January 18, 2025
TBN at Toronto Bicycle Show
It's time to think spring! We are excited to participate once again in the Toronto Bicycle Show and E-Bike Expo, which will take place March 7–9 at the International Centre, Hall 5, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga. Free parking will be available.
During the show, TBN will share cycling information with prospective members, promote enthusiasm for the sport, and raise awareness about the many cycling opportunities available in our city and beyond.
We’re looking for volunteers to help out during the event. If you’re interested, please sign up for a shift using this link. If you have any questions, feel free to contact Italo at publicity@tbn.ca. Thank you for supporting TBN!
TBN Social/Education events
Dancing on the Danforth, Jan. 18, 8 pm. This will be a very special evening as it will feature the band that played the TBN spring party and will also play at our next AGM later this year. The Junctioneers play a mix of covers, mostly from the 1960s, '70s and '80s. Come to Noonan’s Irish Pub and dance to or just listen to this great band. There is no cover. More information, music videos, and registration can be found here.
Prince Edward County trip presentation, Jan. 20, 7 pm. This month’s event at the Toronto Public Library's Northern District Branch, 40 Orchard View Blvd., features Ken Lackman with a presentation about a self-organized, two-day overnight trip in a quiet part of Prince Edward County. Cycling routes were of medium length and he visited several small charming wineries and artisanal cheese factories. The 45-minute presentation will be followed by 15 minutes of Q&A, which, for those interested, can spill over to the nearby Duke of Kent Pub. More information and registration can be found here.
Monthly Dining Out, Jan. 23. We have recently added an exciting new social event for club members. Each month, we will choose a different restaurant featuring food from a different part of the world. The restaurants are in different parts of the GTA, so everyone should have a chance to attend in an area convenient to them. Registration for our outing to a fabulous Georgian restaurant on Jan. 23 is now open here. The next Dining Out gathering is scheduled for Feb. 13.
TBN Pub Quiz, Jan. 28, 6:30 pm. The TBN Pub Quiz series has been moved to the last or second last Tuesday of each month. The change was made because the Prenup Pub, which is one of the best and most interesting in the GTA, is much quieter on Tuesdays. Registration for the Jan. 28 quiz is now open here. More details about the new quiz format and about the Pub Quiz series are available here.
Movie Night at Bike Depot Leaside, Feb. 20, 6:30 pm. We will be meeting for a social movie night. Registration is now open here.
Committee volunteers needed
Volunteer of the Year Review Committee. There was significant feedback regarding the volunteer of the year citation at the AGM. The program needs a review and some improvements. The board has decided to create a committee of three to five members to conduct the review and recommend changes to the program. Typical tasks for the committee would be to review the current feedback, conduct additional surveys and then compile the results and recommend changes. The term of the committee would run until the changes are accepted by the board.
Presidential Nominating Committee. The President is stepping down at the end of this program year at the AGM. The board will create a nominating committee of three to five members to search for a new President. While the club will actively search for a new President, typically the position is filled by directly asking candidates. Committee members should be prepared to identify possible candidates and approach them directly. The term of the committee would run until a new President is found.
If you are interested in volunteering for either of these committees or have any questions, please contact the President at president@tbn.ca
Hikes, walks and skating
"No-drop" is having an exciting four days of snowshoeing and cross-country skiing at Arrowhead Provincial Park, Feb. 21-24. Members and non-members can join for one to four days. Beginners are welcome. Registration is open. See overnight trips chart for links, or the chart further down in this issue of Chain of Events. Contact Alice at no-drop@tbn.ca for questions.
Other TBN winter activities continue in January and February, with rural hiking running every Sunday morning. Ice skating is on now too, on Friday evenings at various rinks in the city. Check the calendar.
Overnight Trips 2025
TBN offers multi-day trips for cycling, cross-country skiing, camping and hiking, so join us for fun, social and athletic trips full of fresh air with your TBN friends. Visit the overnight trips or view the chart below. Simply click on the link to see the event details and to register (if open). You must register, before the set maximum limit is reached, to attend these events.
So far, 15 overnight trips are scheduled in 2025. If you have other ideas and want to organize and lead a trip, please contact weekendtrips@tbn.ca. We can help you with event page creation, promotion and registration. We also welcome your recommendations and feedback on trips, as it is vital to the program.
| Event Name | Start | End |
| Wolf Den Winter One male spot left. | 31/01/2025 | 02/02/2025 |
| No Drop @ Arrowhead Day 1 Snowshoeing | 21/02/2025 | 21/02/2025 |
| No Drop @ Arrowhead Day 2 XC Skiing | 22/02/2025 | 22/02/2025 |
| No Drop @ Arrowhead Day 3 XC Skiing | 23/02/2025 | 23/02/2025 |
| No Drop @ Arrowhead Day 4 Snowshoeing | 24/02/2025 | 24/02/2025 |
| Lake Ontario to Lake Simcoe and return bikepacking. | 26/04/2025 | 27/04/2025 |
| Victoria Day Niagara Bike & Hike | 16/05/2025 | 19/05/2025 |
| Farmers Folly bikepacking. | 17/05/2025 | 19/05/2025 |
| Wednesday Wheelies Return to Collingwood | 10/06/2025 | 12/06/2025 |
| Toronto-Niagara Falls-Toronto Overnight (TNTO) | 14/06/2025 | 15/06/2025 |
| Shores of Lake Erie Tour | 12/07/2025 | 13/07/2025 |
| Barrie area rides & party time | 18/07/2025 | 20/07/2025 |
| Niagara Winery Tour | 26/07/2025 | 27/07/2025 |
| Cyclon | 01/08/2025 | 04/08/2025 |
| Simcoe County Loop XL bikepacking | 08/08/2025 | 10/08/2025 |
| 3 Days in Orillia | 12/08/2025 | 14/08/2025 |
| Mennonite Country Ramble | 16/08/2025 | 17/08/2025 |
| Flesherton Hills Tour | 06/09/2025 | 07/09 |
New “30-Day-Trial" membership
We are changing how we offer non-members a chance to try out TBN. We have heard feedback that non-members do not like the $10 fee to try out a ride in a TBN ride program that may or may not have been at their level. Or perhaps that specific ride was cancelled due to weather. So starting in 2025, we are changing to a new "try-us-out approach" to include a new “30-Day-Trial" membership class. For $10, an individual can ride on as many rides, across all our ride programs, during a 30-day window from the day of purchase. We hope that after trying us out, these Trial members will upgrade to full membership. When upgrading to a full membership, the $10 trial fee will be refunded to the new members.
