E-bikes banned from Martin Goodman Trail

Conventional bicycles pass a sign prohibiting e-bikes on the Martin Goodman Trail. (David Cooper/The Toronto Star)

A sign that went up quietly last week prohibits electric bikes from using the Martin Goodman Trail.

Perched at the entrance near Bathurst St. and Queens Quay W., the sign is raising the ire of electric bike (or e-bike) users.

The ban is “inconsistent” with the shift to greener ways of travel, said Lock Hughes, treasurer of the Toronto Electric Riders Association, which represents users of electric two-wheelers.

He added that the ban on “motor power assisted bikes” is vague and can refer to anything from an e-bike to a scooter or Segway, which are all different sizes and speeds. E-bikes generally resemble conventional bicycles but with a small motor.

Off-road bike trails hit a bump

It’s amazing what Toronto can do when there’s money at stake.

By the end of the month, the city will open 34.2 kilometres of new off-road bicycle trails (see below), the result of federal and provincial infrastructure money that had to be spent by the end of the year. The $23 million project was funded in part by the city, which put in $10 million.

The trails run through parts of the Finch hydro corridor across the top of the city, the Gatineau hydro corridor in Scarborough and the Leaside rail corridor.

It’s a 20 per cent increase in the city’s off-road trails. And it means a cyclist could bike off-road all the way from downtown to the Toronto Zoo.

Well, almost.

Because the infrastructure money had to be spent quickly, the city installed the trails where it was easiest and not all of them connect.

“Everyone thinks, understandably, that putting three-and-a-half-metre-wide asphalt within a wide corridor wouldn’t be a major challenge, but with all the utilities, the archaeological issues and the major (road) crossings, there have been some real challenges,” says John Mende, the city’s director of transportation infrastructure management. “But we’ve managed to address them all,” he says.

Mende expects the city to build more off-road trails in the future.

After the debate over the Jarvis St. bike lanes and the removal of lanes on Pharmacy and Birchmount, Mende says “there is a reshifting of priorities.”

“We’ll focus more on our trails projects, which is essentially our priority right now.”

Off-road trails were also a priority for Mayor Rob Ford, who promised during last year’s election campaign to spend $50 million building 100 kilometres. But only $8 million is in the 2012 budget for the city’s bike infrastructure program.

For the latest trails, construction workers had to deal with pipelines and fiber optic cables that weren’t identified on any plans.

Thirteen signals were installed where the trails crossed busy streets, because tunnels or bridges would have been costly and triggered time-consuming environmental assessments.

And in the western portion of the Finch trail, staff worked with representatives of the Huron-Wendat First Nations to find a way to recognize the Parson’s archaeological site, a former village dating back to the latter part of the 1500s. In commemoration, the section of the trail between Jane and Keele Sts. has been signed as the "Huron-Wendat Trail".

Mendes says his department will report on future plans to the works committee in November.

Considerations include bridging the gaps in the Finch hydro corridor and building a trail along the Scarborough waterfront.

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The city is opening 34.2 kilometres of paved cycling trails through hydro corridors and abandoned rail corridors.

FINCH HYDRO CORRIDOR

1. Norfinch Dr. to Dufferin St.: There’s still a fair amount of work to be done on this 4.7-kilometre stretch, but John Mende, the city’s director of transportation infrastructure management, says it should be complete by the end of September.

2. Dufferin St. to Yonge St.: The 4.2-kilometre section is almost done. On major streets such as Bathurst, the city is installing a traffic signal at the trail crossing. On minor streets, the city created textured crossings that look like interlocking brick.

3. Kennedy Rd. to Middlefield Rd.: The 4-kilometre stretch is about half done, but should still be complete by Sept. 30.

SCARBOROUGH PIT SPUR

4. Follows an old rail corridor for 2 kilometres that starts around Finch Ave. and Morningside Rd.

CN LEASIDE RAIL CORRIDOR

5. York Mills Rd. to Eglinton Ave.: The 4-kilometre trail goes through the old rail corridor, which is 10-metres wide in some locations. At the north end, it terminates just south of York Mills, but will connect at the south end to the Sunnybrook trail.

