Olivia Chow’s commute to work on Wednesday looked a little different than the one many of her predecessors made.

Toronto’s new mayor chose to cycle to city hall ahead of formally making her declaration of office during a 11 a.m. ceremony, joining a pack of dozens of other cyclists marking the occasion with a group ride from Bay and Charles streets.

For Chow, who frequently cycles to work, her means of commute was nothing new outside of the boquet of flowers affixed to her bike for the occasion. 

But it was an interesting sight following a contentious mayoral campaign, in which several of her opponents vowed to rip up existing bike lanes and halt work on a further expansion of Toronto’s cycling network.

It also represents a significant turnaround from just 13 years ago, when Don Cherry spoke during Rob Ford’s declaration of office ceremony and blasted “the pinkos out there that ride bicycles and everything.”

“She understands the benefits of riding a bike,” Michael Longfield, executive director of CycleTO, told CP24 on Tuesday. “She’s been riding a bike for decades. We’re happy to see that, and we’re hoping that her own choice to ride a bike will translate into policies as well. We’ve made a lot of rapid progress in the last three years, and we hope to see that continue.”

To see extended footage of Chow’s morning bike ride to city hall click the video in the player at the top of this article.