For current existing TBN members, this new Trial membership option will be mostly invisible. Our future TBN calendar events will begin to have both the old "Free for TBN Members" registration option, and a new "30-Day-Trial members" registration option. You will continue to use the "Free for TBN Members" registration option.
Exclusions:
- Note that some events, with limited availability, may not be available to 30-Day-Trial members.
- The Wednesday Evening and Friday Night ride programs will return with the "Free for non-members" option.
- The Hairshirt ride will continue to offer a simple $10 fee, but will also be open to Thirty-day Trial members.
TNTO is back for 2025
We are thrilled to announce that the Toronto Niagara Toronto Overnight (TNTO) ride is back for its 28th year, taking place June 14-15. TNTO is a two-day cycling challenge for experienced cyclists featuring rides from Toronto and Stoney Creek to Niagara Falls and back the next day. Visit TNTO page for more information.
Registration will open Jan. 18 via the calendar. To ensure everything runs smoothly, we need your help. We are currently looking to recruit one or two enthusiastic volunteers to join our Sag Squad to drive the sag wagon. Specifically, we need a driver to assist with transporting luggage and snacks to the hotel in Niagara Falls. Accommodation is complimentary and a $100 per diem per day to cover food will be provided.
Alternatively, driving the sag wagon can be shared among two volunteers if members are interested on riding only one day and driving the sag wagon the other day.
Your involvement will be crucial in making TNTO 2025 a success. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering, please reach out to us at tnto@tbn.ca.
Update to Ride Leaders Report application
We are in the process of making a set of changes to the Ride Leaders Report application. The first set of changes include:
- Instead of the 10-30+ seconds response time seen previously, you will now see sub second response time.
- Program Choices has been cleaned up to match our current programs.
- A number of cosmetic changes have been made.
Please share your favourite gravel routes
TBN is planning some upcoming gravel rides and we would love to gather your route ideas and suggestions! If you have any favourite gravel routes close to the Greater Toronto Area, please share them with Communications Director Italo Bravo at publicity@tbn.ca. We're especially interested in routes with a mix of scenic paths, safe road crossings, and some great gravel stretches.
Feel free to include details like distance, elevation, gpx files and any must-see spots along the way, such as stops for coffee or lunch. Looking forward to hearing your ideas!
Zwift news
Peak Zwift
January and February are big months for the Zwift computer platform that is widely used by the cycling community, including many of us at TBN. Some Tuesday morning (Toronto time) in January is typically dubbed "Peak Zwift," that moment in the year when the most number of people around the world are simultaneously riding on Zwift. Here is a link to an explanation about Peak Zwift. In 2024 the Peak Zwift number was 43,387 participants, on Jan. 23. It was 42,452 for Jan. 9 and 41,861 for Jan. 16. Consider getting out there on Tuesday mornings and help set Peak Zwift for 2025.
Tour de Zwift
The Tour de Zwift has started! This is a six-week challenge ending late February. While these are public Zwift events, and a typical ride has many hundreds of participants, TBN is hosting set times, three per week, where TBNers can ride a TdZ stage and chat to each other (commiserate?) via the Discord app. Or perhaps you are interested in Zwift's "Ultimate Challenge" where you ride all 18 TdZ routes during the six-week period. We will also have two rides per week that use our usual TBN Zwift ride model. Check out the TBN calendar, or Zwift meetups for the upcoming events.
If you are interested in Zwift rides, either as a participant or as a volunteer virtual ride leader, please email virtualrides@tbn.ca with your preferences (day, time, distance and duration) and whether you are willing to host an event. Details about upcoming Zwift meetups will be posted on the TBN website.
We are looking to restart the evening rides, but we need some volunteers to "lead" the rides. If you prefer to Zwift in the evenings, would like some TBN company, and can commit to doing the ride, contact virtualrides@tbn.ca, and we will set you up as Zwift Ride Leader.
Reminder to update your TBN profile
Please ensure to periodically update your TBN club profile. Perhaps upload a photo of yourself (so other members know who you are), confirm that your email address listed is correct (as this is the primary way for us to contact you), confirm your phone and emergency contacts are still valid, and update your current (or former) occupation and let us know if and how you would like to volunteer with TBN. We are always looking for helping hands, especially those with needed skills. How to do this: Login to the website www.tbn.ca, click on your name, then click Edit Profile. When you are done, press Save to commit your changes.
Event registration reminder
Please remember to login to the TBN website prior to registering for our Events. If you are not logged in, the system does not know who you are, and will only offer you the Guest Rider registration choice. Also, when you are logged into the TBN website, a lot of members-only content appears.
Chain of Events editor is Rick MacMillan. Email coe@tbn.ca.
