With snowbanks clogging up the city’s bike lanes and roads becoming icier by the day, Toronto’s cyclists could use an excuse for a party. And as parties go, the one that follows the 2008 City of Toronto Bicycle Friendly Businesses Awards on Tuesday night is not at all the sober affair you might expect. The Gladstone Ballroom is packed and buzzing well before the ceremony begins, this year taking place as part of the Toronto Bike Awards, co-presented by the Toronto Cyclists Union.
Representatives from the city are out in force, with awards presented by City Councillor and TTC Chair Adam Giambrone, Councillor Gord Perks and City Councillor and Cycling Committee Chair Adrian Heaps. The awards, Perks reminds us, also bear the signature of Mayor David Miller, whose name elicits a few derisory noises from the crowd. Later though, Heaps reminds us that without the Mayor’s $70 million investment in cycling, “the Bike Plan would not exist,” keeping with the positive tone of the evening.
In between awards, we are treated to a musical number by Clay and Paper Theatre (“Two Wheels Are Better than Four”), followed by a delightfully silly, and surprisingly provocative, “Winter Layering Reverse Strip Tease” (who knew it was possible to look alluring zipping up a dayglo orange jacket?).
