Yonge Street Trek

[Genevieve]

Hi,

So I'm new to commuting by bike. I have been using the TTC for the longest time, and have become fed up with it. I have realized that since I only work a good (approximate) 45 minute bike ride from work, I should just suck it up and ride to work.

I was just wondering how many people here brave Yonge Street on weekdays for their commute? I live around Yonge/College and work up at Lawrence. So it would just be a straight ride up. But I have been warned not to ride on Yonge...Any personal stories?

I would generally be travelling at 11AM and 7PM...So by no means during the "crazy" rush, rush hour.

[joe]

I don't have a problem with cars on Yonge... it's like any other major street in the city.

The main hurdle for me is there are a lot of hills between College and Lawrence.. big hills. :)

There are a few ways to get around them, but those routes take a lot longer.

[Svend]

I don't mind Yonge St., the traffic is slower than other arterial streets and there's always something to see.
Just remember to stay visible and keep a distance from parked cars - you'll be fine.

[Genevieve]

thanks everyone for the replies!!
i've decided to take avenue up, and then make my way onto route 35.

but like joe said, there are a crazy amount of hills. not so much on route 35, but on avenue road, and that one hill is killing me (it's in between dupont and eglinton, i think).

does anyone know any way around this? or am i going to have to push myself through it. i just started riding again, so a major hill like that is the death of me.

[joe]

Well... i usually take Avenue too (yet half to walk partway up that hill... it ends south of St. Clair) when I visit my wife at her work (Yonge and Davisville)... there's not too many options for avoiding *some* kind of hill. :)

Another option is what I call the Rosedale Way... it takes longer, and you still get some hills, but they are much smaller... essentially you go up Sherbourne north of Bloor and make your way over the Glen Road Bridge that spans a ravine (not sure which one) - which gets you up to Summerhill. Up over a pedestrian bridge over the CN tracks and you're close to Mount Pleasant Cemetary, which you can ride through to Yonge and Davisville.

Check the bikelanes map in the area of Bloor & Sherbourne, and you'll see the route in red and blue lines.

(also... the reverse of this route - south through the treed streets of Rosedale, on a warm summer early evening, is a very nice ride).

[Genevieve]

Thanks again Joe!

I definitely will test out that route.
Though right now it takes me a good 40 minutes to ride from Yonge/College to Yonge/Fairlawn (even with me walking my bike partway up the Avenue hill). So if this alternative route takes longer, I don't know if I'd use it. I've also wondered about riding down the ravine area. Definitely wouldn't do that route at night. From what I remember (being there in a car), it isn't well lit at all.

joe said:

Well... i usually take Avenue too (yet half to walk partway up that hill... it ends south of St. Clair) when I visit my wife at her work (Yonge and Davisville)... there's not too many options for avoiding *some* kind of hill. :)

Another option is what I call the Rosedale Way... it takes longer, and you still get some hills, but they are much smaller... essentially you go up Sherbourne north of Bloor and make your way over the Glen Road Bridge that spans a ravine (not sure which one) - which gets you up to Summerhill. Up over a pedestrian bridge over the CN tracks and you're close to Mount Pleasant Cemetary, which you can ride through to Yonge and Davisville.

Check the bikelanes map in the area of Bloor & Sherbourne, and you'll see the route in red and blue lines.

(also... the reverse of this route - south through the treed streets of Rosedale, on a warm summer early evening, is a very nice ride).

[Johann Strauss]

I bike occasionally to work from Eglinton to Finch. If you decide to travel northbound east of Yonge, try Duplex Avenue. Less hassle than Yonge.
The Rosedale Way, mentioned above, is how I get downtown.
So try Rosedale Way to Davisville, then Belt line to Duplex. Only harsh part will be Duplex and Eglinton, full of buses and their exhaust.