Before the ride began, cycling lawyer David Shellnutt stood on a bench addressing the crowd as families adjusted helmets and riders prepared their bikes. He reminded volunteer marshals to keep motorists out of the group and told riders that once the procession moved through an intersection, they would stay together.
A chorus of bicycle bells signalled the start of the ride as cyclists, families, e-bikes and a handful of electric scooters and longboards moved west along Bloor Street.
Within the first half-hour of the Friday ride, friction emerged between riders and drivers trying to enter Bloor from side streets.
“You know, it’s really hard to empathize with you guys with this kinda stuff going on,” a driver told one of the volunteer marshals along the route.
“I know,” the marshal replied. “But we have to do something, right?”
The exchange captured a tension running through the ride: cyclists were trying to make their numbers and opposition visible, even as doing so disrupted motorists travelling through the same streets.
Critical Mass is an informal group ride in which cyclists travel together through city streets. Friday’s ride came as the province moves ahead with plans to restore motor vehicle lanes on several major Toronto streets, requiring changes to existing protected bike lanes. The group travelled roughly 10 kilometres along Bloor Street West, riding from High Park toward Royal York Road and back.
For Shellnutt, who helped promote the ride, that disruption is part of a broader effort to turn visibility into political pressure.
Shellnutt said the August ride came in response to the Ontario Court of Appeal overturning a lower court decision that had blocked the province’s bike-lane removals.
“This is about engaging people power,” Shellnutt said. “It’s about showing elected officials that there are many people who are affected by this and that are upset by it.”
Shellnutt said the demonstrations are also meant to mobilize cyclists beyond the ride, including contacting elected officials and taking part in further action.
Riders carried homemade signs ranging from handwritten placards to glowing LED displays, while one cyclist pedalled along playing a saxophone. Halfway through the ride, cyclists chanted “every bike is one less car,” “bike lanes save lives” and “blame Doug Ford” as the procession continued west along Bloor Street.
The fight over bike lanes has also become an issue in Toronto’s municipal election.
An August Liaison Strategies poll found 65 per cent of respondents said a candidate’s position on bike lanes would be important to their vote. However, voters were split on whether the city should build more lanes, keep roughly the current number or remove some.
Families moved through the procession with children riding beside them or tucked into bike trailers, bringing the protest through the everyday traffic of Bloor Street West.
Among them were Damian Maddalena and his 12-year-old son Thearon, who rely on Bloor Street West’s protected bike lanes to get around the city.
The lanes make it possible for the pair to use cycling as transportation, Maddalena said. Thearon, who has been biking in Toronto for about two years, said he would not feel as comfortable riding without them.
After decades of cycling, Maddalena said he is comfortable riding in traffic. But he doesn't feel the same way about riding with his son outside protected bike lanes.
“I would not be comfortable with him because he doesn’t have that confidence or knowledge of the road to be able to do that,” Maddalena said.
At Runnymede Road, a driver waiting to turn left through the procession leaned out of his Honda CR-V.
“I’ve been riding my bike in this city for 20 years,” he shouted toward the riders. “You guys are the ones who are getting the bike lanes removed.”
Not every driver along the route saw protected bike lanes as the problem. Alex, who identified himself as a motorist, joined the demonstration on foot.
“If you remove the bike lanes, these cyclists aren’t going anywhere. They’re just going to be in my way,” said Alex, who gave only his first name and has attended Critical Mass several times.
Alex said he hopes more drivers will speak out against the removals, arguing the province’s plan is intended to appeal to motorists.
“I am a driver, and I can tell you this will not benefit me at all,” he said.
At one red light, a young girl walking with her parents asked another girl riding with her father what the group was doing.
“What are you guys doing?”
“We’re protesting the bike lane removals.”
“That’s silly.”
“No, it’s not.”
