Hi Girls.
Hope everyone had a great weekend - rain and all! Thanks to everyone that sent me email about Tour de Bleu. It was a great event - tiring, but really fun. We rode 100km on Saturday (check out the route if you feel like doing the ride next time you're in Muskoka: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=290947) and then had a couple ride options for Sunday. I must admit that the number of hills we rode on Saturday combined with the relatively brisk pace wore me out. I opted to ride the more reasonable 100km route from Barrie back to Trillium Hospital (I was planning on doing the 160 km route but then had another think after the Saturday ride). It absolutely poured for about an hour but we carried on. There are some BIG, STEEP hills on Weston Road (I believe around Old Barrie Road) so I was thanking my lucky stars that I chose the shorter distance. The highlight was riding in the final 30kms with full police escort. There were about 35 of us and we had Hurontario heading south pretty much all to ourselves. Pretty cool experience overall! Thanks again to all those that made donations and sent me well-wishes!!!
Here's the update for this week's rides:
Wednesday and Friday rides
Start and end at Gears as usual. Depart at 6:30pm on Wednesday, and 9:30am Friday.
Saturday ride
Saturday we're going to head north. This ride will not be starting or ending at Gears. We'll meet at Sixth Line and Steeles (Hornby Park) for 8:45am and ride at 9:00am (the meeting point is a bit far for some members, so I thought the later start time would help). From Hornby Park we'll be riding north on Sixth Line, then west on 15th Sideroad to Moffat and then, depending on how the group feels (and the weather), we'll either take the same route back to the start or we'll ride through Campbellville. This is the same start location as the other ride we did to Moffat (for those of you that were on that ride).
Most direct route to the meeting point:
If you're taking the QEW from Port Credit, head west and get off at Trafalgar. Drive north for quite a ways (17kms) - cross Dundas, Lower Baseline, the 407, Britannia, Derry, and the 401, until you reach Steeles Avenue. Head west (left) on Steeles about 1km until you hit Sixth Line. Head south (left) on Sixth Line - immediately after you turn onto Sixth Line there will be a parking lot on your left (there's a ball diamond and athletic field) - we'll meet there. If you're coming from the 401 - exit at Trafalgar, drive north on Trafalgar to Steeles - follow the directions above to the parking lot. This map will give you an idea of where Hornby Field is, but you'll need to continue west on Steeles a little ways until you reach Sixth Line: http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&source=s_q&hl=en&geocode=&q=hornby,+ontario&sll=43.516802,-80.056474&sspn=0.60349,1.760559&ie=UTF8&ll=43.566213,-79.835887&spn=0.009422,0.027509&z=15
NB: If you're thinking about taking Sixth Line north to Steeles...there's a fence up I believe going over the 407 - I wouldn't recommend taking Sixth because you won't be able to drive around, over, or under :) the fence.
Here's a link to the route we'll be following: http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=228491.
The Saturday ride will be approximately 55km return. It's a really pretty ride with some nice rollers, and a couple decent sized hills - and the halfway mark features an awesome bakery!!! Bring some money if you want to buy yourself a treat or a cold drink (great buttertarts!). Also, be sure to bring water, a spare tube, and perhaps a small high energy snack.
Let me know if you'll be joining us!
Mel