GATINEAU HYDRO CORRIDOR

6. Victoria Park to Kennedy Station: Aside from some landscaping, the 2.4-kilometre section is almost complete. Residents started using the trail as soon as the city put down the gravel base for the asphalt.

7. Kennedy station to Ortan Park Rd.: The 7.4-kilometre section will open mid-September.

8. Orton Park Rd. to Sheppard-Meadowvale area: The 5.5 kilometre section is 70 to 80 per cent complete.

- Patty Winsa

Cyclists defend using sidewalk where pedestrian was struck and killed

Cyclists travelling through the North York neighbourhood where Nobu Okamoto, 74, was run down by a bicycle are defending their choice to use the sidewalk, just days after he died from his injuries.

On Thursday afternoon, a Star reporter witnessed at least 10 cyclists on Finch Ave. W., near Sentinel Rd., fail to comply with the bylaw that prohibits riding on sidewalks on vehicles with wheels larger than 61 centimetres in diameter.

Sidewalk cyclists face crackdown

Cyclists drive almost exclusively on the sidewalk on Finch Ave. between Sentinel Rd. and Tobermory Dr. (Bernard Weil/Toronto Star)

Moves to keep bicycles off sidewalks have been in the works for months, but they are too late for a Toronto pedestrian who died this week after being hit by a cyclist.

Nobu Okamoto, 74, was struck by a 33-year-old cyclist on Finch Ave. W. near Sentinel Rd. on Aug. 4. The cyclist remained at the scene and was fined, police said. The fine for cycling on the sidewalk in North York is $3.75.

Family of man hit by cyclist pleads for bike lanes

A man rides on the sidewalk, right past where Brian Okamoto and his sister, Karen, leave flowers and a sign where their dad was hit while walking. (Rick Madonik/The Toronto Star)

Nobu Okamoto spent his final days at Toronto Western Hospital, unable to see, move or speak to the loved ones at his side.

His son, Brian, 35, whispered, “I love you” into his ear while his daughter, Karen, 31, often turned on the radio so her baseball-loving father could listen to the Blue Jays play.

Last Monday, the 74-year-old father of three died, several weeks after he was struck by a cyclist while walking on Finch Ave. W., near Sentinel Rd. He was going to the bank.

Bike theft on the rise again, say Toronto cyclists

Nadia Hosseinzadeh's bike was stolen downtown just hours after she bought it. (Vince Talotta/The Toronto Star)

When she walked into a bike shop earlier this month, Nadia Hosseinzadeh’s eyes were drawn to a shiny blue Schwinn mountain bike and its handy front basket.

But less than four hours later, her flashy new ride caught the attention of a thief, who promptly cut her cable lock and stole the $300 bike.

How I stopped worrying and learned to love the trailer

When I bought a MEC kid’s bike trailer last year to carry my young daughter around, I didn’t think I’d be hauling it to and from work every day. But after a few weeks, not only was I used to it, but I most days I’m actually glad to have it.

In the early spring, I was still able to park the trailer inside my daughter’s daycare each morning; there was a reasonable amount of space and evidently I was the only person commuting with a trailer in the fairly crappy weather.

But one beautiful afternoon it all came to an end. When I arrived at the daycare, there were four trailers just inside the entrance, prompting a new ‘no trailer’ rule.

So I had to decide whether to lock it up outside each day or just ride it back and forth to work. I decided to try out the latter option for a while, because there was no cover outside the daycare and I didn’t relish the idea of picking it up on those soaking wet days.

Having been at it now for a few weeks, here’s why I’ve come to like it.

Exercise

If it wasn’t for cycling, I would get almost no exercise at all most days, so my daily ride is a life-saver. Now, this is a little like the ‘you should hit yourself repeatedly with a hammer because it feels good when you stop’ argument, but I’m getting even more exercise with that trailer — it’s the equivalent of jogging with leg weights on.

