mrfunnyhaha

Hey fellas!

So I just moved back home to Scarborough and spring is around the corner. I used to live in the middle of nowhere up north and I'd ride on minor highways with some interesting terrain for 40-50km nonstop.

Come Scarborough. The number of street lights and obstructions in this city is bordering on insanity. I've been on condemned logging trails that were in better condition than most of Kingston Rd. The park trails are full of pedestrians. When I used to ride here I'd often end the ride with a bitter attitude.

Where are the nearest wide open places? Where can I ride without having to stop every 200m? I was thinking Markham, but just getting out of this place would be a ride in itself.

Cdn Guy

There are lots of great rides outside the GTA such as north pickering, aurora, stoufeville. Sometimes its best to drive up and start your rides from there. Best bet is join a bike club - I suggest www.tbn.ca - you'll learn where the best riding spots are, and you'll meet some great people. There are lots of ride options in terms of speed and distance.

mrfunnyhaha

^ That did the trick, thanks for the heads up

alanknm

Pedal Performance in Pickering has group rides Saturday and Sunday mornings. See their website.

asmac

I don't know how wide-open you require but the waterfront trail east from Guildwood is a nice ride. And what part of Kingston Rd have you been looking at. I'm pretty familiar with it and your description doesn't fit.

lucille

Warden Ave all the way up to Lake Simcoe.

mrfunnyhaha

The last time I was on it, between Danforth and Victoria Park had really bad potholes and deeply recessed sewer grates. The whole right lane, not just the far right gutter, was like a minefield. Maybe they've cleaned it up.

From your experience, if I wanted to commute by bike from Kingston & Markham west to Yonge & Bloor, what route would you recommend?

I find the enclosed trails around the city have waaay too many pedestrians to get a workout in. I've been going east on Lawrence to Port Union then up Meadowvale past the zoo into Pickering. Lots of wide open road out there, some varied terrain and small towns to explore.


Sounds like a pretty good piece of work. What road do you take after Warden ends? Is traffic pretty low once you make it out of the city?

lucille

Well, it's not that ambitious, really. I start at Elgin Mills or Newmarket depending how far i want to go. That way I get out of city traffic and enjoy the countryside. I like it there because since Woodbine is so close and it's an 80 km/hr limit, most drivers choose that route. On Warden you get mostly local traffic. Fields, horses and lots of other cyclists.

Warden ends at Base Line Rd. Then you just do a quick left and a very quick right and you're on Civic Centre Road which will take you to Lake Simcoe. You can then turn right and enjoy the scenery.

There isn't really anywhere to buy food or water on that stretch until Jackson's Point, Sutton or Keswick, so come prepared.

asmac

Just normal spring potholes I suppose. Getting from Markham Rd to Birchmount I don't know -- Kingston is pretty much a highway on that stretch but might be ok -- but once you get to Birchmount just head west and straight down Danforth. It's my daily ride and quite pleasant. Of course there are lights and traffic but generally a good ride with lots of space to the right of traffic.
Re bike paths, I expect you are more focused on a workout than I am so they are probably not suitable as you say. Once you get east of Pickering the Waterfront Trail is fairly well connected and not too busy in my experience but it is shared by other users.
See you in the morning.

SyL

You gotta head outta the city. Me living in Brampton, I have the whole open space of caledon, orangeville, halton etc to bike. country roads with very low traffic volume.