Toronto Noob Seeks a Ride Buddy or Two ...
 

Hey ...

I'm a relative newbie to this road cycling thing, currently into my second season of "serious" riding and my first real road bike. I'm relatively comfortable in traffic, not a terrible bike handler, and in OK shape. Hills, no surprise still kick my ass, but even that is getting better. Oh, and I'm a girl. What I really need is a person (or persons) to go riding with from time to time to learn new routes, and to help with my confidence. Whenever I meet another rider on the road and join up for a while, I discover that my confidence goes up tremendously ... I also usually get to learn a new route to ride.

I'm in the Bloor / Dufferin area, and can ride any day of the week. Early mornings are not my forte, but other than that my schedule is pretty flexible. Rides of up to 50km should be fine, and cruising speeds 20 - 25km would be comfortable.

I am aware of TBN and the Lap-Dogs club, and will look into those more group oriented options as well.

Drop me a PM if you'd be interested in a ride sometime. Thanks.

Hi Trigger,

I too am a girl, and I ride a road bike. I'd guesstimate we could probably keep up to each other, but I have no idea what my preferred cruising speed is (I can make the 5.8km ride to work in 15 minutes, if that helps) --- and I live decently close to you (I'm in the Dundas West neighbourhood).

I'm currently working on fixing up my newer bike, but I still have the beast (my old raleigh) on the road if you're interested in doing some riding. I'm always up for a weekend ride - I'd love to do some exploring on some of the roads leading OUT of the city, to Mississauga or somewhere.

Hey there trigger,

There are some urban rides that go on within the city, too - the Devil Strip Rollers (http://www.devilstriprollers.com) have bi-weekly 'cruise' rides which are usually at a reasonable pace, but it's always more a social thing to meet/greet, etc. if you're at all interested. There's also a newer small group that's getting together Thursdays to ride centuries (100 miles or KM, depends on the night I guess) but I would think that's a bit more of a faster pace, I've not yet made it out for one of those though.

I'm also in that general area being just off Roncesvalles, so if you want to post something up for a ride - let me know and I'll try to make it - it's always nicer to have company. My time is typically limited to weekends and later evening rides (7pm+) as I work out in Whitby and bike/go-train commute ;)