Ride For Heart Raises Over $3 Million
Posted June 7, 2009 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
You should be used to it by now.
After all, what’s a spring weekend without a major road block in downtown Toronto?
If it’s not annual maintenance – like drivers saw earlier this year – it’s a charity bike ride.
The 22nd annual Becel Ride For Heart shut down the Gardiner Expressway and the Don Valley Parkway for several hours on Sunday.
The closure began at 2am and lasted until 2pm.
But it was all for a good cause: 13,000 cyclists and hundreds more inline skaters took over the routes to raise money for the Heart and Stroke Foundation. When all was said and done, they had garnered over $3 million for the cause.
The Ride was the biggest barrier to traffic this weekend but it wasn’t the only one. And in fact, it wasn’t the only bike race.
The Kids of Steel Triathlon closed the westbound lanes of Kingston Rd. from Danforth Ave. to Birchmount on Saturday from 8am-2pm.
Portugal Day stopped traffic on Lansdowne Ave. both ways from Bloor to College Sts. from 9am to 3pm Saturday. And Maya’s March, a fundraiser that helps battle a rare genetic disorder, took to the streets on Sunday and closed Conlins Rd. from Ellesmere to Military Trail from 8am to 4pm.
Everything should be back to normal for Monday’s rush hour, when you can expect more backlogs on the roads – the same kind you experience every workday.
Find other roadblocks you’ll face in the city here.
