2024 Ontario by Bike – Bicycle Friendly Business Awards – Award Winners
Congratulations to the 2024 “Best Bicycle Friendly Businesses” in Ontario.
We are pleased to announce our Bicycle Friendly Business Award Winers for 2024.
The following businesses were selected to win the Ontario By Bike award for their efforts in and excelling at providing services and a welcome to cyclists visiting their locations as well as supporting cycling within their community. A winner was selected from each of the 13 tourism regions in Ontario, plus a recognition award was given to the best bike related businesses for each region, where nominated, as these businesses provide an important service supporting cycle tourists.
Each business will be featured in an issue of our monthly e-newsletter March to October 2024. See archive and subscribe HERE.
We encourage you to plan a visit, and cycle by to find out more yourself and first hand.
Ontario’s Southwest / RTO1
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Makkink’s Flower Farm – Tillsonburg
Makkink’s stands out because it is different from all the other attractions in the area. They offer a bunch of experiences on the farm, the most popular being cut-your-own flowers. The Trans Canada Trail east of Tillsonburg runs along the edge of the property, so many cyclists stop for either a rest, or something to eat and drink at their small cafe and bakery on site.
Use Oxford County’s portion of the Trans Canada Trail as a jumping off point to explore the communities in this rural slice of Southwest Ontario. Along the 17km old CASO rail line that has been converted to a rail trail, check out the mill in historic Otterville, and be sure to stop in at Makkink’s to see or cut some flowers and enjoy a home-made sandwich from the bakery cafe.
Niagara Region / RTO2
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Station 1 Coffeehouse – Grimsby
With a bicycle-friendly parking lot and a ton of bike racks, plus great coffee, cyclists can enjoy the bohemian vibe inside or outdoors on the patio, along with great food options for breakfast and lunch. The friendly and knowledgeable staff of this fully-licensed cafe can assist bike tourists with info on other points of interest nearby.
Make Station 1 Coffeehouse your base or a stop on the paved 35km Fruitland Ramble cycling route, taking you through Grimby and Beamsville, enjoying views atop the Niagara Escarpment and exploring a portion of Ontario’s Greenbelt Cycling Route. Cruise along the paved Great Lakes Waterfront Trail and discover some great wineries of the area.
Best Bike Business: Liberty! Bicycles – St Catharines
While-you-wait fixes, local knowledge, maps and information on great places to ride, touring cyclists can use Liberty! Bicycles as a starting-point for adventures to explore the region.
Hamilton Halton Brant / RTO3
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Carlisle Cider Company – Carlisle
Visit this beautiful and quiet location, just off main roads and close to the Greenbelt Cycling Route, offering bike parking and rest areas, washrooms and snacks, plus water and craft hard cider. Cyclists can park and return after riding for a picnic in the orchard.
Stop at Carlisle Cider Company on the 113km Bur-Oak Backroad Blast, a Great Lakes to Greenbelt Itinerary. Cruise the Burlington and Oakville waterfronts mixed with open-road rural riding on this fully signed route following the Greenbelt Route, Great Lakes Waterfront Trail, and signed connector routes.
Huron, Perth, Waterloo & Wellington / RTO4
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Blyth Trailway Cabins – Blyth
The word is starting to spread as cyclists on the G2G Rail Trail are finding their way to Blyth Trailway Cabins, located directly on the trail. The three cabins are fully outfitted with all you would need for a luxury cabin experience, and can be rented individually or for a cycling group. Blyth is a great location and village for cyclists using the G2G trail, also the home to Cowbell Brewery, Festival Theatre and an array of unique shops and cafes.
For shorter trail ride options either ride west from Blyth to the Maitland River and back (26km return), or east to Walton (24km return). For a longer day out ride 68km to Goderich, there and back, including the necessary trail detour at Maitland River. Don’t miss our recent blog that shares more info about these rides and this award winning accommodation.
Greater Toronto Area / RTO5
Best Bike Business: Cadence & Volta Ltd – Toronto
Cadence & Volta Ltd is a small cycling tour operator in Toronto offering private e-bike tours (they provide the e-bike). Their flagship Vistas & Fresh Water half day tour starts in Cabbagetown, exploring Victorian homes and gardens before cycling to Lake Ontario for a picnic lunch on the beach, enjoying more waterfront parks and trails with incredible views of nature and downtown.
