Bicycles and cyclists are getting a pretty shitty deal during the G20. As a volunteer photographer for the Alternative Media Centre (AMC) this week I have seen reports about cops giving out tickets to activits for not having bells on their bike and far worse, ring posts are being removed and cyclists in general are being profiled and harrassed. For updates and to share your story check the AMC website 2010.mediacoop.ca or use the #g20report to share you experiences.

Fences make good bike parking! A friend emailed this photo and I thought of the G20 fence. But no, these bikes are actually locked to the fence at Iggy Pop's concert last weekend in Dundas Square. But it could just as easily be bikes locked to the paranoia wall surrounding the G20 meetings, except that the G20 fence would only have the parasitic bikes until the police came to clean them off.
All the same, this photo points out the depressing lack of bike parking downtown as more and more people get to events by bike. Here's a call for these established events to hire the bike union for valet parking!
As for the G20, I've been biking downtown and hearing and seeing how this whole weekend police state is just a big minus for Toronto cyclists, and actually driving me to go for a weekend bike trip out of the city.
Us cyclists must bear the annoyances and brutishness of the G20 paranoia as much as any Toronto citizen. Some of the ways we pay are in restricted access to the zone. Another way is the lack of bike parking in a huge part of downtown. I've heard that anyone locking up in the area during the G20 will have their bike removed. A manager at Mountain Equipment Co-op told me that even in front of their store (at King and Spadina) bikes will be removed. I wonder how many threatening bikes I've locked next to all this time.
Here we go with another You-Tube video. This one may stir up a bit more controversy, because unlike my previous efforts, I haven't shown what my rides look like; I've shown what motorists' driving looks like. In this case, I've tried to show what passing a cyclist looks, and feels like. I have a few very close passes in two rides, both into the outer suburbs of Toronto.
This video doesn't do justice to the cycling experience, since I just wanted to talk about passing here. I actually left out a lot of really beautiful riding footage from some lovely roads because it didn't make my point. I'll try to put together another video to show the beauty and the pleasure of riding -- soon, I hope.
Just one note: in this video, I have made every effort to avoid identifying individuals or organizations responsible for the passes (good and bad) shown in the video. I try to edit my videos to avoid filming identifiable people.
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