-Andrew

After enjoying myself last year in the Tour de Greenbelt, I was really looking forward to the 2009 edition.  The Newmarket ride gave riders the choice of 25, 50 and 100km loops.  I signed up for the 100km route.

In the week leading up to the ride, I had been suffering from a cold.  I figured I would ride to the start as a kind of shakedown to see how I felt before deciding to carry through with the full 100km route.  I left the house with lots of  time to cycle  20km to the Newmarket Farmer’s Market, where the ride began.  The weather report called for rain in the afternoon, and cool temperatures.  I made sure to pack rain gear and some warm things to wear in my saddle bag. 

Last year I rode with Bill, and I reconnected on Facebook with him several weeks before the ride.  On my way through Aurora, I bumped into Bill on his way to Newmarket.  He was in his truck.  I met him a few minutes later at the Farmer’s Market.  I was feeling pretty strong so I decided to make good on completing the 100km.  After some eats and cup of coffee, things got going with the obligatory warm-up, and then the whole group was off.

The first part of the ride was a bit chaotic, as all the riders need to funnel down a narrow MUP until Green Lane.  Still, once the riders got strung out a little bit it was nice to chat with Bill for a while.  The 100km group only shared a small section of the ride with the 50 and 25km folks.  When we got to Warden, a sign indicated that the long route riders were to turn north, so we did.  Bill and I were able to hook up with a group of riders and get a nice draft.  I’m normally a solo rider, so I stayed at the back.  The group was travelling just a little faster than I wanted to owing to me weakened state (or at least that’s what I told myself!), so I got dropped off the back a few times.  I didn’t really want to lose touch, so I upped the effort and reattached to the train. 

The first rest stop was placed perfectly, about half way to the Briars.  Goodies like granola bars, apples and bagels were available, as well as gatorade and water.  Bill and I spent a few minutes there reloading, and then we were off west towards the lake.   The route followed the same streets of last year, and the stretch that follows the lake around the Briars is great.  There wasn’t too much wind coming off the lake this year, which was a welcome relief.

 The second rest stop was at the Briars itself.   I ate a bagel, apple, granola bar and several cups of gatorade.  Bottles were refilled.  I think some folks were expecting the same BBQ setup as last year, or something a little more substantial to eat.  Some peanut butter (or even plain butter) for the bagels would have been welcome.  We chatted with a couple of a tandem  that seemed to be having a great time.  They were friendly and answered all my questions about operating such a bicycle.  We also met Rebecca, a newcomer to the Toronto area.  We took a longer break here and then we were off.

The route followed the lake around to Sibbald’s point, and then went south.  A traverese east brought us to Kennedy Road.  The route was a good one, by and large.  The signage didn’t seem to be quite as good as last year, particularly on the return leg.  I don’t know if the signs had been maliciously removed or not placed there at all.  I had my map/cue sheet on my handlebars, and Bill had a GPS unit, so finding our way wasn’t very difficult.  The roads selected were mostly quiet traffic wise and a pleasure to pedal.  The only really unpleasant stretch was southbound on Kennedy Road.  The road surface had recently been chip sealed, and it was uncomfortable to ride on.  The addition of a strong headwind made it a little worse.  By this time I was feeling the effects of being sick the previous week.  Bill was a machine and pulled most of the way back.  We also hooked up with Rebecca again and climbed up one pretty steep hill at Kennedy and Harold Road.

The third rest stop was located about 10 km from end of the ride.  This meant a stretch of about 40 km from the previous rest stop.  I found this to be a little long, as I nearly ran out of water (I was nursing my last bottle for a while), and my back teeth were floating, necessetating a quick pit stop in the bushes before we got there.  My riding partners had lots of water, so I don’t think I would have dried out had I run out (I guess I drink more water than most?). 

A quick spin on some busy streets brought us back to the Tom Taylor trail, and then back to the Farmer’s Market where a BBQ was waiting for us.  Hamburgers, hot dogs, fresh local corn and gallons of gatorade were welcomed.  After chatting with Bill and Rebecca for a while, I headed off to visit a friend who lives around the corner from the Market.  My reward for a long day in the saddle was a couple of well deserved cold beers.  Thanks Phil & Lisa!

