right up front about it: Come on out to Dufferin Grove Park this Saturday at 9:00pm for what promises to be the most fun and entertaining annual winter cycling event in Toronto. Seriously, don't miss this!

Some of Toronto's fastest street and track riders will be taking to the ice with their home-made studded tires. Aggressive racing, tight camaraderie among the racers, and a rambunctious audience make this one of the best cycling events you'll see. It's all topped off with a fantastic "rubber class" race that brings everyone onto the ice without their studded tires to share a laugh as we all fall down and slide into the boards.

Whether you're participating in the "real" races, or just wobbling around in the "rubber class", or just watching it all go by, I guarantee you'll have a good time. Just bring some warm clothes and a bit of coin for hot chocolate.

This year there will be an after-party held a few blocks away at Bike Pirates to keep the party rolling long in the the evening.

This a reminder that this Sunday, Nov. 23 from 10am to 2pm in Riverdale you'll get a chance to see the best cyclocross racers in the province race and wipeout in Riverdale Park East. If all goes well we should be able to see people in skimpy clothing and bikes evidently unsuited for the terrain to wipe out on muddy snow. One can hope. If not at least there will be sausages.

There will be:

• 30ft beer tent where riders go through at speed
• vendors permit for the sale of "100's" of vintage wool jerseys
• cowbells on sale for 1$
• hot dog/sausage vending
• free jetfuel coffee for everyone
• and a polish band!

Chills and thrills and spills!

See the full event details here.

The Cyclocross provincials will be taking place in Riverdale Park East. As Chris Bouchard of the City's Cycling Department notes, "Should be wicked."

They're working on getting thing together:

• 30ft beer tent where riders go through at speed
• vendors permit for the sale of "100's" of vintage wool jerseys
• cowbells on sale for 1$
• hot dog/sausage vending
• free Jet Fuel coffee for everyone
• and a Polish band!

Chills and thrills and spills! Personally I'll be showing up for the Polish band and sausage.

This Saturday, February 16th at 6:00pm Toronto's best annual winter cycling event takes place at Dufferin Grove Park. It's Icycle 2008, and it's all about bike racing on ice.

Studded Tire

I'm not usually too interested in bike races, but this takes it up a notch. These cyclists build the most aggressive studded tires possible, much better than what you'll get commercially, and then race fast while looping around the arena.

You might expect to see tons of spills and wipeouts, but the studded tires generally keep excellent grip. I can guarantee you'll see some good spinouts and crashes into the boards though!