Today's Headlines

[joe]

I'm going to start posting the latest headlines here for your easy clicking. :) Also available on the BikingToronto News page.

[joe]

Star: Giambrone taught lesson by residents

Posted: 03 Dec 2008 09:05 AM CST

Also galling are the ghostly outlines of bicycles, painted on the roadway, indicating that a few inches of space near the curb constitutes, if not exactly a bike lane, then something the councillor calls a "sharrow." A sharrow? In plain English it is a place where cyclists ride if they want to get run over. The result? Cyclists tend to ride on the sidewalk, to the peril of pedestrians.

[joe]

Toronto Star: City Council Minutes - Lawrence Bikelanes

Adding bike lanes on Lawrence Ave. E., between Victoria Park Ave. and Rouge Hills Dr. This brings the amount approved this year to more than 50 km, meeting the city's target. But, the final design along Lawrence, which requires consultation with the TTC, will not be added until next year.

[Jacob L.]

I wonder why the bike lanes wouldn't continue west of Victoria Park Avenue? It seems that there's nothing significantly different about Lawrence Avenue west of Victoria Park than east of Victoria Park, so I think that continuing the bike lanes should be no problem. However, further west, past Railside-Underhill, is the most dangerous part of Lawrence (in my opinion), as it crosses the highway, goes down a valley, and is full of Large Trucks.

Especially crossing the Don Valley Parkway, there needs to be special safe cycling infrastructure to shelter cyclists from the highway traffic. Currently, if cyclists dare to cross the DVP going westbound, they'd have to cross a lane turning into an on-ramp for DVP Northbound, and then they may continue to ride in the next curb lane. But after a few hundred metres, that curb lane becomes an on-ramp for DVP southbound. Cyclists would then have to merge again while riding uphill while cycling past an off-ramp.

Some cyclists ride through Lawrence without any apparent problem. But I find that riding westbound over the DVP very unclear as to which lane I should actually ride in.

[joe]

Eye Weekly: Bike-sharing ad absurdum

Considering that Clear Channel's and Decaux's bike-sharing programs operate at a loss, what would Astral get out of it? According to Heaps, they're "enthusiastic," but it's not yet clear "whether it's a business model or an exercise in philanthropy."

[joe]

Eye Weekly: Bike plan: fully funded!

The days of do-it-yourself bike lanes will soon be over. For the first time ever, Toronto's capital budget will provide full funding for the city's bike plan. 2009 is poised to go down as the year of the spoke.

CityNews: Alleged Bike Theft Ringleader Arrested Again When they confronted the 50-year-old man, he allegedly swung a metal pipe at them and drove away. Officers arrested Kenk an hour later and charged him with three counts of assault, including one with a weapon. This isn't Kenk's first brush with authorities. At the time of the incident Sunday, he was out on bail for bike theft and drug offences related to a highly-publicized case last summer.

CTV: Accused bicycle thief Kenk faces assault charges Igor Kenk, granted bail after being charged in connection with a huge number of stolen bicycles this summer, was arrested Sunday and is facing more charges. Toronto police said they responded to a call near Dufferin Street and Wallace Avenue Sunday afternoon, where residents alleged someone swung a metal pipe at them while attempting to remove property from their home.

Toronto Sun: Alleged bike theft ringleader now charged with assault Toronto Police say Kenk, who is out on bail for bike theft charges, turned up at a Dufferin St. and Wallace Ave. address around 2:30 p.m. and tried to remove property. When the homeowners tried to stop him, he swung a metal pipe at them, police said. Kenk then fled in a vehicle. An hour later, he was arrested.

Toronto Star: Bike theft suspect accused of assault Bicycle shop owner Igor Kenk, awaiting trial on 58 charges for bike thefts and drugs, faces new charges after a dispute with homeowners yesterday. Police say a man looking for stored items entered the garage of a house on Dufferin St. near Wallace Ave. When the owners of the house intervened, the man is alleged to have swung a metal pipe at them before fleeing in a vehicle.

[joe]

Globe and Mail: Bike theft suspect back behind bars

Posted: 16 Dec 2008 08:11 AM CST

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas in jail for Igor Kenk, accused of being a thief and erstwhile hoarder of thousands of used bicycles who landed back behind bars on the weekend. Mr. Kenk, 50, had been free on bail since he was hit with dozens of theft- and drug-related charges last July. The 58 counts related to the police seizure of more than 2,700 bicycles, a small amount of cocaine and several kilograms of marijuana from Mr. Kenk's used-bike shop, home and 10 back-alley garages that he had rented around the city's west end.

