Ready to ditch the car and bike to work? You can do that here.

When I first moved to Toronto, I had dreams of biking to work everyday - ditching traditional (read slow) transit and getting my daily exercise in at the same time.  But once I got settled in and attempted the bike to work in the Six, I realized I did not have the confidence to feel like I wasn't putting my life in danger on my daily commute via two wheels.  I relented and instead walked or took the TTC, adding a ton of time to my commute and having to sort out my exercise schedule some other way.

When I started working in Newmarket- I pretty much assumed that there would again be zero chance for riding my bike around town or getting from meetings off site, to work, without a car.  I was however, pleasantly surprised to find, just outside our office door the Nokiidaa Trail which is 20 kilometers of trail linking Aurora in the South and East Gwillimbury in the North.   In no time at all, I was leaving my car in the parking lot ( I do commute into Town) and riding or walking to meetings on Davis Drive, lunch on the patios on Main Street and even to some of our industrial buildings.   The amazing part of these trails is that for the most part, they run through Newmarket's green space instead of on the road which means no danger from sharing the road only  easy and relaxed rides, and pretty quick commutes around town. 

 Last year, the Town also added the East - West Bikeway which uses local streets to facilitate biking off of major routes with dedicated bike lanes, some protected lanes with bollards and signed routes through the downtown streets.  In 2018, the Town is planning to further expand these routes to all for even more travel throughout the community. 

Newmarket is a fairly active community and many businesses and the Town itself have provided bike parking throughout the community so that you can safely lock up your bike no matter where you end up. There is a great bicycle parking map here that you can check out.  

If you aren't sure about biking to work or ditching your car for the entire summer in Newmarket - try biking to local events and festivals like the upcoming York Region Pride or the famous Kanata Festival to celebrate Canada's birthday!