March 17 2023
Gord's message: Gearing up for outdoor cycling
It's getting close to the time of year we all relish the most: getting outdoors to once again enjoy exploring our favourite city or country routes. I know some of you have spent the winter on your trainers, using Zwift or some other cycling app. Others have been lucky enough to travel to warm climates to extend the riding season. As spring approaches, I am personally looking forward to meeting up with TBN members out on the road or the cycling path. Time to get that tuneup!
This issue offers one final reminder about TBN's CAN-BIKE Level 4 course, which is offered free for members seeking to hone their skills. But space is limited and there are just a few spots left. Details below and on the calendar.
And finally, as noted in this issue, we are seeking to fill a number of volunteer positions, including ambassadors and Marshals for this year's Bike for Brain Health, which will see the Don Valley Parkway closed and taken over by thousands of cyclists. If you can't volunteer, please consider signing up for the ride by visiting Bike for Brain Health.
Safe riding everyone.
--Gord Irish, President
Last chance to sign up for Can-Bike Level 4 course
TBN is offering a CAN-BIKE Level 4 course, March 24-26. It will be run by TBN member Joey Schwartz, who is a certified CAN-BIKE instructor. The entire course will be offered over three days: Friday evening will be the theory class, while the Saturday and Sunday in-person portion features on-the-bike training, followed by certification testing. The entire three-day course, with testing, will be limited to 12 attendees and is now open to all TBN members and there is no cost to take part. This is the first time since 2015 that TBN has offered this free training to its members.
We are not limiting attendance for the Friday Evening Theory Class. The Theory Class will cover the guiding principles of safe cycling: See, Be Seen, Be Predictable. Those principles then tie into the main CAN-BIKE mantra: Maneuverability, Visibility, Predictability and Communication (MVPC). The Theory Class also covers how to repair a flat tire, urban riding, rural riding, group riding, cold weather riding, warm weather riding, nighttime riding, trail riding, human kinesiology/energy systems, and navigating.
At this time there are very few spots still available for the in-person sessions. If you would like to be accepted or placed on the waiting list, send an email to Education Director Andrew Paterson at education@tbn.ca.
For more details visit the TBN calendar page.
TBN-branded jerseys and other gear coming soon
We are pleased to announce that this year's riding season will coincide with a new look for TBN jerseys. The club's jersey committee will be finalizing designs with supplier Scimitar in the next few days. After that, TBN members will have the option to vote for their preferred style through Survey Monkey. For the first time in many years we will have not only jerseys (long, short sleeves), but also shorts, gillet and jackets for ordering. Orders will be placed online via the TBN website, managed by our jersey committee member AJ Parl. Fitting day will be scheduled for April 16. Be sure to check the calendar and website home page for further updates.
TBN booth a big draw at Bike Fest 2023
Special thanks to 14 TBN members who volunteered to take shifts as hosts during this year’s Outdoor Adventure Show, Feb. 24-26 at the International Centre, where TBN had a popular booth in the Bike Fest zone: Booth organizer Alice Chan, Jean Dell’Agnese, Nancy Ryerson Vieira, Jerry Fish, Dennis Szilvasy, James Ling, Linda Ling, Italo Bravo, Terry Walsh, Mick O’Meara, Patsy Cook, Ron Li, Marc Giles and Lora Flanagan. Visitors to the booth were given opportunities to win special prizes, including TBN member discounts, free guest rides and free memberships. As well, a number of marketing materials were distributed to booth visitors, including TBN-branded bottles and pens. Thanks to all the members who dropped by during the weekend.
TBN Board members Alice Chan and Dennis Szilvasy present a free membership to a lucky winner at Bike Fest.
Member Experience Director
Trish St Pierre has resigned as the Board's Member Experience Director. We will miss her and hope she will volunteer again in the future. Director-at-Large Robert Elvin will take over the Member Experience position. Thank you Robert. We are searching for a new Director-at-Large to replace Robert. If you are interested please email president@tbn.ca
Compensating ride leaders
Last summer the TBN Board put into place guidelines for compensating ride leaders for expenses incurred during route research on rides with remote starts. This policy applies mainly to weekends and rides outside of the city. TBN will pay mileage of .50 per kilometre for route research. Any amount claimed under $20 does not need to be itemized. Expenses from $20 to $50 need to be approved by the Program Coordinator responsible for those rides. Expenses up to $100 need to be approved by the Touring Director. Expenses over $100 need to be approved by the President. It is important, the Board believes, that ride leaders make sure routes are updated and have no new construction concerns each year.
TBN is seeking volunteers for several activities
Marketing: Event Management (1), Photographer(1). Email publicity@TBN.ca for more details. Must be current TBN members.
Bike for Brain Health: We are hoping to recruit 30 ambassadors and 30 marshals to take on special roles during this year's Bike for Brain Health, June 4 along a blessedly closed Don Valley Parkway. These volunteers will ride in pairs to perform their duties. For details, visit the event page: BFBH TBN volunteers.TBN Communications Director Alice Chan, who is overseeing the club's presence at this major fund-raiser, is also seeking an event assistant to support her for the prep work leading to the event. Finally, Alice is also looking for eight volunteers to host the TBN booth at BFBH, and to help out with marketing and promotion work. If you are interested, email Alice at publicity@tbn.ca.
Cyclon Director: We continue to search for a new Cyclon Director. While Cyclon 2023 is largely planned as it returns to London, Cyclon 2024 is a big question mark. Next year will provide an exciting opportunity as the goal is to take Cyclon to a new location not used before. Cyclon has a strong committee to make it all happen but needs a director to pull it together. If you are interested please contact cyclon@tbn.ca.
Need to cancel a registration for an event?
We have tried to clear up the process for cancelling your event registrations. We have updated the How to Cancel my Event Registration page on the website. The links in each event now show
for registered users. See the web page for more details.
--Martin Lansche, Technical Director
Event registration reminder
Please remember to login to the TBN website prior to registering for our Events. If you are not logged in, the system does not know who you are, and will only offer you the Guest Rider registration choice. Also, when you are logged into the TBN website, a lot of members-only content appears.
