Winter cycling a 'paradise'
By, Bryn Wees
Toronto had it too good for too long.
At least when it came to its unseasonably warm and mostly snowless winter this year.
And while residents may finally have been reminded of what cold is, the city’s cyclists are still living the good life.
And they should be thankful, too, for the favourable weather we’ve had until now.
“It is a cycling paradise. The last two winters have been horrible for winter cycling, so this is just amazing,” said Councillor Glenn de Baeremaeker who cycles to City Hall from his Scarborough home year round. “I think Toronto cyclists deserve a nice, mild winter this year.”
So far this winter, De Baeremaeker said he’s noticed many more cyclists on the roads than in previous winters, even in the ’burbs.
“I’m usually mostly alone out there at this time of year, especially in Scarborough,” he said.
“Downtown, the cyclists are everywhere this winter, which is great. And if you look at the bike rings up and down the streets, they’re full.”
November was completely snowless, a recorded first, and December saw only a paltry 14.2 cm — half the normal amount.
Temperatures in that month averaged minus 2.4C, not the usual minus 2.9C.
As of late January, Toronto had been blanketed with only about one-third the usual amount of snow and temperatures again averaged just above normal.
But cycling this winter isn’t just better for cyclists. It’s also better for their bikes.
Riding in cold weather, according to Derrick Chadbourne, owner of The Bike Joint on Harbord St., usually requires a strict maintenance regimen to keep working parts free of sand and salt.
“Salt really eats into the drivetrain as well as the tires,” he said.
“But because there’s not as much salt on the road ... you don’t have to clean your bike as often. That’s a real advantage.”
The good news, according to Environment Canada meteorologist Geoff Coulson, is that February and March are expected to be drier that normal, too, albeit maybe a little colder.
As for the warm and snowless weather so far this winter, Coulson said just be thankful. “I keep looking at the calendar and crossing days off. We know there’s an end (to winter) there, and the more of this type of weather we experience, even if we do get more traditional winter weather kick in for February and March, we had November, December and a good chunk of January that was nice.”
A recent Ipsos-Reid poll, conducted for the City of Toronto’s 2009 cycling survey, found 54% of Torontonians (1.35 million people) consider themselves cyclists, while 29% of residents are “utilitarian” riders, meaning they use their bike not just for recreation, but also to commute to work or school, to run errands, shop, or visit friends.
That’s an increase of 9% from 1999.
And 16% of all Torontonians use their bikes to commute to work or school. In a city with 2.5 million people, that’s 400,000 cycling commuters, more and more of whom aren’t putting their bikes away at the end of fall.
Paul Bredin, a board member of the Toronto Cyclists Union, said the lack of snow has been a great marketing tool to keep cyclists riding this winter.
The first sign of snow is, for many riders, a sign to put the bike away and take out the skis, he said.
With little snow and a reprieve from the bone-chilling cold that usually plagues northern climes, the bikes have stayed out.
“It is great marketing for cycling when there isn’t any snow on the road,” he said.
And even people who don’t ride a bike — in winter or otherwise — should appreciate the nice weather and the savings it has brought.
Toronto City staff estimated in late January they had spent $10 million less this year on snow clearing and salt compared to the same November to January period last winter.
De Baeremaeker, who is the political boss of the city’s snow clearing efforts, has his fingers crossed for a mild, dry end to winter. Not just as a cyclist, but as a steward of tax dollars.
“Every time we send our snowplows out, it costs us about $2 million,” he said. “When it’s snowing, I don’t think of snow anymore. I think of money falling from the sky because of how much we’re spending sending out those snowplows ... and despite what some people may say, we don’t like spending taxpayers’ money.”
Even with a mild dusting of snow already accumulated on the ground, cyclists can still take heart that the city does care about them.
While clearing snow from bike lanes isn’t the city’s first priority following a major snow storm, they are on the list.
For the past two years, the city has also been keeping the waterfront’s Martin Goodman Trail free of snow and ice for cyclists, runners, and pedestrians who don’t let the winter blahs stop them.
But snow or no snow, De Baeremaeker said this is one of the best winters yet to be a city cyclist because drivers, he said, seem happier, too.
“I wave at car drivers now and they wave back with their whole hand, not just one finger,” he joked. “Whatever it is about this winter, I just hope it lasts.”
For more information about winter cycling, visit the City of Toronto’s Bike Winter website at www.toronto.ca/cycling/bikewinter .