Eastern Canada - Visiting Toronto in April. Where to ride?

I will be driving to Toronto in April and staying in the Scarborough area for a couple of weeks. Plan on bringing my road bike with me. Any recommendations on where to ride. My usual rides are around 50k and do the occasional 100k. Thanks!

The nicest rides are a little out of the city, when you get away from the traffic.

Look up www.tbn.ca and join some of their Saturday/Sunday rides, specially the ones starting at Finch Station and heading out into the country.

I will be driving to Toronto in April and staying in the Scarborough area for a couple of weeks. Plan on bringing my road bike with me. Any recommendations on where to ride. My usual rides are around 50k and do the occasional 100k. Thanks!

Where in Scarborough? The reason I am asking is so I can direct you to the more bike friendly roads if you are headed North or North East which is where many of the roadies generally head out to. It is still pretty cold in April so don't forget to bring clothing to keep you warm during your rides.

I will be close to Warden and Eglington. I am hoping it will not be too cold. I ride during winter here in North Texas and I am equipped to ride when it's low as 5c. Hope that's adequate.

rishardh, I created this map for you in mapmyride for starters. The route is approximately 70kms in distance. It goes from Warden / Eglington to the town of Stouffeville which is to the North East...

http://www.mapmyride.com/route/ca/on/toronto/927716374132

One hairy part about this route is on your way home, you have to negotiate / cross the 407 highway along Kennedy. If you are not comfortable riding streets with exit ramps leading to highways I suggest you just use the sidewalk along this bridge.

Note too that the town of Stouffville is the start of the hilly terrain. If you want more hills / country side type riding, you have to head further North, to the North West / North East / East of Stouffeville. Let me know if you want to do this and I will map further rides for you.

The temps here average around 0 C to 10 C in April so the gear you use for cold weather riding in Texas is probably fine.

Thank You cyclocommuter. Super nice of you to map me a ride. I will try it out. I dont mind driving to Stouffeville and have a go at those hills. It's pretty flat around here in Texas. Will be a nice change of pace :)

You're welcome. Instead of parking your vehicle at Stouffeville, I suggest you park it in the Markham/Pickering area specifically at the North East corner of Highway 7 and Reesor Road where there is a small park with a parking lot. That's where me and my cycling buddies (some from this forum) meet on Thursday nights for a friendly race.

Here are the routes you might want to go from there:

1. Highway 7 to Mussleman's Lake and back... hilly and kind of picturesque... you will be passing ponds and 2 lakes along the way:
http://www.mapmyride.com/route/ca/on/markham/248160689657

2. Highway 7 to Uxbridge/Pickering townline... this is the race route we do on Thursday nights (6:30 PM) in the summer. It features lots of rollers:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/on/pickering/301359492040

3. You might also want to try this one out... it goes North to Highway 8 in Uxbridge via Concession 2 and heads south via Concession 3 where there are plenty of steep hills:
http://www.mapmyride.com/ride/united-states/on/markham/624383656

I almost forgot, you might also want to check out a ride from your place (Warden and Eglington) to Lake Ontario (Scarborough Bluffs Area). From you place, head east along Eglington to Brimley. Head South along Brimely all the way to the lake. Brimley from Kingston Road to the lake is pretty steep... going up on the way home will definitely give you a workout.

Thank You! I've got a few options now. I guess I will see a few of Cervelos on the road?

The Cervelos all seem to come out to play first thing on a Saturday morning along the Spit.

Where's the Spit? I just finished building up a Cervelo RS. Plan on bringing that along to Cervelo country:)

Where's the Spit? I just finished building up a Cervelo RS. Plan on bringing that along to Cervelo country:)

East of downtown core, by the lake.

The Cervelos all seem to come out to play first thing on a Saturday morning along the Spit.
People ride Cervelos along the Spit?
The Leslie Street one? Isn't it roughly 8km to the end and back and covered in gravel, potholes, and debris?
I haven't been there for a couple of years.

The road is mostly OK, with speed bumps and some debris to watch out for in the area where dumping is still going on - east side of the loop last time I was there. There's always a wind blowing so it's a good workout. Great views of the City, and you can work it into a longer ride on the Martin Goodman Trail/Don Valley. It's only open on holidays and weekends.

The very end of the spit is pretty potholed, but the rest is fine. And as Nondes says, it's always a workout one way or the other because of the wind.

Watch for wildlife too. Lots of birds, the occasional beaver (and beaver dam), and I swear I saw a coyote there last year.

There should still be hundreds of Long-tailed Ducks calling out on the Lake - they'll be headed back to Hudson Bay and the Arctic pretty soon.

http://www.toronto.ca/cycling/map/cyclingmap.htm

For rishardh's benefit, the Leslie Street Spit is shown as "Tommy Thompson Park" in the SE corner of Map 10. We call it one thing, then the politicians go and call it something else.

rishardh, when you are ready to ride North of Toronto, let me know (on this thread or via PM). I might be able to ride with you especially if it is after 3 PM on a weekday or in the morning on a weekend.

I just returned from Toronto wanted to thank everyone for their suggestions. Managed to put in just over 150ks once the weather turned nice. Rode around the Scarborough Bluffs a couple of times, down Lake Shore with my Nephew once and cyclocommuter took me to Musselman Lake which was the highlight of my rides in Toronto.

Wish I could have stayed longer and explored some of the other riding areas in and around Toronto. Well, there is always next time :)

Glad you hade a good time. Next time you're up here give me a P.M. I'll take you out east of Toronto into the training hills. Musselmens Lake is a great ride.