Cyclists in one Toronto neighbourhood are speaking out against a restaurant that crudely came out against bike lanes. 

The Old Sod, located at 2936 Bloor St. W. in Etobicoke, is a neighbourhood bar known for its classic pub fare and live music. 

Last week, a local resident claimed to have received a flyer from the pub advertising its "f*ck bike lanes" t-shirt, which, according to the handout, comes free with every catering order. 

"Apart from finding the language crass and offensive, I wonder why the owner of a pub is so concerned about bike lanes?  Alcohol and driving (or riding a bike) does not seem like a good mix," the resident wrote on a cycling Facebook page. 

The flyer advertises the pub's "f*ck bike lanes" t-shirts. Photo via Facebook.

"As a marketing strategy this has not worked on me.  There is zero chance of me ever giving the Old Sod any business." 

The comments section under the post was quickly filled with mixed reactions, with some expressing doubt about the legitimacy of the flyer considering its bold message. 

"It's a Kingsway area establishment. Since there is broad support for the bike lanes, they are targeting a niche market, and might piss off others with such a crude message," another person wrote under the post. 

In a statement to blogTO, the pub acknowledged the controversial merchandise as "our f- bike lanes t-shirts," and elaborated on the reasoning behind them. 

"The Old Sod has been a staple of The Kingsway Community for what will be our 50th year come 2025. We care about our customers, our neighbouring businesses, our community and we listen to them. And what we hear from the overwhelming majority of Kingsway citizens and businesses is exactly what our t-shirts say and what a hard-working commuter that used to spend 30 minutes driving from downtown who now spends 1 hour and 30 minutes says: "f*ck these bike lanes,'" the statement reads. 

"We are not against cyclists, we are against illogical, chaotic bike lanes in places they don't belong or don't work, like here on the main artery of The Kingsway, Bloor Street." 

The pub went on to list several reasons why they believe bike lanes don't work on this particular stretch, including e-bikes travelling at high speeds from bike lanes into street traffic and crosswalks, motorists having to creep forward into the bike lane to turn, cyclists biking on the sidewalk, frustrated or confused motorists driving in the bike lanes, pedestrians walking in the bike lanes, and local businesses being left without parking spots making it "impossible" for people with disabilities, senior citizens and regular customers to support them. 

"I've had productive conversations with many customers who live in The Kingsway community who are avid cyclists and even they agree the bike lane just simply doesn't work for this area. Lots of us avid cyclists, who believe the newly extended Bloor bike lanes are a terrible idea," the pub's owner told blogTO. 

"Residents clustered around Bloor Street are mostly empty nesters, retirees, and young families. Most will never grocery shop, visit restaurants or their doctors by bike. Hills on Bloor at High Park and the Humber River are steep and long. Combine that with six months of winter, and you have a deal-breaker for most of us." 

The pub continued to defend its stance, claiming that the situation "is about more than just bike lanes," and is part of an effort to create awareness about situations where elected officials have implemented "something that simply doesn’t work for our community." 

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by The Old Sod Pub (@theoldsodto)

While the business acknowledged that the t-shirts might appear aggressive to some, they are an "attempt to make our community voices heard and create awareness of this situation, because at the end of the day, we live here and it's our lives that have been negatively affected." 

The business owner uses politically polarizing language to refer to complainants, writing, "As far as cyclists and Facebook groups sending slanderous/defamatory comments/messages trying to cancel our 49-year-old business, that is typical 2024 woke cancel culture behaviour, virtue signalling, and ignorantly hopping on to a cause without even knowing the details of the situation."

The pub owner maintains that the opinions they care about are the members "of The Kingsway community who have to put up with this," as well as the generations of customers that have supported The Old Sod over the years. 

"If you are against bike lanes then do something: join the conversation, get a t-shirt from the pub, or just come to the pub to discuss/learn, call your councillor's office and express your views as that's exactly what they are there for, to listen to their community," the pub told blogTO.