On a morning when TTC workers staged a wild cat transit strike, which stranded commuters and tied up cars in the resulting traffic, over 1000 cyclists arrived at work on time. (preliminary counts I got said 500 cyclists. The official numbers are in and it was over 1000 involved.) They were the participants of the Bike Week 17th annual Group Commute. Starting at 7:30 am at 5 points across Toronto they converged on Yonge street and converged on City Hall in time for the 8:30 am breakfast. I think that says something about the importance of enhancing the role of cycling in the city's transportation system. The cyclists were lead by the Mayor David Miller and several City councillors including Adam Giambrone, co-chair of the Toronto Cycling Committee, Sylvia Watson, Paula Fletcher, Janet Davis, and Jane Pitfield. Former chairs of the Toronto Cycling Committee, now members of Parliament, Jack Layton and Olivia Chow were there as well to join in kicking off Bike Week 2006.

Mayor David Miller (centre) leads 500 cyclists down Yonge Street in the 2006 edition of the Group Commute. He is joined by City Councillors (left to right) Janet Davis, Paula Fletcher and Jane Pitfield as well as Member of Parliament Oliva Chow and Federal NDP Leader Jack Layton. Adam Giambrone and Sylvia Watson were back in the pack.

Mayor David Miller presented Councillor Adam Giambrone with the proclamation declaring May 29th to June 11th Bike Week: Bike Week 2006 Proclamation. The theme of Bike Week 2006 is "Bike to Work" and the Mayor noted that that was appropriate given the events of the day.

Mayor Miller presents the Bike Week 2006 Proclamation to Toronto Cycling Committee Co-Chair Adam Giambrone.

There are lots of Bike Week events left to take part in, especially since Bike Week is really 2 weeks. You can see the listing of events at the Bike Week 2006 web page or on the Bike Week 2006 Online Calendar. Get out and celebrate Bike Week, the week with 14 days!