Friday, December 4th, 2020...9:41 am

To the Beach by Bike

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By Da Beattie

Toronto has two main beaches. Woodbine and Cherry beach. 

Before COVID, you could subway to the beach. After you got yourself to your nearest train station, you had to take the subway to woodbine and hop on a bus and then walk before you finally got to the boardwalk where you were going to walk some more. Getting to Cherry beach is no easier and by the time you wait for the bus, change lines, and wait for another bus you may as well have biked. 

Biking before COVID was very easy. But now it is easier. Before you could enter the Don Valley bike trails through Bayview, the Brickworks which also leads to the Bayview Extension and the many other entrance points that take you into the Don valley trails. Ever since COVID, the latter half of the bayview extension and other roads is closed to pedestrians and cyclists on the weekends. Directly taking you into the Canary district, you are now only a few streets in each direction from both Woodbine and Cherry beach as well as the Distillery. Even during the weekdays, the trail is relatively safe with new bike lanes extending the Bayview extension bike lane almost until the end. While the path is no longer shut down, there is only a small strip of road that is bike-lane free.

If you would rather go through the city, the new Danforth bike lane will be your best friend to get to Woodbine Beach. Much needed, it only took a global pandemic for Toronto to get a bike lane on the Danforth. Along the entire Danforth, you can follow the bike lane all the way to Woodbine detouring through the various neighborhoods if you so choose. 

If you would rather go to Cherry beach, or more recently known as Chainsaw Beach after a chainsaw event occurred over the summer, the path is just as straight forward. Not far from woodbine beach, Cherry beach is also close to Tommy Thompson Park. If you are looking for a flat, car free, leisurely ride Tommy Thompson Park is for you. With great views of downtown Toronto, the path is wide and large enough for safe social distancing. It is not always open so you must do your research beforehand. https://tommythompsonpark.ca

If the time saving incentive of biking to the beach is not enough, financial incentive may be the key. Not only is cycling cheaper than a car, it is cheaper than the subway and safer than the subway. If you can’t get your hands on a bike, you may just have to wait until next year. But don’t worry, the beach is going nowhere. Except maybe underwater.



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