A cyclist who posted a video of himself popping a wheelie through an intersection is defending himself after Toronto police called the trick riding an “offence.”

The video shows a man riding with the front wheel up, his ponytail streaming in the wind as he swerves confidently around cars and pedestrians. An Instagram called mylittlebikeshop first posted the video on June 22, with the caption “@chain_yanker caught me for a quick clip on Yonge Street.”

The Instagram in question is for a shop called My Little Bike Shop on College St., and features pictures of used bicycles for sale. It has more than 4,000 followers.

But what was meant to be a light-hearted video has now added fuel to the often-heated discussion about bike safety.

On Friday, Toronto police reposted the video onto their Instagram account, saying that while the video shows “great riding skill,” the cyclist is exhibiting “dangerous cycling behaviour.” Speaking directly to the man in the video, they told him “YOU now have our attention,” and asked for anyone who has information about the “offence” to contact police.

Within an hour, Cam Zalewski, the owner of My Little Bike Shop and the man in the video, fired back, calling it “kind of heartbreaking,” to see his video “surrounded by surveillance videos of murders, stabbings, shootings, robberies and sexual assaults” on the Toronto police Instagram.

“I never crashed, I never hit anyone … I never even made/make anyone slow down, hit their brakes or cause them to pull last second maneuvers. Yes, maybe a little dangerous, but I am an expert … and have NEVER had an accident or caused an accident while on the streets of Toronto, while on my bike (one wheel or two).”

He pointed out that he’s seen other cyclists break the rules and endanger themselves and others, saying that they can be “sloppy and dangerous.” His ride, he clearly feels, was neither of those things.

Const. Clint Stibbe feels differently.

“These actions were intentional and put himself and others at risk,” Stibbe said.

He added that skill level does not matter when it comes to following the rules of the road, and that police had been sent the video by a member of the public who was concerned.

“If it was on private property or somewhere other than a highway, this wouldn’t be an issue,” Stibbe said. “The actions of one individual (have) hurt the cycling agenda in the City of Toronto.”

Roughly 1,075 collisions per year in Toronto involve cyclists, Stibbe said.

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He also expressed concern about the potential for copycat cyclists who might be less skilled than Zalewski, saying that the police “have a responsibility to denounce this behaviour. We all need to be better road users and set examples for each other.”

When reached by telephone on Friday, Zalewski’s only comment was, “I already said what I wanted to say on my Instagram.”

According to Stibbe, the charges that could be laid based on the video include careless driving, which comes with a fine of up to $2,000.