August 23, 2023

Gord's message: Celebrating Cyclon

First a big thank you to the Cyclon committee and all the volunteers for another very successful Cyclon from our base at Western University. I enjoyed it even more than last year. We bid a final farewell to organizers RJ Peterson, Mireille Macia and Tony Lau, and we thank them for all their dedicated work over many iterations of Cyclon. Congratulations also to the new incoming Cyclon directors, Manuela Gobbato and Marc Giles. We look forward to hearing soon where Cyclon 2024 will take place.

Thanks also to Marc and all the volunteers for another great BBQ at Milliken Park. More details from Marc in this issue.

On another matter, TBN has received increasing complaints from the public regarding our group riders ignoring rules of the road like stopping at stop signs or riding single file in heavy traffic. This is both dangerous to our members and undermines our ability to advocate for safer cycling.

Education is a great way to address an issue like this. We now offer CAN-BIKE courses and I encourage anyone who can to take them (see item in this issue). However CAN-BIKE does take a lot of resources both from the instructors and participants so the classes are small. To reach a wider audience more quickly, our Education and Technical directors, Andrew Paterson and Martin Lansche, will be offering a subset of the CAN-BIKE course as Zoom classes to our rider leaders and program coordinators starting this fall. Details of this subset class will be available in the next Chain of Events. After attending the subset class, ride leaders should then be better placed to advocate safer riding practices and to lead by example. I would to like see all ride leaders take this class over the winter. If you are an experienced cyclist, don't be dissuaded thinking there will be nothing new in this class. In the CAN-BIKE courses taught so far, even experienced cyclists have been surprised by what they learned or needed to unlearn.

--Gord Irish, President

Cyclon 2023

On behalf of the Cyclon Committee, we'd like to thank all volunteers from this year’s Cyclon. By all counts, year two in London, Ont., over the Aug. 4-7 weekend was another huge success, thanks in no small part to TBNers who graciously stepped up to give their time in various capacities, including hosts at the registration desk, porters, snack distribution, dinner hosts, ride leaders and sweeps. Without you there is no Cyclon!

As the incoming co-directors we would like to pay tribute to three irreplaceable key members leaving the committee. After seven years of unselfish service and leadership RJ Peterson, Mireille Macia and Tony Lau are stepping down from the committee and are looking forward to joining future Cyclon weekends as regular participants.

RJ, Mireille and Tony, thank you for EVERYTHING; the committee WILL miss you! Some photo memories appear below.

--Marc Giles and Manuela Gobbato, in-coming co-directors, Cyclon

We're back! Get ready for TBN's AGM and Social

After a three-year COVID break, our in-person Annual General Meeting and Social will be back. Be sure to add the date and place, Nov. 4 at the Canadiana Restaurant in Etobicoke, to your calendar.

Leading up to that event we are looking for volunteers to replace two outgoing TBN board positions: Social and Communications Directors. We hope to have names in time to be voted on by the AGM. Meanwhile, anyone who feels they bring the right skill-set and experience for either of these positions is invited to contact TBN president Gord Irish at president@tbn.ca. 

Stay tuned for more information and registration.

BBQ picnic a great success

Another BBQ picnic has come and gone and from all accounts it was a great success. Thanks to the 140-plus members who showed up with their respective ride groups and, once at Milliken Park, were all just TBNers enjoying great food, chatting with old friends, making new ones, and heading out together on various rides in the area.  

Once again full credit goes to Paul (and Brenda who, although she wasn’t able to attend, was once again a dedicated organizer) and Paul's non-member assistants Debbie, Linda and John, for all their work buying, transporting, setting-up, cooking, cooking, cooking and cleaning up. The whole time, Paul was his usual pleasant, jovial self. Thanks also to the Ride Coordinators for developing the routes, the ride leaders and sweeps, and to all who attended.

Members gather for three days of cycling in Orillia

Twenty-four TBN members travelled to Orillia Aug. 15-17 for three days of cycling in and around that beautiful Muskoka town. Accommodations at Lakehead University Residence and Conference Centre, where breakfast was served on days two and three, was ideally located.

Thanks to Dave Mader for organizing this first official club trip to Orillia and for creating the wide range of rides, from a 41 km jaunt around town and along the the area's great trail system, to a 108 km loop that took us through some picturesque sites in cottage country, including Bass Lake, the Big Chute Marine Railway in Coldwater and the lock system in Port Severn.

Thanks also to Vicki Bondy for organizing the potluck dinner on the first evening, and to Jane Sauder and Joanne Walsh for setting up the group dinner at the excellent Couchiching Craft Brewery, attended by almost everyone.

Orillia boasts many tributes to native son Gordon Lightfoot, who was born there in 1938 and sadly passed away in May of this year. Some TBN group members posed for a photo op (below) in front of the Leacock Museum (a National Historic Site). World-renowned author and humorist Stephen Leacock immortalized Orillia in his best-seller Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town. A number of attendees expressed their hope that this trip will become an annual affair for TBN.

Members lined up for a photo at the historic museum devoted to author and renowned humorist Stephen Leacock, a native of Orillia.

Free CAN-BIKE Level 3 classes for TBN members Sept. 15, 16

Fresh off their inaugural class in July, Andrew and Martin will be back in September repeating the CAN-BIKE level 3 classes for TBN members. Do you want to boost your cycling skill level? Be a safer and more defensive rider on the road? Increase your confidence about riding on city streets? Whether you are a new or a long-term rider, there is always something to learn, some skills to improve, and, admit it, some bad habits to unlearn. Perhaps you are a TBN ride leader, but you are uncertain about what skills/behaviours to demonstrate and encourage as you lead your ride.  

Don't take our word for it. Hear what our graduates had to say about the July class:

"I have been cycling all my life and I think I know everything about cycling! Wrong! I learned a lot of new knowledge in the Can-Bike Level 3/Theory Level 4 class and some of them I considered as lifesaving techniques. Well coordinated teaching of Can-Bike instructors. Thorough topic coverage. Please consider taking this course. It will be the best few hours of time you have invested in!" --Longtime TBN member Jimmy Yeung

"The course covers traffic dynamics, which I like. The drill in the parking lot is a good preparation for road practice. I also received feedback on what I need to improve. After the course and with continuous self-training, I can now ride with hand signals comfortably in traffic and when leading my group rides. Martin's voice and Andrew's voice keep coming up when I approach an intersection. I know the importance of positioning riding in streets with various widths and conditions. Overall I am glad I took the course and I will recommend this to any person who wants to ride safely in traffic." --Alice Chan

CAN-BIKE provides structured classes to help you with all this and more!  CAN-BIKE provides a Canada-wide skills curriculum as defined by Cycling Canada, and is recommended by provincial governments and many Canadian cities. 

For information on this TBN educational offering, see PROGRAMS/EDUCATION/CAN-BIKE LEV 3 / LEV 4 EDUCATION or https://www.tbn.ca/CAN-BIKE-Classes

Minor changes to the Get List of Registrants application

In response to feedback from our Ride Leaders that the Get List of Registrants application was taking too long to respond, Technical Director Martin Lansche has modified the application to not do separate calls to get date of joining, and number of registrations. This is the default behaviour. The original, slower behaviour is available by selecting the checkbox prior to submitting the request. 

How to cancel a reservation for an event

Due to an issue we have discovered on Apple devices, we have had to revert to the original wording for the link used to cancel your reservation for an event. If you need to cancel your reservation for an event, see the Cancel-my-registration page for details.