Chain of Events
March 14, 2018


Start your riding season: Improved routes for 2018

We've updated the roads and the lunch stops for our early-season kickoff ride, the March 25 Tourist adventure. The longest route now avoids the heart of Newmarket, and the middle distance offers nice, quiet side streets. Check the website for more details of this ride, and for our other ways to start your cycling season, including our traditional Good Friday ride, with lunch at Jake's in Unionville. 


Spring kickoff on Saturday May 12

TBN's Spring Kickoff breakfast is the highlight of our early season activities, and you can register now for the May 12 party, which takes place at Etienne Brule Park, on the popular Humber River bike trail. If you are interested in joining, this is your chance to come out and try one of our TBN rides at no cost. Rides will be available at different levels. You may be lucky and win a prize! Check out the website for more details.

 


Travel with TBN

TBN is offering a wider range of multi-day bicycle trips this year, three of which are already sold out. Registration for most of the remaining trips has opened, so you can start planning your bicycle vacations now.  See the overnight trips section of the TBN website for more details.

Springtime in Kentucky May 18-May 28 

Sign up now 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 glorious, quiet-road cycling, including a weekend of rides with the Blue Grass Cycling Club: the Horsey Hundred. We will carpool to Lexington, Kentucky, to start the trip. Click here for more information.


Toronto-Niagara-Toronto, June 16-17 OPENS APRIL 1

Challenge yourselves with our 2-day ride from Toronto or Stony Creek to Niagara Falls, and back, an event that's now in its 25th year. The route features exhilarating ride along the Niagara Parkway and a return through picturesque Niagara-on-the-Lake, with a couple of climbs up the escarpment to add excitement. Registration opens April 1 for members, and April 15 for non-members.

GO to GO Tour , June 21-24 

No car? No problem! Take your bike on the GO train to Mount Pleasant Station in Brampton and leave your luggage with the support vehicle for our four-day trip You can join this 4-day bike tour to Burlington, Stratford and the Halton Hills. The ride finishes at Aldershot GO station in Burlington. See the website for more details.


Midland History Bike Tour, July 20 – 24 , 2018

Ride into history on a relaxed 4-day tour starting at Georgian College in Barrie. You'll explore Ontario’s first European settlement and First Nations heritage, and then ride the Georgian Bay shoreline and visit a lighthouse and marine museum at Port McNicholl before riding through Orillia back. This trip includes a support vehicle and has GO train options. See the website for details.

Camping weekend August 24-26

Watch the website for details of Paul and Brenda's annual camping/cycling weekend, at a location that's yet to be decided. 

Eastern Townships/Vermont Sept 15 – 21 


TBN is working with Velo Quebec to offer a comfortable 6-day tour in the Eastern Townships and in bike-friendly Vermont. This tour is for the cyclist who wants everything taken care of, with a support vehicle, an experienced guide trained in first aid and bicycle mechanics, and well-designed and tested routes. The package includes 6 breakfasts, one 3-course dinner and comfortable 2-3 star hotels/motels. Registration is open now.


Wolf Den Sept 14 - 16

Details will be coming soon for our fall cycling trip to Wolf Den lodge, near Algonquin Park.

New Ride Ideas?

Contact Jeannie at weekendtrips@tbn.ca if you have suggestions for a trip or if you wish to lead one. Trip leaders have their fees paid by TBN.


Ride the rock

Watch the website for more details of our April 2 education session on riding your bike in Newfoundland. TBNers Adam Hotchin and Greg Yaschyshyn both toured ‘The Rock’ last year, Adam on an organized trip and Greg with his own itinerary. The two will share their experiences and talk about the challenges they met along the way at a Monday evening session at the Deer Park Public Library, 40 St Clair Avenue East. More details coming soon on the TBN website.


Are you a pack rat?

Our volunteers have been sifting through TBN's at times chaotic records to find out what the club has been up to since it was founded. Most records are there, including gems like interviews with the club's founders and a complete list of every Board member, from Day One. But there are some gaps, and we'd welcome your help to complete our collection of Quick Release, board minutes and the welcome kits for Cyclon.

We need:

  • Quick Release Vol. 4, no. 4; Vol. 9, no. 2; Vol 17, no. 5; Vol. 20, nos. 3, 4, 5;              Vol. 29, no. 1 
  • Cyclon welcome kit (with maps): 1987-96, 2010
  • Some sets of board minutes, mostly from 2003 and before

Please contact secretary@tbn.ca if you have copies of any of these. We have unearthed a library of mysterious photographs as well. Watch future editions of Chain of Events for some of these shots, where we will seek your help in identifying the people and the activities involved.

What's coming up?

A quick note on some of the bike-focused events over the coming weeks and months. If you have something to add to this feature in Chain of Events, please email the editor at coe@tbn.ca.

April 11: TBN Ride Leaders' clinic

May 3 - 7: NYC 5 Boro Ride - TBN's first time joining 32,000 cyclists for this ride

May 12:  Spring kickoff breakfast. 

May 18-21: Niagara Hike and Bike weekend

May 19-28: Springtime in Kentucky 

June 3: Ride for Heart.

June 16-17: TNTO (Toronto to Niagara Falls) weekend. 

June 21-24: Halton-Stratford-Burlington bike trip.

June 24: Annual Toronto-Niagara-Toronto Hairshirt ride. Registration is open

July 20-24: Midland History bike trip

August 3-6:  Join 200 TBNers for Cyclon, to be held in Waterloo

September: Trips, to Quebec, to Quebec/Vermont and to Wolf Den near Algonquin.

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.  


Learn (or relearn) to lead a ride

Sign up now for TBN's annual ride leaders' workshop. We'll discuss important 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. 

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 this year, and we're looking for ideas for a new location to help us celebrate the year,. Please email 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, 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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