[If you missed any of the previous or subsequent articles in this series, there’s a list of all the articles with hyperlinks here at the end of Day Ten.]

CN Tower Toronto

I wanted to get the most of my day in Toronto, so I opted to take the first  VIA Rail bike train out of Windsor at 5:30 a.m. Dawn was just breaking as I entered the station, but the place was all-a-buzz with a couple dozen Special Olympics participants and their families.

I walked my bike over to the baggage door and attached a ‘Toronto’  tag to it. Before I could get comfortable on the trackside benches, we were boarding and heading north.

It’s a great deal traveling by train and I’ll take a train station over an airport any day of the week.  Onboard, having free Wi-Fi is a real treat, as is having enough room to really get work done at your seat. The seats let me work on my big, 17” laptop, even if the person in front of me reclines their seat. Just try that on a plane!

Rolling into Toronto, it was interesting to see the buildings get gradually larger and larger, until finally the CN Tower (formerly  the world’s largest free-standing structure)  dominated the horizon. Where ever you go in Toronto, the tower keeps popping into view.

Biking round town via Bixi

Due to some potential logistical problems, I shipped my bike on ahead to Ottawa, where I’ll pick it up tomorrow afternoon. But that doesn’t mean I won’t be biking in Toronto…quite to the contrary.

Pay $5 and go anywhere for 24 hours

Ever since writing about Bixi bikes back in June 2011 I’ve been dying to try them. We don’t have anything like these in Cleveland, but wish we did.

The wait was worth it. I can now confirm from actual experience that these are a great way to get around any major metropolitan area where you’ll find them. A three- speed bike, with fat tires and a fat seat, they’ll provide great transportation for just about anyone.

Using a universal frame, they can be mounted by male or female bikers and with a quick release saddle bolt, you can adjust seat height in just a matter of seconds.  There’s even a front rack with built-in bungee cord for small packages, books or what-have-you.

The three-speed gears are good for any urban exploration I tried, including driving up the ramps at CN Tower. They are certainly suitable for effortless pedaling all day, and quite honestly, you could leave them in the same gear all day and get by okay if needed.

The beautiful thing about Bixi is that for $5 you can bike anytime you want for 24 hours – in 30 minute increments or less.  As long as you return it to a rack within 30 minutes of checking it out of another rack, there is no additional charge. I picked up a bike right outside my hotel, biked to dinner, dropped it, and then picked up another after dinner. So it went all night until I finally returned the last one outside my hotel again.   Brilliant.

Even better, there’s an app for that. Biximo is a free app that shows the bike locations for Bixi, Bike Share, Cycle Hire, NiceRide and Hubway in the US, Australia, Canada and the UK.  You are presented with your location via GPS, and the closest place to find a rack with bikes for hire or with vacant spots to return your bike. That covers locations in Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, London, Melbourne, Washington, Minneapolis, and Boston. (Hint – that also makes for a free GPS app when you are traveling.)

Toronto sights to see

I’ve always enjoyed seeing the CN Tower and was wondering how many different ways it could be shot photographically. After a dozen different angles, I’m guessing the answer is an infinite number of ways. I decided to stop at 12.

Mothers Dumplings

This time in Toronto, I wanted to see Chinatown and I was hunting for a good place for dinner. On a recommendation, I went looking for Mother’s Dumplings.  This restaurant features home-made meals and you can watch mother’s helpers making the dumplings in the kitchen. Featuring northeast Chinese cuisine, the place is very popular with the locals and voted best in a number of polls.

Watch this space tomorrow for an update of Day three in Ottawa. For more information on the VIA Rail system, consult their Website or call them at 1-888-VIA-RAIL.

Continue to Day Three