York Durham Headwaters / RTO6
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Trail Hub – Uxbridge
Trail Hub is a unique business and activity centre with a trailside restaurant, shop and mountain bike rentals directly next to 240km of biking and hiking in Durham Region’s conservation forests. New this year, Trail Hub is offering e-bike rentals, making it easier to tackle the hilly terrain of the Oak Ridges Moraine. Giving back to the community, they regularly host charity rides and the Durham Shredders, a non-profit youth mountain bike club.
From the Durham Forest to Walker Woods and Glen Major Forest, mountain biking from Trail Hub there is something for everyone: smooth and wide doubletrack, great for more relaxed and family trail rides, and expert-level mountain biking with steep elevation, rock gardens, hair-pin turns and a variety of built trail features. Riders also frequently visit Trail Hub as a gravel ride destination where they stop for refreshments and services mid-ride, and others visit in the winter for fat biking
Best Bike Business: Caledon Hills Cycling – Inglewood
The friendly staff at Caledon Hills Cycling bike store are happy to help with any on the go issues, flats and other service needs, and share ride route recommendations. Serving coffee, lattes and pastries from the bike shop cafe, a bathroom is also available for cyclists stopping by.
Bruce Grey Simcoe / RTO7
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Creemore Springs Brewery – Creemore
Located in the lovely village of Creemore, a fantastic cycling destination, Creemore Springs Brewery is a must stop spot in the area. With visible bike parking, water fill station and bike tool kit repair station, cyclists also get a 10% discount on merch. Hosting the 7th annual Turas Mor, a popular gravel cycling event, the brewery is also the title sponsor of the “Paris to Ancaster” Race and presenting sponsor of “Heck of the North”.
Visit Creemore on Day 2 of the self-guided, overnight Ontario By Bike Ride itinerary, the Georgian Bay Collingwood Explorer. Leaving Collingwood on the Clearview Collingwood Train Trail, the 60km route quickly takes you into beautiful countryside, scenic and hilly country roads, and one of the best views in Ontario at the top of Fairgrounds Road, before an epic descent into the Creemore.
Kawarthas Northumberland / RTO8
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Silver Bean Cafe – Peterborough
The Silver Bean Cafe has been a mainstay in the Peterborough cycling community for many years, as a meet up point for group rides and sponsor of the local club. With a beautiful trail and waterside location and unique cottage-like feel it is a perfect stop for a pre or post-ride refreshment. Cyclists can now visit its second cafe location open year-round in the stunning new Canadian Canoe Museum across Little Lake.
Visit the new trail and waterside cafe location inside the Canoe Museum after a ride on the Lang-Hastings Trail, a 33km rail trail between Peterborough and Hastings, part of the Trans Canada Trail. Connect easily to the trail from the cafe and enjoy scenic farmland, forests, wetlands, and closer to Hastings ride beside the Trent River with views of the rolling Trent Hills. You can explore all on our two day Trent Severn Trail Tour itinerary.
Best Bike Business: B!KE: The Peterborough Community Bike Shop – Peterborough
B!KE is a community-based, DIY bike repair and service workshop and charity in the heart of downtown Peterborough. They assist all types of riders, including people who know zero about bikes and bike repair, learn more and get riding. They have great prices, friendly staff, and a cute space to top up your air, get some oil on your chain, fill a water bottle, and ride with an even bigger smile on your face.
South Eastern Ontario / RTO9
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: The Blue Moose Bed & Breakfast – Wolfe Island
Wolfe Island is a cyclist’s dream! This historic, large seven room and one cottage bed & breakfast has been providing lodging on the island to visitors since 1895. Located in Marysville, close to the ferry docks, and just a 20 minute free ferry ride from Kingston, the current owners are happy to help create cycling experiences tailored to their guests’ needs. Offering bike rentals, including fat tire bikes, they also make guests packed homemade lunches to take on their cycling adventures and love to share info about the cycling routes on the island, destinations and attractions.
Choose from 4 mapped road routes on the island, or try the 41km looped ride and detailed cycling itinerary. You can also take a ferry ride from the southern end of the island across to the USA and Cape Vincent – passport required!
Best Bike Business: Ahoy Rentals – Kingston
From its waterfront location and directly on the trail in downtown Kingston, Ahoy Rentals offers guests high quality bike rentals making it easy for visitors to explore many different points of interest nearby. Enjoy the trails by land or on the water, as kayak rentals are also available, for a different view of the waterfront.
