Chain of Events
February 14, 2018
Happy Valentine's Day from TBN
Your ideas wanted for a new-look TBN
As part of an exciting plan to create a new identity, TBN needs your help in finding a tag line that better sums up what the club stands for, and the benefits of being a member. The short, distinctive, new line will replace the current message (Meet People. Ride. Have Fun), and we'll have a new logo too -- after many years it's time to change the look.
TBN will unveil its new identity at our May 12 riding season kickoff. And if we use your suggestion, we'll give you a $50 gift certificate as appreciation! See the TBN website for more details. The deadline to submit your suggestion for TBN’s new tag line is Wed Feb 28. Send your suggestion to publicity@tbn.ca.
Learn (or relearn) to lead a ride
Sign up now for TBN's important ride leaders' workshop. We'll discuss key safety issues, what you need to bring with you to a ride and how to keep your group together. The event takes place at the downtown Ralph Thornton Centre on Queen Street East (just east of Broadview) on Wednesday April 11. Access is via the King or Queen streetcar lines, or there's Green P parking just a block away.
Travel with TBN
TBN is offering a wider range of multi-day bicycle trips this year, a couple of which are already either sold out or very nearly so. See below for details -- registration for most trips opens on March 1, so you can start planning your bicycle vacations before it's even warm enough to ride your bike.
See the overnight trips section of the TBN website for more details.
New York 5 Boro May 3-7 FULLY BOOKED
TBN's inaugural trip to the New York 5 Boro ride is sold out. Please contact Dan Richards if you want to find your own accommodation but still join the TBN riders.
Niagara Bike & Hike May 18-21
This Victoria Day weekend, join the always popular Niagara Bike and Hike trip along the quiet country roads and paved, off-road trails of the Niagara Region. You will stay the weekend at the Niagara College residence near Niagara-on-the Lake with your own bedroom in a shared suite. The trip costs $200 for members and $255 for non-members. Registration for members starts on February 18, and non-members can sign up from March 4. Details here.
Springtime in Kentucky May 18-May 28
Registration opens on March 1 for TBN's 3rd cycling vacation in the rolling hills of Kentucky, run by Dinsmore Roach and Marie Ferguson. The trip will offer 10 days of cycling, including a weekend of rides with the Blue Grass Cycling Club: the Horsey Hundred. We will carpool to Lexington, Kentucky, for the start of the trip, which will cost $799 for members, $850 for non-members. Click here for more information.
Toronto-Niagara-Toronto Overnight, June 16-17
Challenge yourselves with our 2-day ride from Toronto or Stony Creek to Niagara Falls, and ride back the next day. This event is in its 25th year and features an exhilarating ride along the Niagara Parkway and a return route through picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake. Registration will open on March 1 for members and on March 18 for non-members. Trip prices for members are $150/person, single occupancy, or $90/person for double/triple/quad occupancy. More details coming soon on the Overnight Trips page.
GO to GO Tour, Halton-Stratford-Burlington, June 21-24
No car? No problem! You can join this 4-day bike tour without driving or carpooling anywhere. Take your bike on the GO train to Mount Pleasant Station in Brampton and leave your luggage with the support vehicle. You will ride through the scenic Halton Hills, past Amish farmlands, to an overnight in Stratford and then along the Grand River and through the Escarpment. The trip ends at Aldershot GO station. Member registration starts March 1 -- register by April 30 for the early bird price of $425/person double occupancy. Non-member registration starts March 18, for an additional fee of $60/person. More details to come on the Overnight Trips page.
Midland History Bike Tour, July 20 – 24
Take a ride into history on a relaxed 4-day tour starting at Georgian College in Barrie. Then ride to Midland to explore Ontario’s first European settlement and First Nations heritage at Christian Island, and then ride the Georgian Bay shoreline and visit a lighthouse and marine museum at Port McNicholl. The tour continues through Orillia to Barrie. This trip includes a support vehicle and has GO train options. Member registration starts March 1, 2018, with an early-bird price of $455/person double occupancy available until May 15. Non-member registration starts March 18, for an additional fee of $60/person. Details coming soon.
Eastern Townships Sept 7-14 ONE SPACE LEFT
There's just one space left in a special trip to Quebec's scenic Eastern Townships. You will stay all week at a comfortable 5-bedroom rented house, at unbeatable prices: $370/person single occupancy or $220/person, double occupancy (member pricing). Check the website for more details.
Eastern Townships and Vermont Sept 15 – 21
TBN is working with tour operator, Velo Quebec to offer members a different 6-day bike tour starting in the Eastern Townships with 3 days in bike-friendly Vermont. This tour is for the cyclist who wants everything taken care of, with a support vehicle for your luggage, an experienced guide trained in first aid and bike mechanics, and well-designed and tested routes. The package includes 6 breakfasts, one 3-course dinner and comfortable 2-3 star hotels/motels. It will cost $1510/person (double occupancy) if 10-14 people register or $1425/person if there are 15-20 riders. Registration opens February 18.
Contact Jeannie at weekendtrips@tbn.ca if you have any suggestions for a trip or if you wish to lead one. Trip leaders have their fees paid by TBN.
Visit us at the TBN bike show booth
The Toronto International Bike Show, on March 2-4, will showcase everything that manufacturers are offering this year, and give retailers, bike-friendly regions, tour operators and other vendors a chance to tout their wares. It's the perfect place to find a new bike or new biking swag, or to find maps for that region that you've always wanted to explore.
