Quadra Island Bike Shop

CANADA - If you are visiting British Columbia and going cycling, there is no better place to go than Quadra Island.

And if you need bicycle repairs while on Quadra Island there is no better place to go than Smokey's Bike Shop.

Why?

Because Smokey Dymny (the guy who runs the shop on Quadra Island) isn't just a bicycle mechanic. He is a bicycle mechanic instructor, one of the best. He taught the BAM Program here in Toronto. So your repairs will be professionally done and you just might learn something too.

If you are looking to learn how to fix bicycles you can also contact Smokey and ask what it would cost to learn.

Smokey's Bicycle Shop
1024 Heriot Bay Road, the Animal Farm Trail
Quadra Island, British Columbia
CANADA

CONTACT
250 - 285 - 2447
smokeydymny{at}rogers.com

Is Georgetown the most Bicycle Friendly town in Ontario?

CANADA - Imagine going to a town via the GO Train... and arriving in a place which has 50 different bicycles routes listed on bikely.com? I am talking about the town of Georgetown Ontario in case you haven't guessed yet.

See http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/srchkey/georgetown/country/43/region/37 to see what I mean about all the bicycle routes.

Imagine also that you bang your wheel and need to replace it. Where can you find a bicycle mechanic in Georgetown?

Well, there is several locations:

Ollie's Cycle & Ski
30 Main Street South, Georgetown, ON L7G 3G4
(905) 873-2441 ‎

Up Your Bike
162 Guelph St, Georgetown, ON L7G4A6
(905) 702-8854 ‎

Sports Unlimited
170 Guelph Street, Georgetown, ON L7G 4A7
(905) 877-5546 ‎

M & M Pro Sport
10 Mountainview Road South, Georgetown, ON L7G 4J9
(905) 877-6686

After your bike is fixed, how about going for a ride? There is so many parks in Georgetown its a tad ridiculous. There is also rivers and lots of scenery. Its not just a great place to go for a bicycle ride, its a great place to do photography.

Or just plain move there. Georgetown has townhomes for sale there for $289,900 in the Weaver's Mill area, close to downtown Georgetown and walking distance to the GO Station.

If you look at a map of Georgetown you will see quite a few of the streets curve, which means the traffic will be moving slowly. Ideal for cyclists who like quiet streets.

There might be other towns which are more bicycle friendly than Georgetown, but feel free to email me or leave me a comment about which town you think is better.

Bixi reaches 750 members!

CANADA - Bixi has reached over 750 members. Once it reaches 1,000 Toronto's public bike-rental program will become a reality.

Check out toronto.bixi.com if you want to sign up.

The Bixi program will also allow shorter term rentals for people just visiting Toronto and will expand as the program grows, similar to Montreal's Bixi program.

Amusing Yellow Two Seater Bicycle

CANADA - I saw the yellow two-seater bicycle below at a bicycle shop in Chinatown, Toronto. I liked it and thought it was amusing so I took a photo.



The shop I saw it at was "Uncle Jacob" at approx. 355 Spadina Avenue, Toronto, ON M5T 2G3, Canada‎. Phone: 416-340-2715‎.

Bicycle licenses in Toronto? Don't make me laugh

CANADA - In the current mayoral campaign the issue of whether Toronto should force cyclists to get licenses to ride their bicycles has come up in the local media. This isn't the first time the city has thought about licensing cyclists. They failed in their attempt last time and they will certainly fail again.

According to the city’s website there are three reasons why licensing would NEVER work:

#1. How do you license children?

#2. How do make sure the database is complete and accurate when bicycles are privately bought and sold on a constant basis?

#3. Licensing cyclists won't change their behaviour.

I have some more reasons the city hasn't thought of:

#4. What about tourists who like cycling downtown or on Centre Island? Bike rental places would be put out of business.

#5. Cyclists will NEVER agree to pay $200 for a cycling license.

There's approx. a million people in Toronto who own bicycles... at $200 each this is nothing more than a $200 million tax grab. Taxing cyclists is also completely unenforcable. The police don't even stop cyclists to see if they have a light or a rear reflector so they're certainly not going to worry if cyclists have a license.

What the city wants to do is create a "Department of Cycling". Cyclists would have to take a road test every 2 years. Bike shops, associations and bicycle mechanics would have be registered and pay fees to help pay for the system.

Cyclists would pay $200 every 2 years to have a license.

Businesses and associations would pay $500 every year to be registered.

The city would hire a team of people to administer the database and use some of the funding to help make future bike lanes.

Children under the age of 16 would be exempt from licensing.

Bike shops, associations, schools, after-school programs and summer camps would be asked to teach bike safety.

However this will do nothing to change the behaviour of cyclists. Licensing doesn't change the behaviour of motorists, so why would it change cyclists? Asking cyclists to pay $200 every 2 years is really just a PUNISHMNENT for being a cyclist and has nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with motorists-who-despise-cyclists and are jealous of the fact we cyclists don't have to pay anything.

