There are a couple days on the tail end of winter that pop up and remind you that spring is coming. Don't be fooled by them…it's not spring yet. There will probably be snow still to come so if you're smart you'll take full advantage of these random and wonderful days.
Last week we had one of those days. It was gorgeous and my roommate and I felt that itch to get outside.
We're both on a budget so we wanted to do something cheap, but fun.
Bixi Bikes were the answer.
If you live near a big city you've probably seen some of these bikes. They are rentable bicycles that anyone can grab and ride around the city. You pay a fee, take your bike, and you can drop it at any other Bixi bike rack.
It's $5.00 to rent a bike for the day but there are limits. You have to bring the bike to a rack every half hour, put it back in, wait two minutes, get a new code, and then be on your way again for the next half hour. If you go over the half hour you get charged more. It sounds like a pain but it's actually pretty easy because there are racks all over the city. Plan ahead by looking up the bike map and you should have no problem.
You can put your bike on a rack and come back whenever within the 24 hour period. We dropped our bikes off and went into the St. Lawrence Market for smoothies at one point.
I was pretty scared about biking in the city. I was afraid of biking near cars and had seen an MTV documentary once about the dangers of biking in Toronto. It was actually incredibly easy. I was always aware of what was going on around me and it seemed like the cyclists, pedestrians, and cars were all sharing the road pretty well.
Honestly, this was my favourite way that I've ever seen the city. Driving causes you to miss a lot and walking can be boring. Cycling was great because we covered so much of the city while still getting to actually see it.
I highly recommend cycling your city this spring. It's a great workout, it's fun, and it's cheap!
From the desk of:
Taylor Brown
Cycling City Slicker
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