[joe]

Inside Toronto: Councillor wishes for bike lanes

De Baeremaeker ticked off his bike lane plan that includes four kilometres along Middlefield Road from Steeles to McCowan; three kilometres on McCowan from Middlefield to Ellesmere; 13 kilometres on Ellesmere from Victoria Park to Kingston Road; 11 kilometres on Markham Road from Steeles to Kingston Road; 16 kilometres on Kingston from Birchmount Road to basically the Rouge River; six kilometres on Progress from Kennedy up to Sheppard; and 14 kilometres along Eglinton from Victoria Park to Kingston Road.

Toronto Star: City eyes rumble strips to protect bicyclists The city is looking at installing rumble strips – grooves in the pavement – to separate cars from bikes along a major bike route planned for Lawrence Ave. E. Rumble strips have traditionally been used on expressways such as Highway 401, producing a staccato noise that warns drivers they're veering onto the shoulder.

[joe]

Toronto Star: Igor Kenk: bicycle thief or stellar recycler?

The year is ending badly for Igor Kenk. Accused as Toronto's most notorious bike thief, he was last seen being led to jail this week, handcuffed, bruised and limping. A judge at Old City Hall had revoked his bail after Kenk allegedly swung a metal pipe at the owners of a garage he rented, where police say they seized stolen bikes last summer. It was the latest instalment in a saga that has enthralled the city since Kenk's arrest in July and the subsequent discovery of a stunning 2,865 hoarded bikes.

[joe]

Spacing Toronto: GO Transit's new bike shelters

On a recent visit to my hometown of Brampton, I noticed a new GO Transit bike shelter freshly installed in front of the downtown Brampton station. The bike racks themselves have yet to be installed, but a surprising amount of thought went into the shelter's construction - not only does the shelter protect locked bikes from the elements, it also sports a clever steel bicycle frame on top that is made to resemble the distinctive, 41-year old GO Transit logo.

Eye Weekly: Transportation - The Good News 2008 had innumerable twists and turns for two-wheeled travelers. The most notable "That's f#@!ed up!" moment came as police seized 2,700 stolen bikes from various storage spaces owned or rented by Bicycle Clinic proprietor Igor Kenk. Whether this was a secret plot to induce fuel consumption or an ineffective drug funding operation remains a mystery.

Toronto Star: Toronto's green report card Toronto is still miles behind in its goal to create 1,000 km of bike lanes by 2012. Approval of bike lanes along a stretch of Lawrence Ave. E. squeaked through in early December, allowing the city to say it had met its goal of 50 km this year. But much of that isn't even fully planned yet, let alone built.

Toronto Star: Helping youth cycle away from poverty Neither sleet, nor snow, nor hail stops single mom Rhode Yowart as she weaves her trusty two-wheeler through downtown Toronto traffic on streets slick with slush.

[joe]

Toronto Star: A few proposals for '09 (modest and not)

Bicycle Lanes and Pedestrian Districts: Toronto's fear of bipedal transportation is legendary at this point. The way the city carries on, you'd think it was run by the Canadian Automobile Association. What are we so scared of? It seems to have something to do with getting out of your car.

Toronto Star: Old-fashioned manpower Sacco is resurrecting an ancient technology, one almost forgotten in a civilization fattened by electricity. It's called human power, and he uses it to make chocolate. His company, ChocoSol, produces organic chocolate – "foods and medicines as opposed to candies" – made from Mayan cacao beans, which are picked and sun-dried by indigenous communities in Oaxaca, Mexico.

CTV: Bicycle theft arrest topped oddball crimesheet For oddball crime news in Toronto for 2008, it's difficult to top the saga of Igor Kenk. You want a talking-point crime? For weeks after his arrest, if you rode by Kenk's former bicycle shop at Strachan Avenue and Queen Street West on the 501 streetcar, people would fall silent. Then a low hubbub would build, punctuated by an excited "Three thousand bikes!!"

[joe]

Toronto Star: A pedal-powered snowmobile

Clayton Preddy would like it if you got your own bike this winter. Just because yours doesn't have an indestructible polyurethane track for a back wheel, doesn't mean you can just jump on his any time you like.