11/06/10 TORONTO

Aujourd'hui on se sent vraiment en vacance. Notre nouvel ami Rohit nous fait visiter son campus ainsi que le Bike Share, un organisme qui loue gratuitement des vélos aux étudiants de l’Université de Toronto.

Sans bagage, on pédale ensuite sur le bord du lac Ontario jusqu’à Toronto. Dans la ville, on flâne un peu et roule en vélo au centre ville. C’est très différent que de rouler à Montréal. Les automobilistes ont peur de nous frapper et nous klaxonnent. Bien que la ville commence à développer son réseau cyclable, il n’y a presque pas de bandes cyclables. Aussi, les rails des tramways rendent la conduite très inconfortable. On revient à Mississauga pour souper. La famille de Rohit est très chaleureuse. Ils nous racontent l’Inde autour d’un souper que la maman fait « pas trop épicé » juste pour nous. On se promet de leur rendre la pareil demain matin avec un déjeuner de type crêpes et sirop d’érable.





















Now in 10 points I'll resume my perception of cycling in the greater Toronto area:
1) Car drivers hate cyclists and it gets worst in the suburbs!
2) It's illegal to ride your bike on the sidewalk! It is a vicious circle: cyclists are scared of cars, cyclists go on sidewalks, cars think cyclists belong on sidewalks, you get screamed at when you ride your bike on the street. People don't realize that they have the right to cycle on the streets. STREETS BELONG TO BIKES as much as to cars. Use you bike on the street, it's your right and you should show it to automobilists!
3) Bike lanes along the Ontario Lake are very nice, although not always well indicated.
4) People that cycle in the city, cycle with style!
5) Tram tracks makes it very hard to bike, you almost need a mountain bike to go through the city.
6) The bike lanes in the city center are too narrow and there are too few.
7) The Toronto's bike rack are well designed and easy to use to lock your wheel and your frame.
8) The suburbs have been designed only for the cars and don't take into consideration at all pedestrians or cyclists.
9) The connection with the public transit system is really good. The buses and trains let you take you bike with you and rush hour restrictions are not abusive. On the negative side, when you get out of the train in the suburbs in much harder to find a cycle path that will get you home.

10) Cyclist culture will have to grow for cycling to get safer in the city and for car drivers to understand the rights of cyclists

Now that's Rohit and me near the Ontario College of Art and Design