The route map was all on one sheet, which was easier to handle than the multiples sheets used last year.  I would have prefered the cue sheet side to be formatted in a similar way to a Randonneur’s Ontario sheet, showing direction, turns and distance.  This would have allowed me to know exactly where the final rest stop was (assuming of course the location had been determined.  I know that finding someone that will let you use their front yard as a rest stop could be a challenge).  The Excellent, friendly volunteers at the registration area and at the rest stops made the ride logistics smooth.  Good work.

Coming to 16th, I decided to see if the Beaver Greenway was finished.  The construction signs were still up, and it doesn’t look like anything has been done since last August.  The trail was pretty muddy due to the recent thunderstroms.  I decided to cut the exploration of the trail short, but I was rewarded with the view of a large stand of wild phlox.

I headed back down Leslie to the path that follows the power line east to Bayview and found my way home.  S had some coffee on, and it was welcomed.  A nice way to spend a Sunday morn.

We’ve ridden these paths and streets before with both kids in the Chariot, but I’m amazed at how E’s mental map of the neighbourhood is growing as she rides with us farther afield.  I think she is hooked on bicycling.  She talks about her bike all the time, and wants  to get a tandem so she can ride really fast with Dad.  Fun times!

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!

Tour Greenbelt from your Bike

Coincidentaly, I registered today for the 55km Newmarket to Simcoe ride.  Feel free to pledge my ride, or drop me a comment if you’ll be riding, too!

Last week, I was perusing some cycling routes on Bikely.  One looked promising that could possibly allow me to avoid riding on 16th Ave altogether, by using a trail and scooting under Highway 404.  The route description said this section would be for “mountain bikes only” but today I wanted to see for myself.  I’m including some photos here as well, as a kind shakedown for a new digicam I got specifically for stuffing into my jersey when I go for a ride.

I picked up one of the greenways (these are paved MUP type routes that follow ravines in Richmond Hill) at Major Mackenzie and Spadina Road.  I figured I would use this to connect to the “Beaver Greenway,” which I knew from experience is unpaved, but had a pretty decent hard pack surface.

Typical entrance to Greenway Path

I didn’t know that Beaver Creek was part of the Rouge watershed, or that Rouge Park exented up into Richmond Hill, as this street sign suggests.

Rouge Park, Beaver Creek.

I ride on this particular section of the Greenway pretty much every day.  I’m always amazed that at least on weekday afternoons there are few people walking.  I see lots of interesting wildlife stuff including birds, rabbits and the occasional fox.  Today there were certainly more people on the MUP, but fewer than I would expect for a beautiful morning.

Typical view of the Greenway and McMansions that surround it.

The first part of the Greenway spits you out at Leslie Street, a few hundred metres north of the intersection at 16th Avenue.  I thudded down the sidewalk to the lights, and walked my bike across to pick up the Beaver Greenway on the south side of 16th, about 100 metres east of the intersection.  One of my pet peeves about the Greenways here in Richmond Hill is the fact that little is done to link them up in a cogent way.  One needs to either walk (hah!) or ride their bike on the sidewalk to link up to them.

The ribbon of gravel through the business park is the beginning of the Beaver Greenway.

The first segment of the Beaver Greenway is pretty short.  It stops at Mural street and restarts on the other side.  Again, the rider or walker is dumped into the middle of the street without even a curb cut.  On the other side of Mural I was greeted with the following warning.

Here be dragons!

I figured as it was a weekend, and a long one to boot that at least no one would be working on the trail today.  The trail surface here was obviously new and very loose.  My 28 mm tires didn’t like it much, put I slowly pressed on.  Soon I came to a large set of constructed ponds for stormwater management.  The gravel surface around this area was much better for riding as it was well packed.  There was some ugly green netting of some kind around the ponds.  I guess this is for keeping plant material or stabilizing the banks.  The water looked kind of muddy anyway, but there were ducks and geese using the pond.

SWM ponds. Building on the left are warehouses on Leek Cres.

