Cycle26 member Brian Betsworth (left) with Ward 29 Bikes members Tom Flaherty (middle) and Luke Siragusa (right).

Ward 29 Bikes ran a cycling information area at Diefenbaker Public School on Thursday, as part of the school’s Minds and Bodies in Motion after-school evening dedicated to active lifestyles. Member Tom Flaherty organized our table and coordinated the volunteers. Our team included Brian Betsworth (a member of Cycle26), Luke Siragusa, and Val Dodge. Constable Roger Mayers, a bicycle police officer with 54 Division, was also on hand to talk about safety and impress students (and parents, and us too) with his fully-equipped police bike.

We spoke with 70 students and their teachers and parents about all things cycling, answered safety questions, demonstrated a variety of cycling gear, and pointed out local trails, bike lanes, and parks that offer safe and fun riding for all ages.

The rainy weather interfered with our plans to hold a full-scale bicycle rodeo outside, but we plan to make up for it later this spring. Everyone had a great time and we hope to bring our show to more area schools in the future.

Special thanks go to to David Robinson, the Sustainability Coordinator at Mountain Equipment Co-op for providing bicycle bells as giveaways for the kids; Constable Joanne Theriault of 54 Division for coordination assistance; Christina Bouchard and Barb Wentworth of the City of Toronto for providing a big box of cycling handouts, maps, and posters; the staff and students at Diefenbaker for inviting us; and Brian Betsworth, Constable Mayers, and Auxiliary Constable Carrie Lloyd for helping at the event. And a big thanks to Tom for arranging it all!

If you represent a school in Toronto-Danforth Ward 29 and would like us to attend one of your events, please contact us. If you’re a cycling advocacy group that would like to be able to run similar events in your neighbourhood, ask us for more information.

Check below the fold for some additional pictures.

Photos by Brian Betsworth and Val Dodge.

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