As in past years, TBN will have a stand at the show to explain the club to newcomers and encourage them to join, so come along and say hello to the volunteers looking after the show, which takes place at the Better Living Centre on the Exhibition Grounds.
Introducing new partner Pedalinx
We’re delighted to welcome TBN’s newest retail partner, Pedalinx, located at College and Bathurst in Toronto and in Mississauga at Winston Churchill and 401. Pedalinx, which caters to cyclists at all levels, will offer TBN members a 15% discount on bikes and a 20% discount on accessories and service. And until the end of March they are offering a 30% discount on preseason tuneups. We’ve heard great things about them from a couple of members, something reflected by their five star Yelp rating.
P.S. Look for a Pedalinx mechanic at our spring kickoff on May 12, where TBN members will be able to get a hands on demonstrations of changing a flat tire.
More bicycle vacation ideas
Join fellow TBNers at a March 1 pub night where staff from tour organizer and consolidator OK Cycle & Adventure Tours will present options for exciting cycling vacations to Europe, Asia and Latin America (as well as ever-more-popular Colombia). OK offers guided tours, self-guided tours and boat/barge cycling tours, as well as adventures like hiking and white water rafting. Tours range from easy/moderate to very difficult, and vary from just a few days to a couple of weeks, with custom trips available too.
The evening starts at 630pm at the Pauper's Pub on Bloor Street. More details coming soon on the TBN website.
What's coming up?
A quick note on some of the bike-focused events to look forward to in the coming weeks and months. If you have something to add to this new feature in Chain of Events, please email the editor at coe@tbn.ca.
March 1: TBN pub night with OK Cycle and Adventure tours. Details coming on the TBN website.
March 2-4: Toronto International Bike Show. TBN will have a booth at the show.
April 11: TBN Ride Leaders' clinic
May 12: TBN's Spring Kickoff breakfast. More details soon.
May 18-21: TBN Niagara Hike and Bike weekend
May 19-28: TBN Kentucky trip
June 3: Ride for Heart, and a chance to ride your bike along the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway, along with tens of thousands of other riders.
June 16-17: TNTO (Toronto to Niagara Falls) weekend -- 322km of riding in a single day.
June 21-24: Halton-Stratford-Burlington bike trip.
June 24: TBN's annual Toronto-Niagara-Toronto Hairshirt ride. Registration is open now.
July 20-24: Midland History bike trip
August 3-6: Join 200 TBNers for Cyclon, to be held in Waterloo, Ontario.
September: TBN overnight trips, to Quebec and to Quebec/Vermont.
Reminders
Calling Hairshirt riders
Registration is already open for the annual Hairshirt ride, which takes place on Sunday, June 24. Ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls in the morning/afternoon, and back in the afternoon/evening for a total one-day distance of 322km. Check the website for more details of this challenging once-a-year ride.
Print your own membership card
TBN now offers you the opportunity to print your own membership card and cut down on TBN administrative costs. Use your email and password to access your profile on the TBN website, and then click on your name at the top left of the page. The membership card will appear under Membership Details. If you want a hard copy of the card, please email membership@tbn.ca to request one.
Still space at TBN's spin sessions
TBN's indoor cycling training sessions at the downtown Adelaide Club are a fantastic way to stay fit and get ready to cycle. Master spinning instructor and competitive cyclist Carmen Diges develops progressive classes and tests regularly so participants meet their goals. Plus, you'll get a chance to try the Adelaide's state-of-the-art Stages bikes, with power meter technology.
Classes are from 6:35 to 7:35 p.m on Wednesdays. The eight-week series is $90 plus HST. Please register with Lauren at 416-367-9957 x 4309 or lauren@adelaideclub.com.
Members, non-members welcome at skating
TBN's Friday night skating programme runs right through the winter. Remember, you do not need a TBN membership to participate as we skate on public rinks. This is a social event, not an athletic one, and we welcome all levels of skaters, including beginners, as well as non-skaters. "Non-skaters?" you may ask. Well yes, sometimes we have had more people at the apres-skate than on the ice. Once we know the venue, skaters call their friends, and then the more the merrier. Watch the website for details.
Membership fees going up
Fees for rose from January 1 to keep finances stable as costs rise. This means, for example, that the renewal fee for a single member will go up to $40 from $35. Respondents to TBN's 2017 membership survey described TBN as excellent value for money and made clear they were open to higher fees.
Where do we go for near year's party/AGM?
Whistlers Bar and Grill has hosted TBN's annual meeting (and dance) more often than any other venue in the club's history. But Whistlers is closing in 2018, and we're looking for ideas for a new location to help us celebrate the year,. Please email social director Susan Bishop at social@tbn.ca if you have suggestions for a venue for the 2018 event.
Deals and special offers on bike stuff, tours, rides, and so on
TBN partners offer great deals for our members. Discounts are also available at numerous bike stores, special bike tours outside Ontario, charity ride registration, and much more. Please support TBN's great partners.
Remember you must present your valid TBN membership card for a discount at any TBN discount partner.
As always, check the TBN website for details of all the rides and other events that are coming up, and remember to check back a couple of hours before a ride in case it's changed or cancelled because of poor weather, or other factors beyond our control.
Remember to visit the TBN calendar of events to find out more about what's coming up. That little TTC logo below will help alert you to any subway closures.
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