Winning struggle for bike lanes on Jarvis

Some good news on Jarvis: it looks like bike lanes are increasingly likely.

From the bikeunion tweet:

Councilor Rae's motion to amend transportation report to redesign Jarvis with bike lanes in, adopted unanimously! Next stop City Council

At yesterday's Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting Transportation Services was recommending a Jarvis re-design that didn't include bike lanes. Councillor Kyle Rae, however, presented his preferred design option with bike lanes. It appears that Rae is a powerful figure.

Anthony of the bike union informed me that the room was packed with pro-car opponents who all wore the same T-shirts arguing their case for keeping all the car lanes. But in the battle for the hearts of the PWIC the bike union members along with a number of local impassioned cyclists made ardent cases for improving the Jarvis landscape for cyclists as well as pedestrians.

It's not over, but it seems likely that City Council will approve the bike-friendly design. (And, drivers, yes. It is a conspiracy against cars.)

herb : 16 years 1 month ago
Tags: bike lanes, politics

Best bike stores: blogTO

From blogTO's bike store survey of their readers we get the top 15 bike stores in Toronto:

  1. Urbane Cyclist
  2. Duke's Cycle
  3. Bikes on Wheels
  4. The Bike Joint
  5. Curbside Cycle
  6. Velotique
  7. Cogs Cycle
  8. Cyclemotive
  9. Cycle Solutions
  10. The Cyclepath Danforth
  11. Set Me Free
  12. Cyclemania
  13. Wheels on Bloor
  14. Sweet Pete's Bike Shop
  15. West Side Cycle

What's your favourite bike shop?

herb : 16 years 1 month ago
Tags: bike shops

Riding vintage bikes in heels

Turns out that Leah McLaren of the Globe and Mail is a lifelong cyclist. She wrote in today's Globe how cycling is starting to become accepted as normal. People are more willing to ride with nice clothing rather than treat it as recreation. Urban Toronto is slowly catching up. But there's a drawback: the innovators feel like they're no longer unique:

These upright European style bikes are as ubiquitous as cupcakes these days. So much so that my Toronto-based friend Lenni recently lamented that she feels less original by the day. "I've been riding my vintage bike in high heels for years," she complained. "Then all these 22-year-old hipsters come along and act like they invented the idea. It's not fair!"

Things are looking up for looking good on a bike.

herb : 16 years 1 month ago
Tags: bike culture, fun