Pedal-powered commuters set for Bike to Work Day
Pedal-powered commuters from across the city and LaSalle are invited to join together Monday for a mass Bike to Work Day ride. “This is so much bigger and different,” said Lori Newton, of Bike Windsor Essex, of the May 28 event that starts at multiple points. Five early-morning rides from five different neighbourhoods will converge on Jackson Park before cyclists ride together into the downtown for a free breakfast at The Bistro at the River. “We’ll be riding down Ouellette Avenue to view the beautiful streetscaping — without bike lanes — to the Great Canadian Flag,” said Newton, referring sarcastically to a multimillion-dollar street restoration project for which city council refused bike lanes.
As with the Downtown Windsor Business Improvement Association’s spurned wishes for Ouellette, city council rejected pleas by two other BIAs to have bike lanes included through their commercial stretch of Wyandotte Street East. Administration instead recommended a jagged series of onstreet bike paths that made a wide berth around retail districts. Despite what the local cycling community regards as setbacks, Newton is optimistic and sees a growing positive change, including the attitudes of politicians, planners and engineers at city hall. “I hear constantly, consistently — daily — voices telling us, ‘Never give up.’ We’ve got a long way to go with (cycling) infrastructure, no doubt, but we’ll continue to advocate and put on the political pressure,” she said.
Two of the Bike to Work Day rides — from Riverside (the Riverside Pie Café at 5560 Wyandotte St. E.) and LaSalle (municipal building, 5950 Malden Rd.) — depart at 6:40 a.m. and link up with other groups departing at 7 a.m. Riverside joins Walkerville at Anchor Coffee House, 543 Lincoln Rd., while the LaSalle riders join their South Windsor counterparts at Yorktown Plaza, 1341 Grand Marais Rd. W. A fifth neighbourhood ride for West Windsor commuters departs Giglio’s Market, 2268 Wyandotte St. W. at 7 a.m. Others are welcome to join up at Jackson Park at 7:20 a.m. The event is rain or shine, with free snacks at the departure gathering points and a free breakfast at the foot of Ouellette Avenue. The first 100 to register receive a free T-shirt. May 28 cycling commuters who can’t make the rides are invited to post @webikefriendly selfies on Instagram, Twitter or Facebook with the hashtag #webike2work and be eligible to win prizes. The Bike Windsor Essex advocacy group has partnered with the Windsor Bicycling Committee, Essex County’s CWATS and a number of other sponsors for the event, which includes resources for cyclists and concludes with the naming of the 2018 Bike Commuter of the Year. Bike to Work Day launches a month-long series of cycling events. The full calendar is available at bikewindsoressex.com. Newton said more announcements are pending. “We want to encourage more people to participate in active transportation,” she said. Next week, the #BikeGangsofWindsor billboard campaign continues at nine city locations. Bike Windsor Essex hosts bike rodeos for “kids to learn to be fearless” by teaching them road skills so they can safely navigate their bikes to schools, parks and friends, and Riding with Confidence workshops for others. A downtown bike kitchen workshop, teaching doit-yourself bike repairs, has been “very successful,” said Newton. Free community bike rides like Friday Night Lights regularly attract up to 200 cyclists, while other organized and relaxed cycling outings include the Windsor Slow Ride on Wednesday nights starting at José’s on Howard Avenue. A Thursday night Tecumseh/Windsor Slow Ride starts at Tecumseh Arena and a Wednesday night ride hosted by the LGBTQ community starts at the foot of Ouellette Avenue. BWE hosts a June 18 women-only ride from the Bike Hub starting at 6 p.m.