Not that this doesn’t become a bit of a drag now and then, particularly when I’m pedaling into a head-wind or struggling up one of the hills in my neighbourhood at the end of a long day, but it’s a small price to pay to get legs like Curt Harnett (plus a little PhotoShop work).

Storage

I usually don’t have a lot of time between leaving work and picking up my daughter from daycare, so if there’s shopping to be done I have to do it en route. But as most cyclists know, a couple bags of milk and a box of cereal can fill up a backpack pretty fast. But you won’t believe what you can get inside a trailer. I recently cycled home with some beer, wine, cat food, toilet paper and some produce tucked into the back. (I did have to drop these items off before picking up my daughter. But the rear compartment holds a lot of stuff even with a child in the front.) On another occasion I stopped at the hardware store to pick up a large container of deck wash and two long brushes. Try that with a panier.

And there’s the locking potential. I’ve stopped at the grocery store many times only to find no available lock racks. When this happens, I just lock my bike to the trailer with a cable and U lock. I wouldn’t leave it overnight like this on Spadina or anything, but I just can’t see somebody trying to make off with a bike and trailer locked together.

Enforced prudence

A trailer can also be a good way to keep your wilder side in check. Like sailing off curbs at top speed? Or zipping through intersections or parking lots? Not with a trailer you won’t. Let’s just say that a trailer helps you avoid temptation.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T

We all know that the relationship between cyclists and drivers can be a bit heated, but drivers seem to cut you a lot more slack when you’re pulling a trailer. This is hardly surprising, since they presumably infer (correctly, most of the time) that there’s a child inside.

Either way, it’s nice to see cars giving you a little more room or slowing down a little more before passing you.

It’s nice to travel lighter on days when I don’t have to drop my daughter off. On the other days, I’m more than making the best of it.

It's all green lights for cyclists in this California city

Is this device a way for cars and bikes to live in peace and harmony?

A city in California is aiming to encourage people to ride their bikes by using "military-developed technology," which detects a bike approaching a traffic light and keeps the light green.

Bicycle Film Fest returns to Toronto - Aug. 10-13

The Bicycle Film Fest is returning to Toronto next week with a slew of films, art shows, discussions and parties. 

The films, mostly shorts, will be screened Friday and Saturday at The Royal (608 College St.), with an art show at The Gladstone Hotel (1214 Queen St. W.) and after parties at The Horseshoe Tavern (370 Queen St. W.), Bike Pirates DIY space (1292 Bloor St. W.) and the Hard Luck Bar

For a full festival schedule, visit the website.

The films come from all across the world, including a few local shorts, and explore a wide range of bicycling endeavours, from the whimsical and absurd, to the political and spiritual. The festival includes a film about Leslie Slowley -- a.k.a. The Backwards Rider, well known on Queen St. W. -- whom the Star wrote about last month. Director Ben Lenzner's 8-minute film on Slowley explores the man's "life and riding style."

One of the most intriguing aspects of the festival is a panel discussion on Aug. 10, moderated by Yvonne Bambrick, entitled "Building Bridges: How to tell good stories and win over non-cyclists at a dinner party.” With all the heated rhetoric around bike lanes and various wars on various vehicles, there has perhaps never been a more important time to hone these skills.

The festival, which travels to 28 cities around the world, is in its fifth year in Toronto. From the website: "Brendt Barbur, Founding Festival Director, was compelled to start the Bicycle Film Festival when he was hit by a bus while riding his bike in New York City. He insisted on turning his negative experience into a positive one. In 2001 Barbur started the Bicycle Film Festival as a platform to celebrate the bicycle through music, art and, of course, film."

One way to deal with bike lane bandits

As we reported in this blog yesterday, the mayor of Vilius, Lithuania staged a photo op to show his commitment to illegally parked cars in his city.

We thought you'd like to see the stills from the photo shoot, so you can linger over every shot.

Because you know this would never, ever happen in Toronto where police are rigourous -- rigourous -- in their enforcement of blocked cycling lanes.

Arturas Zuokas, 43, the mayor of the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius, with his tank.(AFP/Getty Images)

So much for the Mercedes S-class...

Now, back to reality.