monkeymartian

I arrived at the start at about 8:00 after riding the 20km from home. The morning was dull and cold, with a wind from the North. I left the house wearing only my jersey and shorts and I think it was a mistake. The wind really chilled me down and I was miserable until I got to the start and put on my knee warmers and shell. Registration was quick & easy. Coffee, bagels and apples were appreciated! The ride left a little late, and because of the cold there were a few complaints in the crowd but the whole mass was off
around 9:15, lead out by a police escort.

The ride went through the Tom Taylor Trail. This looks like a great facility for the residents of Newmarket. I’m not sure it was the best place to start the ride, as there were lots of riders that had to funnel through the single bike line and over some narrow bridges. All the same, it was a nice ride. Marshalls were in place to point out loose sand/mud under the bridge and at some of the key intersections. The police were out as
well stopping traffic and allowing riders through. Nice!

In generally, I really liked the route. The streets had very little traffic and the turns were signed well. I didn’t find the hills too bad. Every time I started to wonder if I was on the route, I’d see a sign so that was great planning on the part of the organizers. The route along the lake was fantastic. It’s been years since I rode up
that way. The rest stops were mostly well-spaced. The only one I couldn’t figure out was at the 5km mark while the ride was still bunched up. I thought it might have been a little too soon. Then again, I didn’t need any of the stops until the one 5km from the end, where I needed to find a washroom.

I didn’t really think I was pushing myself speed wise, as my knees were feeling a bit sore from being cold before. I was able to ride with some people, forming small groups. It’s nice to ride & chat with people along the way. Every time it was my turn to pull up front, the group broke apart for a rest or thermal adjustment. I think I rode about 75% of the way solo, but that’s my usual mode and I enjoyed the views of the farms and some of the woods.
The lunch at the Briars was nice; simple but good. I must have had a gallon of lemonade. While resting and eating, the sun came out so a number of people pulled out their chairs into a sunny spot. I had some nice conversations with other riders, and pretty much all of them had nothing but good things to say about the ride. I had a nice conversation with Bill, a retired cameraman from the CBC. He was contemplating on riding home instead of taking the shuttle. With a full belly and now warm knees, I decided to join him. We had a nice ride back to Newmarket, even if we did get lost a couple of times. It was harder to do the route  backwards without the signage.

I ended up at Phil’s place in Newmarket in the afternoon, where he had some cold beer waiting for me. My odometer read just shy of 130km for the day. This is the longest one-day distance I’ve rode in the last 4 years; perhaps ever. Now that I’m past the “magic” 100, I’m considering a 200km Brevet next year (but that is another story). A day later, my legs are certainly sore but I did manage to ride to work today.

I was very impressed with the ride portion of the event. The organizers did a great job, and I’m already looking forward to next year’s running. Keeping in mind that this is the first running of the event, I do have a couple of minor suggestions about the whole registration/pledge aspect of the event. I sent out an email to my friends and family asking for pledges with the link to do so. Several people did in fact pledge my ride,
but I never received any kind of confirmation or notification, and it wasn’t obvious where I could get the info. It would be nice to know this so I could thank them! Also, the pledge system was shut down with  registrations on the 16th. I had several people let me know this and they were disappointed they couldn’t contribute. It would be useful to be able to have people pledge you online right up to the event. To be fair, I had been out of town the week previous and I didn’t realize that I could download and fill out a paper pledge form. It was too late before I figured this out. Oh well, there’s always next year.

One last item. I don’t know if it was a late addition, but the official jersey price was never listed on the TDGB website. The jerseys were really nice, and I wanted to purchase one but they were out of my size at the tent. It would be nice to be able to see the design and pre-order one of these and pick it up at the event. Any chance someone has a Size L jersey they don’t want?

Even with these criticisms, overall I give a giant thumbs-up for the organizers! Vive le Tour!