by Kait Fowlie
“Party tour” is possibly one of my favourite terms to describe a prolonged, extensive, possibly intercity drunk fest. It conjures the image of belligerent, brightly clad people hanging out of a big mystery-machine-esque van en route to ruckus and tomfoolery.

Sub the van for a fleet of bikes, throw in a hell of a lot of swagger, and this is pretty much an accurate account of Momentum Magazine’s bike style party tour. This magazine for urban cyclists is embarking on a country-wide party tour with a purpose – to discover the unique bike style in each of Canada’s most bike-able cities. First stop Toronto, second stop Montreal, third stop Vancouver! As you can imagine, these bike- friendly major cities all boast distinctive style and culture. However, if we do say so ourselves, Toronto could probably give any major city a decent run for their money when it comes to style, and we are especially confident when it comes to our home-grown bike talents. With crews like the Deadly Nightshades representing eco-ethical design and capability to bike in a skirt, and bike shops like Bike Pirates that are so much more than just shops but social hubs and party venues, it seems only appropriate that Momentum would choose to kick off their Bike party tour here. And what better place to do it than at one of the city’s most stylish venues, on one of the most bike-hospitable streets – The Drake, of course!

After the Gallery Spin with the Deadly Nightshades, (which, for your FYI, takes place the first Thursday of each month and shouldn’t be missed by any Queen West / art enthusiast), the party tour visited the Drake to begin a night of outstanding outfits, plenty of giveaways, and some down and dirty discourse about downtown cycling from the Urbane Cyclist Co-Op. Me to We showed off some creations from their line of eco-ethical street wear, which uses organic, fair trade cotton, and donates 50% of profits to Free the Children! On top of this, their stuff could probably last an entire lifetime of hard partying. John Fluevog also donated their latest limited edition vegan high tops, which can be aptly described as street-cred devices for your feet. Guests were treated right by The Toronto Cyclists Union, who provided free valet parking for bikes. Talk about making a party goer feel loved! Why doesn’t this happen at more parties, we wonder?

Aside from free beer, there are many perks to this party tour that we hope to see more of in Montreal and Vancouver! The tour says bonjour to Montreal on September 13th, where it will hit up ExpoCycle – Canada’s massive bike trade show. After this, the party will continue on with a ride through to Casa Del Popolo. Velo Quebec, a non profit cyclist crew, will act as tour guide for the Montreal stop, and will divulge some ins and outs of Montreal cycling infrastructure. If you’re going to be around our favourite Western spot, Vancouver on October 7th, the tour stop will be at Calabash Bistro, a Caribbean food haven / gallery space where the Holy Chromoly Bicycle Art Show will go down. The bicycle as a catalyst for creative films and music? Yes please!

If these prospects didn’t just arouse feelings of total bike geekery and excitement, let it be known that simply by showing your fine self at these tour stops you could win some crazy treats like Momentum subscriptions, bike swag like chain locks and helmets, clothing, make-up … and did we mention free Stella?