Along with colourful flowers, enlivened neighbourhoods and terrific weather, June brings Bike Month once again to Toronto and Vancouver. Here are some key dates and events to inspire you to ride.
TORONTO:
Thursday June 1, 2023 is the Bike To Work Group Commute in Toronto. Starting with a 7am meet-up in four areas of the city - Bay Street and Charles Street, Davisville Avenue and Yonge Street, Bloor Street West and High Park Avenue, and Danforth and Woodbine Avenues - the group rides will converge for a celebration at Nathan Phillips Square at approximately 8 am. Once there, you can grab some free snacks and coffee, chat with your cycling friends and meet new ones through the many biking networks on the scene. Zygg Ebikes will be offering free e-bike test rides, which proved very popular last year. So, seek us out and say “hello”!
Check out the Bike Month 2023 interactive map to join other events, tours, group rides posted by date and area.
There is also a marquee Charity Ride on June 4th - Biking For Brain Health - to raise funds, awareness and support for Baycrest Hospital through three group rides. Register online for the 25 km, 50 km, 75 km distances, today. Your trek will be made that much easier and more fun via e-bike.
VANCOUVER:
May 31st - June 6th, 2023 is HUB Cycling’s Annual Spring Go By Bike Week, encouraging all to commute, socialise and run errands via bike. There are celebration stations throughout the city with local businesses providing discounts and freebies. If you register and then log your trips online, you will be eligible for some extra deals and prizes. This is in tandem with Bike To School Week in Vancouver, May 31st - June 4th. Participating schools can create a tracking-poster to put up in their front entry: a super-cool way for students and teachers to enter their trips and see their collective cycling-progress over time.
If you are on an ebike, Go By Bike BC has lots of opportunities and resources for you to explore further and faster, as you head out beyond the downtown core.
Wherever you may be, don’t forget that June 3, 2023 is the United Nations’ World Bicycle Day. The United Nations established World Bicycle Day to reveal the transformative impact cycling can have, even in the poorest of global communities, providing access to basic transport with the bicycle. In 2015, Professor Leszek Sibilski started a campaign with his sociology class in the U.S. to promote a U.N. resolution that would designate a day for the advocacy and celebration of the bicycle all over the world. His academic project explored bicycles and their role in development triggering a huge movement backed by ‘Sustainable Mobility for All,’ and eventually resulted in a dedicated international day set by the United Nations for the promotion of bicycling. On April 12, 2018, the resolution declaring June 3 as World Bicycle Day was unanimously adopted by all 193 member states of the UN General Assembly. The resolution was greatly supported by Turkmenistan and co-sponsored by around 56 countries.
Make sure to keep an eye on Zygg’s Social media accounts highlighting other events and gatherings over June and well into the summer months.