His proposal also includes enforcing stiffer fines and penalties on reckless cyclists, introducing a points system and the ability to suspend licenses. A special police unit would be created just for catching cyclists.

This plan is being promoted by Robert Kirsic (who works for the Ontario Motor Vehicle Industry Council in Toronto), who admits he prefers to drive a car, and apparently has it stuck in his head that police need to have a crackdown on cyclists and turn Toronto into a police state with respect to cyclists.

(Side Note: So why can't they create a special police unit just for catching people who smoke within 9 meters of public entrances? Oh wait, its because its a waste of time enforcing every little law.)

Robert Kirsic is apparently an idiot. He hasn't clued in that if other cities haven't been able to enforce bicycle licenses, then its obviously not going to work in Toronto where one out every five people owns a bicycle... in a city of 5 to 6 million. Bicycle licensing is a joke. It would be a waste of time and resources and will do NOTHING to create a safer environment. Its nothing more than a $200 million tax grab.

Want to make the roads safer? Start by adding bicycle lanes to all major roads. Educate drivers about the fact cyclists are here to stay and they have an equal right to use the road. (We've been here longer than drivers technically if you compare the years at which bicycles and cars were invented.)

And while you're at it pass a law requiring drivers to leave a 5' space between the car and curb at all times. Quite a few accidents happen when drivers box in cyclists by driving too close to the curb sometimes on purpose (some drivers are just dangerous pricks).

Parkour Cycling Videos

The following is a parkour-style cycling video, plus Danny MacAskill`s video at the bottom which I`ve posted twice before. (See Extreme Bicycle Stunts by Danny MacAskill and Danny MacAskill's video hits 17 million.)

565 Sherbourne Chopping Off Bikes

CANADA - Thank god I talk to other cyclists otherwise I never would have known what was about to happen to my bicycle...

The building management at 565 Sherbourne (owned by Medallion Properties Inc.) has arbitrarily decided that the bike rack in front of the Shoppers Drug Mart is for residents of their building only and are going to be chopping people's bikes off. I learned this from a fellow cyclist when we stopped to move the bike racks in question back from the road a bit, because they're not bolted to the sidewalk and have a tendency to shift.

Apparently the land the Shoppers Drug Mart is on belongs to 565 Sherbourne, not to the Shoppers Drugmart itself. There is no signs or anything indicating who owns the bike racks in question. Seriously, what would it cost to put up a sign that says "This Bike Rack is for Residents of 565 Sherbourne Only"...?

Now while it is true that the building management can do whatever they want on their own property, chopping off people's bikes and stealing them is a fuzzy gray zone. Especially when there is no signage declaring ownership.

And what happens when they accidentally chop off the bike belonging to a tenant? Or a bike belonging to a friend of a tenant? Or someone just picking up a prescription of medication at the Shoppers Drug Mart?

The sad thing is that Toronto doesn't have a lot of legislation on this issue. This type of thing happens far too often (I have friends who have had their bikes chopped off when visiting friends at their apartment buildings). The rights of building managements to control their bike racks and chopping off bikes (effectively stealing them) needs to be balanced with cyclist rights. Right now building managers across the city are acting like bullies and ignoring the rights of bicycle owners.

Its bad enough that spot is already known for vandalism and bike theft. The problem is that when one person's bike gets stolen, it sometimes sets off a rash of bike thefts... so if a company cuts off people's bikes and removes them all at once, suddenly the whole neighbourhood could see a rash of bike thefts.

People take the theft of their property very seriously and not everyone is above just stealing someone elses when theirs is taken. The real criminal here however is the building management for refusing to put up a sign so the general public knows they can't park their bikes there.

If the City of Toronto would add more bicycle racks outside of store fronts this wouldn't be a problem. Diddo for apartment buildings with lots of cyclists. And just scrap the "residents only" policy of chopping people's bikes off. Its unnecessary and just leads to more problems when a sign could discourage people.

According to a Google search the apartment buildings in question also have trouble with bedbugs, crackheads living in the building, residents harassing people walking by and throwing things at pedestrians... and a Toronto.ca PDF which reveals the following:

"By-law 1044-2006 which permitted the construction of the Shoppers Drug Mart required 60 bicycle parking spaces to be provided in a secured bicycle parking area."

If there's any lawyers out there who could explain what this means, please do. Does that mean they MUST provide bicycle parking NEAR the Shoppers Drug Mart, and this must be done in a "secure" fashion?

Seriously, how secure is a bike rack that isn't even bolted to the pavement?

I learned from building management they are intending to remove the bike rack entirely on July 5th, one week from now. No word on whether the owners of the bicycles will be given much of a warning. If they do remove it, wouldn't that place them in violation of the above mentioned by-law which requires 60 bicycle parking spaces? (It should be noted the existing bike racks only provide space for 30, so they're already in violation of the by-law.)

What a conundrum.