May 30, 2008
"Here We Are. Let's Take The Gardiner"
Photo by TObike from the Torontoist Flickr Pool.
It's been a busy day for the Gardiner. First, Waterfront Toronto announced plans to dismantle a section of the expressway from Jarvis to the Don Valley Parkway, with David Miller formally scrapping the planned Front Street Extension. And then, late Friday afternoon, more than two hundred cyclists rolled up the Jarvis Street ramp to slowly and steadily (and illegally) take the entire westbound expressway over.
The cyclists were part of Critical Mass, the huge group cycle that takes place on the last Friday of every month in Toronto and around the world. According to Martin Reis, who was in the pack, the decision to ascend the ramp onto the Gardiner Expressway was spontaneous (even though it bears some resemblance to a similar but much smaller Los Angeles freeway ride from two weeks ago), and was not intended to be a huge statement: as Reis put it, the groupthink was more along the lines of "Here we are. Let's take the Gardiner."
The cyclists started off in the merging lane, then gradually took over the rest of the lanes, controlling all of them by about the time they reached York Street. "We basically became like one giant automobile," Reis says. Fellow participant Nick Syperek told Torontoist that "it was exhilarating to see Toronto from that angle." Reis saw no confrontations between cyclists and motorists, characterizing the entire thing as "very very civilized, [and] very peaceful."
About twenty minutes after their trip began, police officers funneled the cyclists off the expressway and onto the Dunn Avenue off-ramp. (The Star says they rode all the way from Jameson Avenue to Dunn, which is a 200 metre trip and would have been a little less fun than the 7 kilometres west from Jarvis to Dunn.) The Star also reported that one man was arrested—according to Reis, it was a younger man who refused to follow police orders and seemed to have tried to get past the cop cars (Reis has heard rumours that that man has since been fined and released). At least two more participants—including Angela Bischoff, Tooker Gomberg's widow—confronted police officers and were ticketed.
But no matter. Today was, Reis happily pointed out to us, participant Derek Chadbourne's birthday. Chadbourne runs The Bike Joint on Harbord, and was ecstatically pronouncing the impromptu Gardiner trip the best birthday present he could've gotten.
More photos from Torontoist's Flickr Pool in the slideshow below.
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Pretty inconsiderate of them.
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We are traffic.
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Groupthink = Follow the lead fool. They are lucky some nut was not barreling down the Gardiner and seriously hurt any of them. Yes I know it is usually a crawl but doesn't mean some idiot would not be on the road as per usual trying to get nowhere fast. Then you have a photo of some of the Group of Fools without so much as a Bicycle helmet on. Groupthink, I agree not one of them can think for themselves, sounds and looks right to me.
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As I think bicycles are not normally permitted on highways, this action would be considered non-violent civil disobedience. I hope that it helps raise awareness of cycling issues, but perhaps Critical Mass shouldn't make a habit of hitting the highway.
I hope to have a chance soon to join Critical Mass, however, on a nice ride down University Ave., or over the Bloor Viaduct and through Greektown, and the like.
Cheers,
Tuds
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I just looked through all the Photos and some woman brought her child onto the highway endangering the life of that child. If you know who she is you need to report her to the Authourities, she endangered the life of that child, this is not civil disobedience, it is reckless and child endangerment. If I find out her name I will, I cannot believe that, raise awareness if you want, but to take a child onto a highway is just repulsive and utterly disgusting. And the moron is smiling. A Child on a Bike on the Gardiner Expressway, don't people have any sense about them. I want to know why the police when it was seen did not charge her with child,endangerment, I have a copy and will be trying to find out who she is and sending the Police a copy and asking why she was not arrested at the scene.
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This looks like a scene from some post-apocalyptic movie like Stephen King's 'The Stand' where a group of survivors struggles to leave the once populated city to make it to the place where all of humanity is gathering to make one last ditch effort against Satan or the vampires or the last human child to be born.
Which gets me thinking: Why do most of these people WALK to their destinations all the time? Maybe a car, which inevitably runs out of gas, is used; but once that's over they just WALK.
Note to self: in case of Armageddon, pack bike in car.
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I think the phrase "child endangerment" is excessive - this is a group of several hundred people and the likelihood of anything happening (unless, apparently, at the hands of police, but that's a different story) is slim to none.
