Icycle 2008

This Saturday, February 16th at 6:00pm Toronto's best annual winter cycling event takes place at Dufferin Grove Park. It's Icycle 2008, and it's all about bike racing on ice.

Studded Tire

I'm not usually too interested in bike races, but this takes it up a notch. These cyclists build the most aggressive studded tires possible, much better than what you'll get commercially, and then race fast while looping around the arena.

You might expect to see tons of spills and wipeouts, but the studded tires generally keep excellent grip. I can guarantee you'll see some good spinouts and crashes into the boards though!

Be sure to stick around until the end after the 2008 Icycle racing champion has been crowned. The most fun happens next: The Rubber Race! This "race" is more like anarchy on ice as a big mass of cyclists race around the track with only one rule: no studded tires! It's absolutely hilarious to see bikes and riders of all different shapes, sizes, and abilities try to make their way around the rink as fast as possible, while they spin out, crash, laugh, and jump back on their bikes. If you come out to watch the races, you might as well get your own kicks and join in on the rubber race fun.

Ice Bike

Unfortunately, I'll have to miss this year's race so I'm counting on all you ibiketo.ca readers to attend and take as many photos and videos as possible. I posted plenty of links to photos and videos from last year here. Enjoy!

Contact The Bike Joint at 416-532-6392 for more info.

Photos by Vic Gedris, patent diagram from Google Patents