There IS an app for everything!

Want to help increase funding to Cycling infrastructure in Toronto? There's an app for that now!

Download the Toronto Cycling App for Android or iPhone

Basically- city infrastructure budgets are usually allocated with hard facts. If we get more facts about who cycles and where in Toronto, we can get more money spent on it! Tracking your daily bike trips can help provide the City with the hard data it needs to allocate bigger budgets!  You choose when you want to track what rides, which is great for privacy and battery saving.

The city even built-in surveys to this app to get all kinds of feedback on cycling preferences. Right now Toronto is going through a very painful growth-spurt, this is the time to speak up if you want your say on how Toronto will operate as we move forward into a Ford-Free city!

If you know roadies or trail riders who zip along the water trail or hammer in the Don Valley, send it to them too. Then data will be collected, and that info could go to improving trail systems and increasing the importance of providing cycling routes for fitness in Toronto. Also, wouldn't it be nice to not have to share the route with roadies when you're taking a stroll or running errands, and vice-versa when you want to get your sweat on while you stretch your bike legs?

Hmmmm... maybe we can even do something like a massive bike ride up and down Jarvis Street with everyone tracking their data? Wouldn't it be fun if so much info was collected on that street they HAD to put back in the bike lanes on Jarvis, forever? I miss those bike lanes when I go to my Dad's place, they were useful for following the Deadly Nightshade's #1 rule: DON'T DIE.  

1Love
xo MegO! xo

Meanwhile in Canada: Winter Biking FTW!

We present to you three big winter biking events for y'all in Toronto who miss the glorious scene of the summer, when cyclists take over the city in pure fabulousness. In winter Toronto rocks hard at winter biking, so come one, come all and lets have some fun!



Tomorrow!!! It's The Coldest Day of the Year Ride put on by Cycle Toronto! (What's with these last minute posts, right?... jezz...) Meet at 12 noon on Wed Jan 30 at Armoury St. and Chestnut St, just behind City Hall. (see map).



Toronto Icycle 2013!!!!! Wooot! It's Saturday, February 16th, 2013, and starts at 7pm at Dufferin Grove Park. (That's 875 Dufferin Street, just south of Bloor on the east side.) To explain this to outsiders, basically this is a bike race around an ice rink. In costumes. With your friend heckling. Nudity in various forms is ensured. Hilarity! It's because we Canadians embrace winter, and want to have fun all season long. If this doesn't inspire you to bike in the winter, nothing will. (Check out the 2011 National Post article on Icycle that asks Thora and Cannibal Vixen about what they do to bike in the winter.)


Big ups to Jo No for the video and pictures.


And then we have a The Great Lakes Winter Classic polo tournament going on during the Toronto International Bike Show, March 2 & 3, 2013. Keep Checking out the Bike Polo TO website for information as she comes. 



And while not an event, it's related... Our Friends at HMPL just put out a new, semi-NSFW video about enjoying "winter" biking in Vancouver. Ha. (Nice buns there Scott ;)
HMPL Winter from Matthew on Vimeo.

VISIBILITY IS EXTRA SEXY.

Thank goodness winter is almost over (not that it's been a bad one or anything.. seriously, we had like what, three real snowfalls?), but the days are still shorter than I'd like. Which is where these neat little gems off FashioningTech come into play.

Normal gloves? sort of. Cycling gloves? sort of. But when you're riding at night, you can close your fist, and LED lights on the back of your hand indicate a turn signal to drivers or other riders around you. Some leather on these guys for a bit of grip/waterproofing would make them extra great. But still pretty cool, huh?

DNS rule #431: visibility is extra sexy.

SNOW SNOW SNOW.

Today we got our first snowfall. Now that it's officially winter in Toronto, I was reminded of these pics I took back in Brooklyn in October.... ie. the last time we biked in lots of snow during Bike Kill 8. What an awesome horrible disgustingly wet day (and still creeped out by Thomas of Horse Cycles' get up). Bring it on winter.

EXTREME BIKE LOVE

As winter biking is becoming part of a Toronto cyclist's everyday (I guess its ok, it is January), remember it's not your beautiful babies fault its cold, so love her right, get her tuned before winter beats her up and remember... LAYER LAYER LAYER... Stay warm!

SUNDAY POLO.

Apparently a few days of nice weather, is enough to get everyone out on the courts. Unfortunately, our frigid fingers and toes remind us that, sadly, winter is nowhere near over. Good times & good friends as always though - the countdown to spring is SO on.

3 - 2 - 1 - freezing cold!

SUM SUM SUMMA.

It's been snowing pretty steadily for the last few days. And while it may look really pretty through closed windows - I'm already tired of the ice and salt and cold. Tired of freezing gears, rusted chains, or the already minimal space for bikes on the road reducing even further.

Cleaning up files on my computer this morning, I stumbled across these shots of us by friend & fellow cyclist, John Lee from last summer. What I wouldn't give for a backyard barbeque right now. Just a few more months right?

Until then.. anyone wanna build a snow fort on my front lawn? We can drink hot chocolate with whiskey and cheer on anyone still riding in this awful weather.

TOBOGGANS, BURRITOS, & BIKES: TOGETHER AT LAST!

so the best thing ever happened this past weekend.

first it SNOWED!

Thus, Kirsten, myself and a few friends decided to grab some sleds, hop on our bikes, and head out for some pure canadiana... tobogganing! I think the only thing more terrifying than biking down a slippery side street balancing a toboggan on your handle bars, might just be flying down the enormous and icy hills of Christie Pitts park on a tiny smurf saucer circa 1988. (Or standing on two crazy carpets... coughsnowwhitecough)

But trekking around a winter wonderland works up one's appetite - so we decided to try out the best new Toronto delivery service....

BURRITO BIKE!

As in, super delicious veggie or vegan burritos delivered to your door via bicycle, every friday night (!).... or in our case, instead of our front door, they came to us mid-tobogganing in a park. BEST EVER RIGHT?!

We even convinced Mark (who delivered us our food) to join us sledding for a bit. Too bad my night ended in a flat tire. Up until then, everything was coming up Nightshades.