EastToronto, you're being a bit ridiculous and alarmist. Seriously, if you want to help with reducing so-called "child endangerment" perhaps you could work towards getting better cycling infrastructure and fewer cars on our streets. Given my experiences on the roads, it is *far* more dangerous being a cyclist alone or in a small group on the street (just ask those hurt or killed on the streets in the past week) than it is to be part of a group several hundred strong on the Gardiner. This is much of the point of the Critical Mass ride is that the traffic is much less of an issue when you are part of a hundreds-strong group.
Hey - why not forget about tearing down the gardiner, though, and leave it up. It is obviously an excellent high capacity cross-town bike lane!
-Todd
who is patiently and happily watching the gas prices rise waiting for them to get high enough so that the Gardiner always looks like that.
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In 1998 I left at 2 am and took the gardiner all the way to Hamilton on my way to NYC.
I didn't know I was such a rebel. I was from the stix and couldn't imagine there were laws against such things.
I am giving away my bike this week because after getting hit by angry drivers 3 times over the years I give up and choose life.
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A nice peaceful ride, didn't see any angry participants or spectators.
I'm glad the cops chose to funnel us off instead of confronting us, that was our intended exit anyway.
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EastToronto - You know you sound insane right? It is so sexist how people think they can just step in and tell women how to raise their kids with threats of having their kids taken away from them.
Child endangerment? How many kids have asthma or cancer because of the pollution all those dinosaurs in cars emit!? Get your priorities straight.
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FYI, Derek Chadbourne, referenced in the post as the owner of the Bike Joint, also runs the annual Toronto Ice Race!
http://deartoronto.com/2008/03/10/dear-toronto-8-toronto-ice-race/
:)
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This rules :)
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I was not "confronting the police" as the article said. I was politely asking an officer where they were taking the arrestee so that we could meet him there with his bike. That's when 2 cops grabbed onto my handlebars while one yanked onto my coat and pulled me back. I stumbled, almost falling, when 2 more officers lunged for me and slammed me up against a cop car, wrenching my arms behind me, handcuffing me.
Another woman, witnessing this brutality, called them on it. They grabbed her then and did the same thing.
We spent the next hour being harrassed before being released with mere traffic violations.
The rest of the ride though was a blast.
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Acadie,
Nuts in cars aren't exclusive to the Gardiner. This is the danger that cyclists can encounter any day, anywhere. For a Critical Mass ride, the Gardiner is probably no more dangerous than University Ave. or the Eaton Centre.
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Agreed, 100%.
I was hit by a van just walking across St. George in January, never mind biking, although there have been numerous, scary close enconters, every single one of them by drivers in too much of a hurry, not stopping, not looking, not thinking. THAT is dangerous.
As to the "endangering children" argument, I'd say vehicular use (rather, overuse) endangers us all. Wake up and smell the petrol fumes.
I love the sight of bikers along the Gardiner -it's just beautiful and inspiring. Naive as it may sound, I honestly hope this sort of mass transit becomes the accepted norm over time.
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I'm a driver of a midsize car. I use it when I need to use it, usually when hauling my family or something heavy around.
I'm also a pedestrian - (well, everybody is)
I'm also a suburban cyclist, I use my bike on my daily commute to and from the GO station, as well as for smaller runs to the local video store, drug store etc, and for recreational use. I use my bike a lot more than I use my car.
IMHO This stunt on the gardiner was a stupid, reckless thing to do, and though I would normally applaud actions that raise awareness for cyclists, these kind of stunts will more likely turn people against cyclists and harm the cause. I encounter enough hostility from bicycle hating idiot drivers as it is and dont see the need to add fuel to their fire. (I realize that's not all drivers - please forgive the generalization)
Sorry, but I really dont see how this is going to make people more sympathetic, the majority of people are not cyclists. they are automobile drivers and pedestrians.
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Chicago closes down Lake Shore Drive once every summer so people can bike the whole 26 miles or whatever it is.
Pretty cool.
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(I've just added a dozen or so new photos, courtesy of Reis himself, beginning here.)
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Stuck at a light going North on Jarvis while the bikers passed, I had plenty of time to think about stuff.
I thought of many reasons why the stunt was dangerous (Jarvis is an ambulance route - it has a 2 way center lane), cool (I love when people stir up shit), and annoying (try sitting at a light for 15 minutes while you watch people enjoy the day on their bicycles).
The one thing I couldn't figure out was the reason for it. Please inform me when someone figures it out because so far it seems they were out to annoy. Oh!, and if your intent was to raise awareness and support for your yet to be clear cause? Try being the first bikers in history to obey the traffic laws - 200 people on bikes is still noticeable when stopping at a red light to let the other lanes of traffic of traffic pass on a green.
