Learn to Bike in Ward30

Spring / Summer registration for Toronto Parks and Recreation programs is almost upon us.  Parents who have been through this before know the fun and madness of trying to get their kids registered for the quality summer camps, swim programs and amazing selection of sporting and arts activities. Never done parks & recs programs?  You should!  There is so much on offer all over the GTA

But  - do you know you Toronto Parks and Rec can also teach you or your kids to ride a bike?

Bike Lessons

Learn to Bike Child with Caregiver
at Greenwood Park Spring 2014

The City of Toronto offers 1 hour lessons for a variety of levels and ages (yup, adults too!). Lessons can start as young as 4 years old (Learn to Bike: Child with Caregiver), but kids need to be 6 years old before they can take lessons without a caregiver. There is a big focus on safety, properly fitting your helmet, road rules, hand signals etc.,

Lessons start in Spring (May) and run in Summer (June - July) and late Summer (July - August).

Prices vary based on lesson type, but a child with caregiver lesson runs about $52 for 6 weeks of lessons.

In our Ward 30 we have Greenwood Park (209 Alton Ave Toronto ON, M4L 2P8), with its excellent covered hockey rink that keep lessons running even on rainy days.

Here's a summary of lessons on offer at Greenwood:

There are also 2 crash courses offered for Adults that run all day over 2 weekend days:
CAN-BIKE 2
9am - 4pm
Saturday April 18, Sunday April 19th, Saturday April 25th

CAN-BIKE Instructor
9am - 5pm
Saturday Sept 12, Sunday Sept 13th, Saturday Sept 19th

If Greenwood doesn't work, you can also check out Dieppe Park (455 Cosburn Ave Toronto)

If you're looking to head west, you can find more lessons at Bob Abate Community Center (Bloor and Christie) or Trinity CRC (Trinity Bellwoods Park)

Check the Fun  Guide for more details, and remember registration starts March 11th at 7am!

Summer Bike Camp for kids!

Probably even less known is that the City of Toronto also offers full day Learn to Bike specialty camps for kids.  Albeit, there are not many on offer in the city, we're lucky that the only one in the East end is quite close to Ward30 residents.  East York Memorial Arena (888 Cosburn Ave, Cosburn and Pape) has three on offer:

Specialty Camp: CAN-BIKE 
9-14 yrs 
M-F 9am-4pm 
Aug 10 - 14
$179/5 days 
Barcode: 2728731 

Specialty Camp: Learn to Bike 
9-14 yrs 
Tu-F 9am-4pm 
Aug 4 - 7
$143/4 days (Civic Holiday on the Monday)
Barcode: 2728725 

Specialty Camp: Learn to Bike 
9-14 yrs 

M-F 9am-4pm 

Aug 10 - 14
$179/5 days 
Barcode 2728744

If you're up for heading a bit west, there are also bike camps at Bob Abate Community Center (Bloor and Christie)

Check the Fun  Guide for more details, and remember registration starts March 11th at 7am!

How to Register?

1. Make sure you have your Family and Client Numbers!
         You will need to register with the City of Toronto to get your assigned family and client        
          numbers

2. Have all your program codes / barcodes noted down.  Each program has a unique code for registration

3. Register; Online, on the phone or in person.  Keep in mind some programs are in high demand, many a parent in the city will set their alarms for 6:55am to get ready to hammer that website come 7am.  But that's more often for swimming lessons and summer camps.

Registration for Toronto and East York is March 11th 7am

A few how-to guides:

Paula Fletchers office wrote a good summary about how to register here
A funny take on the process here