Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

An Ezine Produced by the Waterfront Regeneration Trust

CIBC* COIP*The Lake Ontario waterfront municipalities, conservation authorities and community groups*The Eastern Lake Ontario – St. Lawrence River Waterfront Working Group MapArt* Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club* Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee St. Lawrence Cement* Tilley Endurables

May 2005

In this issue:

• Join us for a Tour of Toronto’s waterfront, Sunday June 12th
• From Brockville to Montreal, 2005 Bike Tour
• Website Content Updates
• City of Toronto’s Bike Week Events
• Cycling Holidays on the Rise
• May’s Featured Community Group: Toronto Bay Initiative
• Upcoming Events
  • CharterAbility’s Cruise for a Cause, May 26th
  • May’d in Canada Bike Tour 2005, May 27th - 29th
  • Miles for the Marsh, June 26th

Join us for a Tour of Toronto’s waterfront

In celebration of the City of Toronto’s Bike Week we are organizing a free guided cycling tour of Toronto’s Waterfront Trail, in collaboration with the Green Tourism Association. The ride will take place on Sunday June 12th from 11am to 1pm. The tour will start at the corner of Rees St. and Queens Quay and travel east along the Lake. Bike/helmets will be available to rent from Wheel Excitement. Hope you can join us!

To register call Green Tourism at 416-392-1288, or email: info@wrtrust.com

From Brockville to Montreal - 2005 Bike Tour

There comes a time every spring when we, at the Waterfront Trust, like to flex our tires! This year’s 4th annual Bike Tour will involve riding approximately 200 km of trail from Brockville all the way to Montreal in order to promote the interprovincial linkage of the Trails. From June 13th to 17th, the Waterfront Trust, along with Toronto Star reporter Kate Harries as well as representatives from municipalities along the waterfront, will be joining together to cover some trail and explore the sites. Highlights will include a tour of Montreal on Friday and visits to the Upper Canada Village and St. Lawrence River Institute.

Everyone is welcome although we request that people make their own arrangements (i.e. travel, accommodation and food). If you are interested in attending please let us know so that we can expect to meet you at the starting point!

For more information contact Nikki Rendle at info@wrtrust.com

Website Content Updates:

As many of you already know, Michelle Closson has been busy over the past month updating the content of the Trust website based on updates received from our partners. This valuable information has been made available for our trail users just in time for summer! The community profiles and waterfront event and festival listings have already been updated. Michelle has also enhanced the sites E-library with the addition of summaries for each publication and more detailed content information. Check out the new information at www.waterfrontrail.org and stay tuned for updates on our web maps.

Thanks to all of our partners for providing your information. Please contact Michelle at info@wrtrust.com for any additional updates to community profiles, events, or webmaps.

City of Toronto’s Bike Week Events

Each year the City of Toronto along with various organizations and community groups organize a week to raise the profile of cycling issues in Toronto and to promote Shifting Gears, the Toronto Bike Plan. Due to over100 cycling events scheduled for this year’s celebrations, this year’s 16th Annual Bike Week will now take place over two weeks, from Monday May 30th to Sunday June 12th. The new 2005 City of Toronto Bike Map will be launched. The map includes the Toronto section of the Waterfront Trail and indicates that the route continues both east and west of the city. The map is expected to reach an audience of at least 80,000 cyclists in the GTA. The Trust will be actively participating in the Bike Week activities.

For more information on Bike Week and a complete listing of activities go to: www.toronto.ca/cycling/bikeweek/index.htm

Cycling Holidays on the Rise

For those of you looking for statistical information to shore up your case on the economic impact of trails and the potential of cycling tourism, we offer this interesting excerpt from the Toronto Star. In an article by Marc Atchison published on May 7 entitled Cycling Holidays - A Tour de Force he wrote:

“In fact, in the past five years, 27 million North American travelers have taken a cycling vacation, according to the Adventure Travel Report, an online publication of the well-respected Travel Industry Association of America (TIAA).

The TIAA Report also claims cycling has become the third-most popular outdoor vacation with North Americans after camping and hiking. And people who take cycling trips tend to be younger and affluent - half are between the ages of 18 and 34 and one-forth are from households with an annual income of $75,000 U.S. or more, according to the TIAA.”