The trail pretty much petered out behind the warehouses on Leek Cres.  I could hear Hwy 404 before I could see it.  Along to the south, I saw a wire mesh fence and a sign.  The sign warned me that the trail was closed for safety improvements.

These guys take safety seriously. They are 2 years behind!

Someone had graciously left a nice gap in fence, so I took off down the small hill on to a very narrow, overgrown path.  Ah, this is the the mountain bike section I reckoned.  It didn’t look too bad.

Are there dragons down here?

I soon came to realize that I was on the wrong vehicle when the trail abruptly ended at what I thought to be just a large puddle.

Puddle or detour?

Looking farther down, I realized that this was in fact Beaver Creek, or the pathway had been extensively flooded.  Either way, it was the end of this road!

No way through.

I backtracked and wove my way through the warehouse buildings on Leek, and got back to 16th, where I turned north at Leslie.  At the summit of the hill just north of 16th, I saw the Cathederal to the east over on Woodbine and stopped to take a photo.  I think the warehouse buildings in the mid-ground kind of wreck it, but you get an idea of the prominence of the Cathedral.

Gold spires.

I only unclipped from one pedal to take the photo, and somehow when I tried to saddle up again, I lost my balance and fell off the damn bike!  Just my luck that no one was around to see me pick myself out of the gravel.  In the fall, my left hand barcon got shoved on to the small ring and in the process the chain got dropped.  I didn’t realize this until I clipped in and tried to pedal away, narrowly missing another stationary fall.

Travelling north along Leslie I saw the large peloton of the Donut bombing south. The group looked like it was hauling ass.  A little farther north on Leslie, I saw a cyclist on the side of the road with his front wheel removed.  I slowed down and taking a page from the book of Kent Peterson, I asked “You got what you need?”  The fellow asked me if I had a pump, and I responded in the affirmative.  Apparently the guy couldn’t get his CO2 inflator to work properly.  I grabbed my road morph from my saddle bag, and in a few minutes the flat was pumped up, and we both went on our way.  The stricken cyclist said that I had made his day.  I was thankful for an excuse to stop in the shade and have a drink!

The highlight of my ride was bombing down the big hill on Bayview.  I took the following pic from the summit just before I started rolling down.

Steeper and longer than it looks. A welcome descent that isn't scary fast.

As most of my riding is commuting, I have a large saddlebag that I use to carry my clothes, lunch and tools. Rather than bring all the tools out and put them in a smaller set bag, I just lug the large one around with me on weekend rides. Of course, hauling around a totally empty canvas bag just feels silly, so I had put an extra bottle of water in there before I left. I was able to refill the bottle of the parched cyclist, and he went on his way, hopefully a little more hydrated. Kent Peterson wrote of carrying “Samaritan tubes” when riding. I think I’ll make sure I carry a spare water bottle whenever I can.

Funny thing, as I was filling his bottle the parched cyclist commented that my “sweater” jersey (I was wearing a merino jersey) was probably too warm to be wearing out in the heat. He didn’t believe me when I told him that I preferred wool to spandex. He eyed me with even more suspicion I guess as I was riding a lugged steel bike with a leather saddle and big canvas saddlebag

Gear note: I wear prescription glasses, and I’ve never had much luck with prescription sunglasses. Invariably I put them on only to forget my un-tinted regular pair and have to suffer through the day indoors, or worse ride home in the dark. I’ve tired clip-ons and cling-ons, but I’ve never been satisfied. I’ve also tried some slipovers, but they look more like welding goggles or something. For the last while I haven’t been wearing anything, which isn’t doing my eyes any favours. On my ride yesterday I wore a pair of “Fitovers” that I got from Velotique in Toronto. The glasses fit well, and the design of the glasses means I don’t get the light bounce between the two lenses like I did with some of the other solutions I’ve tried. Sure, they are a bit heavier on the face as I’m essentially wearing two pairs of glasses. The side shields affect my peripheral vision just a little bit, but I’m guessing that this helps with the light bounce issue. So far, these are the best that I’ve worn. I’ll update the review after a few months of use.