Don Tai (Canada) Blog

Some things stay the same, and that is just fine with me. When they stay the same and I see them in the news, I am ecstatic. Keep rolling, guys and keep your balance. Hey Nick, how is Zach? Learn to ride with the Toronto Unicyclists.

Nick (left) and Darren Bedford (right) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada

Darren Bedford (left) and the Toronto Unicyclists play unicycle basketball at St. Josaphat Catholic School, Toronto, Canada. A Bedford Unicycle with a fat knobby rests in front.

Sometimes finding certain information on the internet is much more difficult than it should be. I was looking for the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada bylaw that allows bicycles with less than 24″ tires to ride on the sidewalk. I could not find it. I emailed the city clerk about the bylaw but got no response. This bylaw is heavily mentioned but almost never referenced. After about two years of searching the web, I finally found it.

Mary Ward Catholic Secondary School is a high school located in North Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The school is part of the Toronto Catholic District School Board, or TCDSB. These tips are primarily from a parent’s viewpoint and will cover uniform, student attitude, working with teacher adviser (TA) and a little on courses. I hope this helps new grade 9 students.

School Uniform

Bicycling instead of driving a car is not only healthy but is great for the environment. Unfortunately here in North America, specifically in Toronto, Canada, bicycling is relegated to tree kissing environmentalists and kids. This is too bad for everyone. An excellent video by Clarence Eckerson, Jr. shows what is working in Copenhagen, and what could work here in North America.

I have lived in Beijing, China for a couple of years and the bike culture there is pretty safe. This has degraded somewhat now as more people become wealthier and can afford cars. It’s sad to see China go backward on bicycles, but such us progress in the People’s Republic of China.

So pathetic are the driving standards in China that there are a huge number of crashes. China is a world leader in vehicular crashes per capita. If only there were some rules that everyone followed. I propose simple ones such as drive/ride on the right side of the road and stop at traffic lights. It seems like total chaos if there are not enough police around to hand out and collect tickets. I find this video quite amusing, but should not, because people in the video get seriously hurt and cars and bikes get damaged. It is funny because sadly it does reflect what we saw on Chinese roads when we visited China.

Major transit upgrades at the Toronto Transit Commission have been rare in the last 20 years, but this is changing. First in the pipe is the Sheppard East Light Rapid Transit line, in Scarborough. At approximately $1.43B CAD it will run 15km east from Don Mills Station to Morningside Ave. The line is scheduled for completion in Fall 2013, ready for the 2015 Pan Am Games in Toronto. The project manager in me is trying to keep track of which parts of Sheppard Avenue will be chewed up when and for how long. The short term pain for residents and business owners will be severe. I hope they add bicycle lanes while they are planning.

Good Samaritan quickly reverses unfortunate situation

The Mirror, North Edition
September 01, 2009 3:47 PM

On Saturday morning I went out for a bike ride. Along the way somehow my chain jumped and smashed my derailleur in to the spokes which locked the rear wheel.

I was a long way from home and had no choice but to walk home carrying my bike. At age 74 this wasn’t the kind of exercise I was looking for.