Toronto Travel Discoveries - Broadview and Queen Street East

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
• riverside

[FacultyBob]

coach house shortbread company

[MrSageee]

YEAH QUEEN A!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sean123456789019]

ya queen a middle school is a block or so up

[mikelinbasher]

Queen Alexandra Sr Public school is near the area

[citywalk100]

i live close 2 the area that u were in

[Ninihada]

Really fantastic job! My husband and I are moving to Toronto next year from the US- these videos are extremely helpful! Thank you!

[FarrahnsMom]

Ya so...wtf is your point JohnPurvis?? I live a block from the old clubhouse...and when the HA's were there, no problems. Now they are gone, still no porblems!!

[JohnPurvis]

Nice vid but Queen & Broadview isn't the nicest part of the city. The Hells Angels use to have their club house streets away from here.

[Matilda494]

Great Videos!!!

Great Job