Hundreds join Etobicoke ghost bike ride

Riders pay tribute to sixth cyclist killed this year as city sees an alarming spike in deaths

- RAJU MUDHAR

Riders watch as Geoffrey Bercarich carries a ghost bike to the spot on Burnhamthorpe Road where Navjot Kaur was struck last month. The 26-year-old died a week later in hospital, making this the deadliest year for cyclists in the city since 2006.

“No one rides alone,” was the sombre message repeated at the start and finish of Saturday’s ghost bike ride that paid tribute to a young woman killed by a driver as she cycled in Etobicoke last month.

Gathering at noon in Toronto’s Annex neighbourhood, hundreds of cyclists rode in tribute to Navjot Kaur, identified by her husband in media reports, and the sixth bike rider to die after being struck in the city this year. The group travelled along Bloor Street West and through side streets to Burnhamthorpe Road, in Etobicoke, where Kaur was hit.

Organizers say the senseless and ongoing tragedies are tough to bear, as Toronto experiences an alarming spike in bike rider deaths.

“It does really wear on me, and it does for the other folks, but we do it out of duty more than anything else,” said Joey Schwartz about Saturday’s ride. Schwartz, co-organizer of Advocacy for Respect for Cyclists, helped marshal riders along the 13-kilometre route.