Brompton World Challenge 2021

The pandemic shuttered group Brompton rides, but now that we are vaccinated, we’re back! Our local Toronto Brompton group was keen to do a ride for the Brompton World Challenge, so we came up with a route and took to the trails…

Toronto BWC 2021 Route

Finding a route for 20+ cyclists is harder now than before the pandemic. Just three years ago in 2018 (which feels like at least six years ago), we did a Brompton Social Ride along the Martin Goodman Trail from downtown Toronto to Port Credit. Due to Covid, Torontonians now spend more time outdoors in parks and on trails, which is great for mental and physical health. The one downside is that the MGT is now far too busy for a group bike ride. The city really needs to widen the trail significantly, or permanently dedicate lanes of Lake Shore Boulevard West to cyclists. 

After some discussion, we chose a route of trails that are wider and slightly less busy than the MGT: Cedarvale, the Kay Gardiner Beltline, the Ravine Beltline, and the ActiveTO section of Bayview Ave. (ActiveTO is a program where the city closes roads to cars and opens them to pedestrians and cyclists; I should write a blog post about it sometime.)

Now without further ado, footage of the ride in both VIDEO and PHOTOS below… 

VIDEO: Toronto BWC 2021 Ride

PHOTOS: Toronto BWC 2021 Ride

The Brompton World Challenge includes a photo competition for such things as Best Dressed, Urban Camouflage (matching yourself and your bike to your city), Brompton Geographic (best nature shot with your Brompton), and Hidden Gem (your bike at your favourite local spot). Finally, there’s the Fastest Fold video. We didn’t make these challenges part of the ride, but people were free to enter their photos in Brompton’s challenge. I (Heather) only did two categories:

Brompton Best Dressed…

Bonus points for matching my tights to my Brompton!

Brompton Urban Camouflage…

Blend into your city with your bike.

Otherwise, I was busy leading the ride and taking cycling selfies. ;-D

We stopped for a snack break at the Evergreen Brick Works. A small group of us climbed the switchbacks to enjoy the view.

Then it was time to do the final leg of the ride down Bayview Ave.

Further south, Bayview Ave was closed to cars and open to pedestrians and cyclists for ActiveTO, and we took full advantage of it!

Thanks to everyone that came out! We’re looking forward to doing another group ride later this fall.