Himy Syed’s bike got stolen on Wednesday morning August 1. That sort of minor theft usually doesn’t get reported in papers, but this one made it. Himy Syed has a special bike. Not that its magic or has cool gear – Himy’s bike was being used to visit 30 mosques in the GTA in the 30 days of Ramadan.

What happened next is exactly the sort of thing that makes you proud to live in Canada.

By Katherine Dunn | Toronto Star
A surprise gift has put a Toronto man back on the road, after a bike thief frustrated his plans to pedal to 30 mosques in 30 days during Ramadan.
“This could have been a Metropass ending,” said Himy Syed, whose beloved bike was stolen while he napped inside a downtown mosque last week. “It isn’t going to be.”
On Sunday, Canadian Tire, who heard about his project “30 Masjids” in the Toronto Star, gave him a new set of wheels.
Landon French, Vice President of Community Relations at …

By Sarah-Taïssir Bencharif | Toronto Star
Being on a peaceful religious journey won’t spare you from Toronto’s bike thieves.
Himy Syed walked into the 52 Division police station with his severed bicycle lock, dejected.
His curious journey — pedaling his metallic orange Norco to 30 different mosques during Ramadan — was slowed down by a bike thief with bolt cutters.
“That’s all I got,” he told the police officer, holding up the Kryptonite lock.
Around 4:30 a.m. Wednesday, Syed biked to Masjid Toronto, the downtown mosque at Chestnut and Dundas Sts., …

From CBC News | Toronto
A Toronto Muslim who has pledged to cycle to 30 mosques during Ramadan has been forced off the road.
Himy Syed had received a new bicycle as a Ramadan gift from his brother and sister-in-law so he could blog and tweet stories about the various Muslim communities.
But after attending early morning prayers at a downtown Toronto mosque recently, he walked outside to find his bike had been stolen.
“It is the ideal way to do Ramadan, going to different masjids because you have to pray at 4:00 – …

Bike City [ 1:35 - 1:55 ] :
” In Toronto we’ve actually, now about to lose cycling infrastructure. Despite the spin that comes from our municipal level of government, we are actually going to be losing bike lanes and increasing the expenditure in this area. ” — HiMY SYeD

By Chris Boutet (@ChrisBoutet), The Globe and Mail
Published Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 9:10AM EST
Last updated Monday, Nov. 14, 2011 10:53AM EST
View the story “Hundreds fill Toronto streets for #ghostride in memory of fallen cyclist Jenna Morrison” on Storify]

Mayor Rob Ford: “I never supported #Jarvis Bike Lanes…only rumour I want ‘em removed..not a priority” #bikeTO #TOcouncil

From rtlechow’s posterous

From Take The Tooker
50 politically motivated cyclists took to Bloor today (Oct. 23) to say “We Bike We Vote”.
En route they were greeted by Mayoral hopeful Himy Syed who redirected cyclists to the car drop-off loop across from Trinity Bellwoods Park, jumped on a table, and passionately articulated his desire for a bicycle-friendly city.
The mass then took their message for bike lanes on Bloor to the offices of Councillor Vaughan, and Mayoral hopefuls Joe Pantalone and George Slitherman.

Vote on Monday, Oct. 25th for bike friendly Council candidates! …

From rtlechow’s posterous

HiMY SYeD
One of our city’s mayoral candidates for 2010
twitter.com/himysyed
Flickr Photo by Allan Chow.
Captured at Queen Street and University Avenue intersection during August 2010 Critical Mass group bike ride.

From Momemtum Magazine
The BIXI Toronto program launched its drive to get 1,000 subscriptions by November with a party at the Gladstone on July 28, 2010.
 
BIXI Bash – Kevin Beaulieu and Himy Syed
Kevin Beaulieu, Ward 18 candidate for city council, and mayoral candidate Himy Syed at the BIXI Bash subscription launch party.

By Duncan’s City Ride, BikingToronto

Thank-you Cyclists for paying more for these roads than you get in services. Roads are paid for by property tax (and rental fees) most cyclists live in Toronto and pay this tax. Many drivers do not and get a free ride.

Thank you cyclists for choosing a life-enhancing, noise- and heat-free form of transportation.

Cyclist get bike lanes on only 2% of the roads they pay for. Roads are paid for by property tax (and rental fees) most cyclists live in Toronto and pay this tax. …

By Duncan, Duncan’s City Ride, BikingToronto
Today, Sunday July 25, 2010, the old lane markings on Jarvis Street are being removed and new bike lanes are being painted. HiMYSYeD is documenting the process on Twitter:

The above machine paints lines, the machine below removes them:

All photos by HiMYSYeD, follow him on Twitter.

Cover Photo by HiMY SYeD
This is the premiere issue of Riders’ Collective—a cyclist’s source for some of the best material on the Web. Here are a dozen stories—about cycling, by cyclists, and for cyclists—from New Zealand, Australia, Czech Republic, Tunisia, and all across America. They cover a wide range of riding styles—and a wide range of writing styles as well. I hope you enjoy reading them.
You can access the Web sites of the featured writers, photographers and advertisers by clicking on URLs in the text, photos and ads.
Paul S. Kramer,
Publisher, Editor,
Designer, Producer

By Joe T., BikingToronto
The first photos I’ve seen of the Toronto Bike Awards (that took place last night) are from HiMY Syed via twitter and twitpic: