Toronto

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Home > List of rides > Canada > Toronto  •  Google this ride!

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Date: Saturday 12 June 2010
Time: Gather at 12 noon for socializing, body painting, bike decorating etc. Bring food to share if you wish. Ride starts at 1 pm, following a route along several major streets in the downtown core.
Location: Route starts at Coronation Park (west of Bathurst Street, by the waterfront at the centre of the park)

WNBR Toronto Start.jpg

Posters/flyers

Note: This poster is from 2009, the date in 2010 will be Saturday 12th of June 2010.

WNBR Toronto 2009 Poster / full size printable PNG
WNBR Toronto 2009 Poster / 450x765 pixel PNG for web or email

Route

New route for 2010? Now that the ride is substantially larger, the many left turns in this counter-clockwise route are becoming difficult. It might make sense to change to a clockwise route (with mostly right turns) instead, and to finish where we start at Coronation Park given that the Java Hut is too small for us now. Another good finishing point might be the Island Ferry docks, making it easy for people to enjoy the Toronto Islands after our ride if they like.

Below is the route that has been used in recent years and has served us well.

Start: Coronation Park Fountain. South of the CNE's Princes Gate. Meet at noon, ride 1pm. Bring water and sunblock, and maybe some food if you plan on being hungry at all.

See the links to the original Google Map below

1 (East) Queen's Quay: Enjoy Toronto's beautiful waterfront with picturesque ride on Queen's Quay West.

2 (North) York St: York is a relatively calm and pleasant way to cross the scary traffic corridor of the Gardiner and railway. Don't worry, our bike cop friends will keep us safe!

3 (East) Front St: Enjoy a bit of tourist madness along Front St West cycling past Union Station. Be glad you're on a bike!

4 (North) Yonge St: Wave to the crowds of people on Toronto's most famous street!

5: Dundas Square: If you are getting a bit hot at this point in the ride, take a quick splash through the fountains at Dundas Square. Just watch out for the other kids enjoying the water.

6 (East) Carlton St: Head east one block past the world famous Maple Leaf Gardens.

7 (North) Church St: A quick diversion through Toronto's busy gay village may be a good place to recruit a few more naked cyclists.

8 (West) Wellesley St: Return to the madness of Yonge St on Wellesley

9 (North) Yonge St again: One of the busiest shopping areas of the city.

 

10 (West) Yorkville Ave: New in 2008, we're going to head a bit further north to pass through one of Toronto's more expensive shopping districts.

11 (South) Avenue Road: We'll return to Bloor via Avenue Road

12 (West) Bloor St: Enjoy the changing character of Bloor St as we pass through the different neighbourhoods.

13 (South) Spadina Ave: At first Spadina is quiet, but as we enter Chinatown south of College it really heats up.

14 (West) Baldwin St: Cutting across to the very popular Kensington Market area, where we frequently gain a new rider or two.

15 (South) Kensington Ave: This is one of Toronto's most vibrant neighbourhoods.

16 (East) Dundas St W: We'll use Dundas to return to Spadina for our final leg south.

17 (South) Spadina Ave again: Continue south through Chinatown.

18 (West) Queen St W: This isn't the most exciting part of Queen St, but it takes us to our final destination.

END: Java House: Augusta & Queen St W. Java House is a great place to people watch, and have a diverse menu at very reasonable prices. And the beer is cheap, too!

GoogleMaps: map only ; GoogleMaps: normal view

What to bring

  • Water
  • Sunscreen
  • Decorations
  • Signs for yourself and your bike
  • Posters
  • Costumes
  • Body paints
  • A personal picnic lunch including beverages for the day
  • Bicycle helmet – let's be good role models!

Legality

Remember, it's perfectly legal for women to go topless in Canada anywhere that a man might, which includes cycling on city streets.

Furthermore, the Crown has acknowledged that participating in an orderly event naked is not illegal, so long as you are wearing something, such as shoes.

And you will also be happy to know that we have been cycling naked with a few polite and respectful bicycle cops for the last few years, who kindly stop traffic for us on those busy left turns, and who do their best to keep us all together as a group.

Photos, Movies and Audio

2009

2008

2007

2006

2005


2004

See also: WNBR Toronto Yahoo! group photos

History

2009

The 2009 Toronto WNBR was a hit! Over 100 women and men came out (110?), including a few that joined spontaneously along the route! Riders ranged from age 16 to near 70 and came from as far away as Ohio! The bicycle police did not join us this year, perhaps because we have always been so orderly that they thought it unnecessary. While we missed their help in guiding traffic on our behalf, a few volunteers were able to assume that role and did so well. Due to street closures for a festival, we took a small detour along Front Street at the start. We somehow took a wrong turn onto College Street near Kensington Market, but managed to quickly get back on route!

Facebook (an infamous privately owned social networking website) censored/removed the 2 year old WNBR Toronto Facebook Group but inexplicably left the orphaned WNBR Toronto 2009 Facebook Event that has all the same perfectly innocent content. Facebook and the like have proven to be unreliable and antagonistic; it is best to maintain our own lists and direct people to this wiki.

2008

The 2008 ride in Toronto was the biggest yet. 75+ women and men participated. Once again the weather was ideal, the police courteous and the public enthusiastic and supportive. Artist Leif Harmsen had created posters to advertise the event, as had another volunteer, and efforts had been made to distribute them around downtown Toronto and online.

2007

The 2007 ride in Toronto was the best yet. The weather was ideal. 30+ women and men participated and a new contingent from Hamilton joined up with us shortly after we set out. The police escort was courteous and the public was very supportive and showed much appreciation. The press coverage was generally very good - with a few excellent quotes and a clear reporting of the WNBR mandate and global scope.

2006

The 2006 ride in Toronto was plagued by lack of organisation and cold weather, but we ended up having a great time. Someone faxed incorrect info to the Toronto police, who showed up at Coronation Park several hours before the rest of us. They ended up having a very long day, but were good sports about it.

We started gathering around 11:30, and left on our ride at about 13:00. It was only about 14 degrees, but the sun was very intense and it warmed up nicely. We took a nice long winding route through the downtown core, and encountered a warm if low-key reception from the good citizens of Toronto. It's amazing how many people downtown happen to have cameras with them.

Our police escort hung back for the most part, but assisted us through a few intersections and left turns. We look forward to better weather and an increase in numbers for 2007, and hope to have a few women join us.

Edited by John aka Scoutniagara and Spike

2005

Ride report at TNT!MEN: Toronto 2005 World Naked Bike Ride: Fun and Fabulous! This page includes a number of reports from the 2005 ride, and provides links to photos of the 2004 and 2005 rides.

2005 Toronto WNBR pioneers!

2004

We had about 40 or 50 riders on the Toronto 2004 ride from Grange Park, but had a difference of opinion from two different police divisions, so for the 2005 ride, after a lack of leadership, a meeting place, Coronation Park was chosen. It worked out well, but we weren't able to advertise in sufficient time to draw more riders. We only had 10 riders, but I think we had a great and successful ride.

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