Toronto Travel Discoveries - Ride through Riverside neighbourhood

The fact that it's already late October (Oct 28) didn't deter me from another bike ride. So at about 10:30 am this morning I linked up with my friend Randy at the Taylor Park Bridge in the Don Valley. We cycled down on the west side of the River on a packed dirt trail that is quite reminiscent of a roller coaster, with all its exhilarating curves and turns.

Just south of the Leaside Bridge we arrived at the makeshift dirt riding park that has been created in the middle of the woods by a group of unknown volunteers. We came across five young guys in their mid to late teens, all experts in dirt biking and terrain jumping.

We spent a good half hour watching the guys jumping from hill to hill and doing 180 degree turns in the air and one of the guys told me that they usually ride in the skate park near Wallace Emerson (High School). This was their first outing on a dirt trail and they really impressed us with their jumps (check out my footage on Youtube and search for "travelandtransitions", you should see some footage of their advanced riding skills).

Then we continued on southwards and came up at Riverdale Farm where we connected with my good friend Shauna. The three of us checked out the various farm animals at the farm (all accessible for free), including the chickens, horses, cows, a rather sad-looking donkey and some very affectionate goats in the barn. They sure liked their head scratched...

Off to Queen Street East for brunch where we had an absolutely scrumptious meal at "Le Cafe Vert" , a place that features lots of vegan and vegetarian meals. My spinach/bacon frittata and the passionfruit creme brule were to die for. Shauna's mango chocolate parfait looked pretty awesome too.

After a little excursion back towards the Queen and Broadview area and a ride past all the funky cafes and boutiques on Queen East and recently gentrified Leslieville, I rode home on Gerrard Street through Little India. This colourful neighbourhood is always an interesting destination. A perfect day for a bike ride...
Check out some of my other travel stories and articles at www.travelandtransitions.com.

Category:

Travel & Events

Tags:

• toronto
• canada
• don
• valley
• riverdale
• farm
• queen
• street
• riverside

[tiagower1]

A painted streetcar! I didn`t see any :(

I just loved Toronto! The best city i`ve ever gone! next time you ride your bike in toronto, please, go to the streets close to eaton centre! It was the place i always stoped for a cigarrette and a Timmy`s cup.

I miss Toronto so much!! Also miss my canadian host parents and Omnicon school of languages!

By the Way! I loved your video! I could feel Toronto`s air!

Greetings from Brazil!

[travelandtransitions]

Glad you liked my Toronto video. I have taken hundreds of them, so do a search for my username "travelandtransitions toronto" and you'll find a huge number of videos that will bring back memories. Toronto is a great place for English language studies, isn't it. I am glad you had a good time here. Hopefully I will have a chance to go to Brazil one day..

All the best from Toronto...

[darren7678]

Nice, but area with highest upward appreciation potential in the city, is the Port Union area of Toronto. With an average annual income over in excess of 140,000 and a university attainment level of over 35%; the area's dynamics and demographics are not reflected in the affordable prices of the homes. Least not YET.

[BeeRich33]

Newells!  Hilarious!

[jamexirican]

i like your accent =]

[FarrahnsMom]

Awesome...there's my place!!!