Ottawa & Countryside / RTO10
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Ottawa Bike Cafe/Retro-Rides – Ottawa
This full service and licensed cafe, with patio, is also a bicycle repair shop that houses an incredible displays of vintage bicycles and related items. Located on historic Sparks St. in downtown Ottawa, locals and tourist enjoy stopping by to chat, tell stories and reminisce, inspired by the collection and incredibly dedicated, passionate staff and owners.
Stop in for a visit to the cafe while riding Ontario By Bike’s – day 2 ride of our Ottawa City & Country multi-day ride itinerary, which explores the city’s incredible Capital Pathway Network along the Rideau Canal and Ottawa and Rideau Rivers, with views of the Parliament buildings, visits to the Byward Market, National Gallery, Experimental Farm and other natural and historic sites.
Best Bike Business: Bushtukah – Ottawa
Locally owned and operated, serving Ottawa for 25 years, Bushtukah offers bike repair and maintenance, gear and equipment sales, bikepacking supplies, nutrition, bike fit services and group rides. All three stores are bike friendly and offer secure bike parking in or outside. With a large selection of outdoor gear we help our cycling customers go further and explore more where ever your next adventure takes you – around the neighbourhood or the globe.
Ontario’s Highlands / RTO11
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Ottawa Valley Coffee – Renfrew & Arnprior & Almonte
With multiple locations – Renfrew, Arnprior, Almonte – Ottawa Valley Coffee serves coffee, fresh baked goods and craft beer, a perfect spot to unwind on the patios or inside, after a long ride. The bicycle friendly cafes are a hot spot for cyclists, and the owners have been known to go out of the way to assist any stranded cyclists.
Make a stop at Ottawa Valley Coffee cycling the smooth and scenic Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail, stretching a whopping 296km between Smiths Falls, Almonte, Arnpior, Renfrew to just shy of Mattawa, with smooth stone dust surfacing as far north as Petawawa.
Best Bike Business: Valley Cycle Tours at The Whitewater Inn– Beachburg
Offering a variety of services to cyclists visiting Ottawa Valley/Renfrew County, Valley Cycle Tours is keen to see more cyclists enjoying the larger area. Located in Beachburg they provide shuttles for rail trail tours, or guided services, itineraries for mountain bikers and accommodations.
Explorers’ Edge / RTO12
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Algonquin Accommodations Inc. – Whitney
Algonquin Accommodations, a series of five inns and campground located on Highway 60 near Algonquin Park’s east gate, offers services tailored to cyclists, including free rental equipment for exploring the outdoors, which encompasses biking among other activities. They also provide free Algonquin Park Passes, which allows visitors to enjoy the park’s natural beauty from the unique perspective of a bike, enhancing their experience of the wilderness and its landscapes.
Ride two historic wilderness rail trails in and outside the park boundary. Cycle the newly refurbished Old Rail Trail outside the park, which provides a unique wilderness biking adventure alongside the Madawaska River for over 30km from Whitney to Madawaska and beyond, featuring no fewer than four waterfalls. Similarly named is the 16km Old Railway Bike Trail just inside the park boundary, which is also stunning and runs along another branch of the Madawaska River.
Northern Ontario / RTO13
Best Bicycle Friendly Business: Kicking Mule Ranch – Manitoulin Island
Located just 15km north of the South Baymouth ferry, staying at the Ranch is like stepping into a wild west movie, with unique accommodations including heated cabins and campsites that are available for a single night stay or multiple nights. There are also many amenities appealing to travelling cyclists, including a small store, device charging, water, showers, washer/dryer, and fully equipped outdoor kitchen. You will be steps away from horseback riding stables, and live music around the campfire most nights.
A popular stop for cross-country cycle tourists, the Ranch also makes a great base for exploring the excellent road cycling on Manitoulin Island, known for its bounty of inland lakes and forests, Georgian Bay beaches and vistas, low traffic volumes, and wide paved shoulders on the island’s main highways. Check out the Manitoulin Island & La Cloche Mountains Cycling Routes & Road Map for 14 road cycling routes to explore this season.
Best Bike Business: Adventure 365 – Sudbury
With a genuine love of cycling and helping people reach their cycling goals, Adventure 365 is ready to help whether it be for a quick service fix or sharing local knowledge, it’s a friendly place to stop when visiting Sudbury to ride the trails, participate in events or on a cross country journey.