The data is based on a The Adventure Travel Report released in 1998 and can be purchased from TIAA at www.tia.org/Pubs/pubs.asp?PublicationID=40.

May’s Featured Community Group: Toronto Bay Initiative

Toronto Bay Initiative (TBI) is a non-profit, charitable community organization that is dedicated to a cleaner, greener, healthier Toronto Bay. Launched in 1997, TBI began with a small group of local residents that observed there was no group that focused on improving the Toronto Bay and its watershed. Since then, they have developed into a volunteer- and community- based organization with objectives to improve water quality, regenerate habitat, ensure public access to the water, and educate the public on the ecological importance of the Toronto Bay.

TBI offers a variety of hands-on habitat plantings, tours, and other events that contribute to a cleaner, greener and healthier Toronto Bay.

Upcoming volunteer opportunities include:

• Gibraltar Sand Dune Restoration 2, June 12th, 10 am - 1 pm - Join them as they plant wildflowers and grasses and continue to restore the sand dune community at Gibraltar Point.
• Spadina Quay Wetland 1, June 15th, 6 pm - 8:30 pm - Meeting at the Spadina Quay Wetland, volunteers will be planting a wide range of native grasses and wildflowers.

For more information about the events and activities of the Toronto Bay Initiative, visit www.torontobay.net, call 416.598.2277, or email info@torontobay.net.

Next Month’s Feature: Bay Area Restoration Council (BARC) in Hamilton

Upcoming Events:

CharterAbility’s Cruise for a Cause, Thursday May 26th

Join CharterAbility as they set sail on a 4-hour dinner Cruise for a Cause from the shores of Port Credit. Proceeds will support the building of Ontario’s first fully accessibility charter boat for groups of people of all ages with disabilities or mobility impairments. Fish Bones Oyster Bar and Grille and La Villa Fine Foods will provide pre-cruise treats.

For more information/or to order tickets call: 905-844-7208 or go to www.charterability.com

May’d in Canada Bike Tour 2005

Urban Expeditions has created a 3-day, 2-night bike experience from May 27th to 29th. The trip involves a program of three cycling outings in the Toronto area and one in Niagara Region. Shuttles will take participants from Toronto to Pelham Estates Winery in Niagara.

For more information contact Urban Expeditions at 416.606.7227 or visit their website at http://www.urbanexpeditions.com/bike_week/

Miles for the Marsh

Calling all walkers, joggers, runners and cyclists! Friends of Second Marsh is holding its second annual Miles for the Marsh event on Sunday, June 26, 2005 in Oshawa. Enjoy the scenic route along the Waterfront Trail, through Darlington Provincial Park and into the OPG Green Corridor. This event is non-competitive and suitable for the whole family. Help support the conservation programs of Friends of Second Marsh by gathering pledges.
Pre-registration is encouraged.

For more information, visit their website at www.secondmarsh.com or call 905.723.5459.

Happy Spring!

Vicki Barron, Executive Director;
Marlaine Koehler, Program Director;
and Nikki Rendle, Editor Lake Ontario Waterfront Trail News

The Waterfront Regeneration Trust
372 Richmond Street West, Suite 308
Toronto, Ontario
M5V 1X6
Tel: 416-943-8080
Fax: 416-943-8068
Email: nr@wrtrust.com
www.waterfronttrail.org

Visit www.waterfronttrail.org to download 90 online colour maps of the Waterfront Trail, from Niagara-on-the-Lake to Brockville!

Thank You to our Supporters!:

• CIBC
• The Lake Ontario waterfront municipalities, conservation authorities and community groups
• The Eastern Lake Ontario­St.Lawrence Waterfront Working Group
• MapArt
• Niagara Freewheelers Bicycle Touring Club
• Regional Niagara Bicycling Committee
• St. Lawrence Cement
• Tilley Endurables
• The Trust would also like to thank the Canada-Ontario Infrastructure Program (COIP) for its generous support of the 51 projects that comprise the Lake Ontario Waterfront Investment Program.