kamalster

Hey all,

A few friends and I are looking to do a 50-60km route tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, somewhere north of the GTA. Maybe beyond Richmond Hill/Markham, or in the Caledon Hills area. Anyone know of any good road routes in those areas?

K

skiracing

Where are you starting off from? Do you want to drive to somewhere and then bike or you live in the area?

skiracing

Anyways... there are countless possibilities but generally speaking most roads are made up of little hills in this area. Today I biked north on dufferin, then west on King-Vaughan until Jane, then west on 15th Sideroad (I think), then North on Weston Rd to Aurora-Lloydtown, then took that East until dufferin.... anyways you get the point.

It was actully my first time today biking on Weston Rd and I liked it quiet a bit; the part I was going through had lots of undeveloped land, forests, farms type of scenery.... sometimes you kinda bike and dont think much of it, other times you really enjoy it, today I was enjoying it. I also like biking on Jane, generally it doesnt have too much traffic, you can take it all the way to Hwy 9 and then do something different from there.

I tend to bike much more North-South as opposed to East-West.

Hope that somewhat helps and gives you ideas.

kamalster

Thanks, skiracing. I've never biked north of the GTA before. I live downtown and tend to just bike along the lake shore, but feel like a country ride. The area you described sounds perfect. I just picked up the Golden Horseshoe region cycling map today and will plot out a route using that. Thanks again.

cyclocommuter

There are lots of good places to ride North of the GTA... mostly over the Oak Ridges Morraine...

On the North East, there is the route to Uxbridge... you can take Birchmount all the way North to 14th then Head East until you end up in the York Durham Line (although 10th line is less busy) then head North until you get to Webb road, head East up to the 2nd Concession and head North from there... how far North is up to you... you can also take Wag road (East) and head North again via 4th Concession all the way to Zephyr if you want. The 4th is full of rolling hills. On the way back take the 3rd Concession.

On the North, you can take Bayview all the way past Stouffville road, up to Van Dorf Sideroad where you can head East up to Leslie... go North along Leslie past Wellington/Aurora up to St Johns Sideroad where you can head East all the way to Kennedy. You can take Kennedy homeward bound where a couple of hills up the Oak Ridges await you.

If you are feeling good, you can head North along Warden instead of heading East to Kennedy along St. Johns. Continue North until Mt. Albert. Along Mt. Albert you can head East all the way to York Durham road where you start your homeward bound trek southwards. If you are still feeling good, take Vivian Road (hilly) Westbound to Kennedy where you will be headed Southbound. If you want a less intense homeward ride, take Aurora (a few kms South of Vivian) to get to Kennedy. Most folks coming from the North headed downtown switch from Kennedy to Birchmount along 14th.

There are many more routes up North... all hilly and when mixed with the ever present winds, challenging.

Check the routes above on Google Maps. You could also join a cycling club... many of them take the routes I described above.

kamalster

Thanks, cyclocommuter. I picked up the Golden Horseshoe map this weekend and did a loop starting in Aurora, heading east then north up Warden, west along Mount Albert, then along various winding roads north and west past Yonge, Bathurst and Duffering, then back south to Wellington and east along there back to the cars. Unfortunately, the map isn't as clear as it could be and we ended up taking some wrong turns and wound up on dirt/gravel roads a couple of times. Combine that with more hills than we were expecting, a flat tire, and solid 30km/h headwinds for the first hour, and the ride wasn't quite as enjoyable as I'd hoped it would be. But it was a good workout.

I think I'll take your suggestion and join TBN or some other cycling club (know any other good ones around?) and go along for some rides with them.

skiracing

Getting a flat tire definetly no so good! I can see where you are coming from with the wind and the hills... I must admit since starting to road bike about a year ago I've gotten used to both of those things, ofcourse no wind is better but the hills are always there. I went cycling one time this year to downtown and I did enjoy it but the lights, pot holes, street car tracks ended up getting to me so I was kinda like "I think I'll stick to my area" so I guess it's all based on what you are used to.

cyclocommuter

D'Ornellas Bike Shop in Scarborough (Lawrence on the north side, between Warden and Vic Park) has a cycling club. The group usually rides from the shop Saturdays and Sundays. They have a "skills" group where beginners learn how to ride in a group. They also have a "medium" and "hammer" group for those wanting more intensity in their workouts. You have to be a member to ride with the group... I believe this is an OCA (Ontario Cycling Association of which D'Ornellas is a member of) requirement just in case something nasty happens.

There are other less formal groups from other cycling shops around the GTA but I would think D'Ornellas' is one of the bigger, better organized ones. The problem with this of course is sometimes the group becomes too big and unwieldy.