An Undeniably Important Female Cycling Pioneer

For many people within the cycling community, the name Nora Young (1917 – 2016) may not sound familiar. Five decades before female cyclists were allowed to compete in the Olympics in the 1980’s, Nora was one of Toronto’s original female cycling pioneers who also excelled in multiple sports. Director Julia Morgan is currently working on a film called “Undeniably Young: Nora Young and the Six-Day Race” to raise awareness about Nora and the importance of women’s cycling history in general. She is raising funds to finish the film through an IndieGoGo campaign which runs until November 6. I spoke with Julia to get a better understanding of the film and Nora’s impact on women’s cycling.

Completing the East End Grid

Last month, the City of Toronto installed new bike lanes in Thorncliffe Park and Flemingdon Park. When I had a chance to briefly check them out recently, I found them to be a promising start. However, there are several key gaps which need to be filled in order to truly give a boost to cycling in those neighbourhoods and Toronto’s east end as a whole.

Recently installed bike lanes on Thorncliffe Park Drive

Trail Gaps Along the Don

While Toronto’s bikeway network has lots of gaps to fill, east-west connectivity is arguably much better than north-south. Especially north of St. Clair where continuous routes are limited to the Don River and Humber River trails, as well as the bike lanes on Royal York which go to Dixon Road. Back in August, I biked the Don River trail system to Sheppard Avenue to identify trail gaps and better understand how the trail system fits with the Lake to Lake Route.

Wayfinding signage used on the Lower Don Trail