A reader contacted me to get my advice on retrieving her bike that had been swept up by the City in its yearly round up of abandoned bikes parked at post and rings throughout the city. My reply is below:

Hi Caroline,
I'm sorry to hear you've lost your bike. Your best bet would be to call 311 and find the official answer. From what I know the City staff put the notices on all bikes parked on ring and posts in the spring. The notices state that they will return a week later (or so) and remove the bikes that remain. Presumably they only take the ones with the notice still attached. From what I've been told by the City these bikes are either given to the police to be sold at a police auction or put into metal recycling.

I'm sure the City discussed this with their legal department before going through with this. There are always lots of abandoned bikes so the City is keen on keeping the streetscape clean. If you want to prevent this from happening in the future you will first need to remove the notice and perhaps ensure that your bike doesn't look abandoned by ensuring that it's in reasonable working order.

-- Herb

Hi there,

I was wondering if you know anything about the city's right to claim
someone's bike; specifically my bike that was parked at a ring and post on
my street.

I parked my bike outside all winter. I recently received a paper stapled to
my bike telling me to remove my bike. I didn't. And now my bike and other
bikes I noticed that had this notice attached are gone.

Okay, fine the city is right to do this if they gave me a warning and i
didn't remove my bike, but is there anyway I can go claim it? I planned to
ride it this summer. Where and how?

Thanks for your insight.

Today at the Public Works and Infrastructure meeting is a request by the chair, Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong to have staff report on the proposed downtown cycle track network for the June meeting. This is basically a repeat of the request from last August, but suggests that DMW is still serious about the network.

Note the letter by Councillor Vaughan in the background file. In March 2010, Vaughan supported the proposal that City staff study the feasibility of creating cycle tracks / separated bike lanes on St. George / Beverley. Perhaps Vaughan would still be open to cycle tracks though his more recent negative comments make it harder to know where he stands.

The agenda item:

Downtown Bicycle Lane Network - Request for a Report

Origin
(April 10, 2011) Letter from Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Chair of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee

Summary
Forwarding communications on the Downtown Bicycle Lane Network and requesting the General Manager, Transportation Services, to submit a report to the June 23, 2011 meeting of the Public Works and Infrastructure Committee.

Background Information
(April 10, 2011) Letter from Councillor Denzil Minnan-Wong, Chair, Public Works and Infrastructure Committee on Downtown Bicycle Lane Network - Request for Report
(http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/mmis/2011/pw/bgrd/backgroundfile-37484.pdf)

Sun, 04/17/2011 - 14:51 - April 17: Charlie's Freewheels is the only bicycle shop in the country providing employment, job training, and hope to young people.<br />
Charlie’s Freewheels was conceived in memory of our friend, Charles Prinsep, who was tragically struck and killed while touring the country on his bicycle in the summer of 2007. ©Charlie's Bike Shop Opening

Tino captured the opening celebration of Charlie's Bike Shop (as part of the organization Charlie's Freewheels, which opened recently just a few doors east of Sherbourne on Queen. Charlie's works with youth from Regent Park to provide training in bicycle mechanics and now running a business.

Charlie's Freewheels was named in honour of Charlie Prinsep, a Torontonian who was hit and killed by a car on the Trans-Canada near Brooks, Alberta while on a cross-country bike tour. Charlie loved everything about cycling: riding, fixing, going on long tours. (The site is not far from my parents home. I visited the site in 2007 where Charlie was hit; the wide, flat, straight, isolated Trans-Canada has plenty of room to avoid hitting anyone, but the driver was most likely falling asleep at the wheel.)

Sun, 04/17/2011 - 14:54 - P1050426 ©View on Flickr

Click on the photo to see Tino's whole gallery.

Sun, 04/17/2011 - 14:25 - P1050396 ©View on Flickr

Some of the organizers help launch the shop, including Emma McIlveen Brown, Derek Chadbourne, Joshua Farr, unknown and Aaron Marques.

See also the first award ceremony at Critical Mass;