Image from the Toronto Archives

By Lara Onayak

In this 1910 photo, cyclists walk along the side of the road –without any protected or separate lanes, pushing their bicycles up hill while a car drives by on Poplar Plains Road.

Years after this photo was taken -- and about 36 years ago from today -- Poplar Plains Road sported the very first bike lane in Toronto.

The winding hill makes for a great ride down, but a more challenging ride up. The bike lane south, back downhill is now on the adjacent Russell Hill Road.

Read our dandyARCHIVE "A cyclical history" on some of the other major milestones in Toronto's biking  history here.

Related on the dandyBLOG:

dandyARCHIVE: The Long Road to a Bike Path

The Second Annual Vintage bike show

Flashback Friday: Pack up your Troubles

Flashback Friday: Race at the CNE

Flashback Friday: Bicycle race at the Scarborough velodrome