That being said the pics of the Gardiner were pretty cool - I just wish I knew why you were messing with everyones day. Hopefully its a reason I can stand behind.
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Read the link that David posted in the article.
All cyclists will obey the traffic laws around the same time that all drivers do.
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Why should my taxes pay for these roads that choke us and make our city less civilized and more dangerous? A cyclist was killed this week by an inconsiderate driver yet no charges were laid, why was anyone charged for this incident that didn't hurt anybody?
Let's take back a bit of the roads.
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the children that were riding in this powerful Temporary Autonomous Zone were surrounded by two hundred guardians who weren't just making their physical environment safer, but were unpaving the way to their future. i think many of the drivers up there got it and were charmed and amazed by the spectacle...they're people too and were mindful to keep us safe
to criticize this 20 minute breach of grid sterility is surreal considering that it would have amounted to the exact same thing had we been in cars.. only really boring and a lot more dangerous in fuming hunks of metal
why tear down the gardiner? imagine an LRT, bike path, walkways with picnic spots, great views...we could revitalize the underpass once the cars are gone with flea markets, farmers markets, basketball courts (i saw that in paris)...imagine retrofitting the city without spending billions & causing environmental mayhem only to create more private-owned commercial property that doesn't serve the people.
this ride showed ANOTHER TORONTO IS POSSIBLE...
40 years since May 1968 in paris..."under the cobblestones...the beach!"
LOVE TO ALL THE REBELS
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Let's be honest. Everyone who uses the roads in this city are complete a-holes about it (surprisingly pedestrians are the least considerate in my opinion.)
Can we give merit to the idea that maybe the reason a lot of people took the ride is strictly because of the motorists vs. bikers vs. pedestrians mentality? I mean there's plenty of undertones to the friction between the groups (or however you may be traveling that day) it in this thread alone. I have friends who when walking hold up cars, and flip off pedestrians while they're driving - it's all about people thinking they have the right of way on the roads.
That's why this ride kind of annoys me. I guess doubt the motives of this particular group and after reading the link provided above (Thanks David) it seems they're just a bunch of dicks.
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At this risk of sounding like a mom, you guys need to wear your helmets. My helmet has saved my brain twice now. Cover those noggins!
Oh man, somewhere my mom is smiling.
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I was on that ride and the only time I felt endangered was when the cop cars buzzed us to get to the front of the pack. I think this whole argument about child endangerment is ridiculous because the number one killer of children under the age of 21 are automobiles so those kids are safer on bikes. Ban cars, ban cops and the city will be a safer place.
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I can't say for certain, but the relentless nastiness -this "us vs. them" mentality -has to stop. Part of the reason is, I suspect, that people in cars are totally disconnected from their environment and their fellow travellers. Disconnection results in judgement, results in hostility. Cyclists tend to feel slighted and abused by the drivers, so ride with an air of (dangerous) entitlement. This is a broad generalization, but still. There is judgement, anger, hostility, rage -and it has to stop.
... and another way of viewing ourselves and our relationship to others, including our fellow commuters.[ report this ]
I encountered this display of mass idiocy yesterday. The thing I found funny was that, as a pedestrian, I was almost run over by the morons on bikes that were blowing through their red light as I tried to walk across the street, on my green light.
I also remember seeing the child involved in this and I was surprised that a mother would involve her child in something like this. The fact that she later took him onto a FREEWAY on his bicycle is shocking, and yes it is, by definition, child endangerment.
I think it's safe to say that, under no circumstances whatsoever, a mother should direct her child to ride his bicycle on a freeway.
Also noted was the lack of helmets which to me just illustrates how sometime in the future at least one of you will have a rude appointment with Darwin as you "protest" in vain to add that sliver of self-worth you apparently lack.
As a cyclist in this city, and one who is fully aware of the trials a cyclist goes through trying to navigate steets filled with idiots in cars, I have to say that you do not represent me and next time you try this shit you should all be arrested.
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Additionally, to the simple-minded who are arguing that cars are more dangerous to the child than this stunt:
The very nature of your argument proves my point. If cars, in a normal situtation, on a normal street are dangerous to a child on a bike then why the hell would you take the child onto a freeway?
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I am extremely proud of the Critical Mass group.
Thank you for making a conscientious effort to protect the children of this world by putting your best foot forward.
Happy Birthday Brother!
Love your Sister.
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"All cyclists will obey the traffic laws around the same time that all drivers do."
The logical fallacy should be obvious here.
Some people commit thefts, ergo I should be allowed to steal whatever I want until everyone stops doing it?
I am a daily cyclist and TTC user, and the attititude of some cyclists is shit. Unfortunately, what you notice in a streetcar or vehicle is the misbehaving cyclists -- cyclists running red lights are obvious, cyclists waiting at the light are not.
But there is simply no good excuse for not following traffic law. Do that, and it just might reduce your risk of getting hurt.
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As the mother of the two happy-looking boys in some of the pictures (ages 12 and 8), I want to say that It was one of the safest bike riding moments they have had. Trying to get them to school every day with inconsiderate and dangerous drivers on the road is much more dangerous. Last night they were surrounded by 340 careful conscientious bike riders who took care of them and protected them from car traffic. The only thing that was scary for them was the police sirens and brutality. They partook of the exhilaration and camaraderie and will never forget the view of their city from the Gardiner.
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It's not a logical fallacy; it's a statement of fact. You're reading something into my comment that isn't there. I'm not asking for exceptions, nor am I whining that, "everyone else is doing it, so why can't I?"
I'm not saying that people, whether on bikes or in cars, shouldn't obey traffic laws; I think they should. I'm just stating the pretty obvious fact that they don't. No matter what vehicle they're driving or riding, most people bend or break traffic laws every day. It seems to be human nature.
It's not that cyclists have to shape up, or that drivers have to shape up, it's that bad road users, whatever they're driving or riding, have to shape up. If you can figure out a way to cure cyclists of their bad habits, you will also have found a way to cure car drivers of theirs. So as I said, cyclists will obey the law when drivers do.
Besides, easing passage for both cars and bikes is not about everyone following the letter of the law, but following the conventions that most people have long agreed on.
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Hey David, is there a way to run the slideshow without the entire page reloading every time I click a thumbnail? When I'm at work on dial-up (sadly, it still exists out in the countryside) it takes forever to view them.
-Jerrold
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I shall look into it and see if there's a way. (Something along the lines of a printable version of any article, not just those with slideshows, that would remove all content but the article and associated imagery would be nice.)
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Change the name of this expressway to The Darwin Expressway and let the bikers have at it with the cars. Whoever wins wins, and whoever loses gets recycled into a lovely earth-friendly artificial reef in the lake.
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I'm totally on team bikers.
And for the record, the girl in the first photo in the grey sweatshirt doesn't have her helmet because she lent hers to me and I haven't given it back yet. So that's my bad.
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Whatup T.dot!!! I see the same idiotic comments on here that I saw from the same type of people that entirely missed the point of the LA Freeway Ride. I love it.
Keep driving you robots.
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Critical Mass = Gandhi. (Brave non-violent protestors for what's right)
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...which makes drivers...?
I'm a bicyclist, I'm a pedestrian, I use the TTC, and I'm a driver. (I obey the laws for each, for the record.) It's fine to romanticize any one of those positions, but not at the expense of the other groups. Critical Mass—cool or brave as they may be—is not on the same level as Mahatma Gandhi, nor is your average driver on the same level as British soldiers massacring Indians. Language like that is unnecessarily divisive, as is the idea that driving a car is somehow wrong when for many people it's far and away the most practical way for them to, say, go from work to home.
I agree that there would be a number of benefits to moving away from (but not abandoning) a car-centric culture, and I think it's pretty obvious that Toronto is on the cusp of that shift. It's just be nice if some people in each group didn't see all members of the other groups as dangerous, careless, aggressive jerks who only want to rule the road.
[Edited this message on Sunday night; realized I forgot to say Critical Mass is not on the same level of Gandhi.]
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Check out this blog about the ride:
http://citywithoutcars.blogspot.com/
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I think it's past time to abandon a car-centric culture. That's not to say that cars should disappear entirely, but that they should no longer trump all other considerations when it comes to transportation, neighbourhoods, building permits, zoning, or urban planning. Giving up car-centric culture doesn't mean giving up cars, it just means considering alternative modes of transportation on (at least) an equal footing. Others may take a more radical view of cars.
I don't want bikes to be the only vehicles on the road; I just think that people shouldn't be marginalized for the sin of selecting a vehicle that is two tonnes lighter than―and a hundredth the cost of―most others on the road.
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This is the future. The time has come to ban motorists from blocking the Gardiner Expressway and make way for vastly more practical forms of urban transportation, such as the bicycle. Critical Mass made history as it flowed smoothly westbound atop Toronto's Gardiner Expressway at rush hour, Friday 30 May 2008. You can't argue with success.