On Sunday June 2, 2002, in what is becoming a Toronto tradition, over 13,000 cyclists took over the Don Valley Parkway for a few hours and raised over a million dollars for the heart and stroke research. In another Toronto Bicyling Network (TBN) members were out in force as 'Ambassadors of the Road' assisting cyclists who had accidents or mechanical breakdowns.

These traditions were threatened at the Toronto City Council meeting in April, 2002. During that meeting a motion came forward to approve the closing of the Don Valley Parkway for the 2002 Ride for Heart this June. This was a standard proceedure since a road closing like this requires Council approval. The twist came when a councillor introduced a motion to ask for a staff report on moving the 2003 Ride for Heart to a different location. The inconvenience to motorists was cited as the reason for the proposed move. This has been an issue in the past. One year the Mayor, Mel Lastman, spoke about shutting the cyclists off of the DVP as a result of calls he received from angry motorists. The result of the meeting was that the closure for 2002 was approved and the motion to consider moving the Ride for Heart was defeated, but only by a few votes.

I am sure there will be calls coming in to councillors offices and the Mayor's office this week complaininq that the DVP was closed. Cyclists should also call their councillors, and the Mayor, thanking them for opening the DVP to cyclists and for supporting such a worthwhile event. We need to show our support for the Ride for Heart so this tradition can continue in 2003 and for years to come.

If you want to find who is your Councillor and their phone numbers, fax numbers and e-mail address go to this page and type in your street address.

You can click here to get the phone and fax numbers for the Mayor. Mayor Mel Lastman Click here to e-mail Mayor Lastman:
mayor_lastman@city.toronto.on.ca

Martin Koob
tcc-rep@tbn.ca