On September 10, UTM hosted a community bicycle ride open to all residents of Mississauga.
These community bicycle rides are organized every day in various locations across Mississauga as an opportunity for its residents to explore the city.
UTM BikeShare, which hosted the event, is a free bicycle rental service that is open to all U of T students, staff, and faculty. Its primary goal is to promote going green at UTM by providing bicycles to those who are interested in helping preserve the environment.
For the community bike ride, UTM BikeShare also offered bicycles for those outside UTM who wished to participate in the ride. The community bicycle ride had 108 people in attendance, bringing a sense of community and awareness to the UTM campus. The event welcomed enthusiastic adults of all ages, students from UTM, and families with their children dressed in riding gear and helmets.
“These community bike rides are done all around Mississauga, with UTM being just one of the locations,” said Irwin Nayer, one of the volunteers of the Mississauga Cycling Advisory Committee. He expressed his appreciation of the UTM campus, saying that “We didn’t choose UTM; UTM chose us!”
The cyclists went through the Sawmill Valley Trail beside the campus. There are two pathways to choose from based on difficulty—the unpaved path for those who are more experienced and desire a challenge, and the paved boardwalk for those who want a more relaxed ride, which is recommended for family-oriented residents. The bicycle ride in its entirety was about a 14.8 km round trip.
UTM hosted this event last year as well. According to Chelsea Dalton, the environmental sustainability coordinator of UTM Environmental Affairs, “UTM students got involved last year and based on this year’s success, we hope to make this a yearly occurrence.”
Two third-year UTM students were a part of the event as well: Urvesh Prajapati and Vicki Tran. Prajapati heard of the event from working at the BikeShare office, while Tran said, “I did this event last year but at a different location, and was interested in doing it again this year at UTM.”
