| Thu, July 20 |
48.53 |
2:03:04 |
23.6 |
37.5 |
| One last ride before the bike rally! I wanted to make sure my sponsors' names were firmly attached to my spokes and that my new saddle bag didn't bounce around too much. I rode out to The Beaches, then around Ashbridges Bay, and finally out to Humber Bay West Park. |
| Sat, July 15 |
128.70 |
5:26:04 |
23.6 |
58.0 |
| This was the last training ride in which Stu and I participated. The route took us from Finch Station to Keswick, along Warden Avenue for most of the way, which turns into quite a small road once you get out of the city. It was very hot, but there was a welcome breeze that made it bearable. |
| Sat, July 8 |
~140.00 |
~5:45:00 |
~24.3 |
- |
| I was on vacation, visiting my family on PEI this week. So I rented a Norco road bike from MacQueen's bike shop and rode from St. Ann's to East Point. It was a great day for riding, with a gentle breeze behind me and not-too-hot temperatures. You can see my route here. Gmaps Pedometer gives about 133 km for the route, but my sister Jeanne drove the route and measured 138 km with her car. I also took a wrong turn once and stopped in at my sister Paulette's house, so I figure I rode about 140 km. Look for a post with pictures from the ride soon! |
| Sat, July 1 |
101.82 |
4:17:24 |
23.7 |
56.0 |
| An excellent training ride out to the quaint village of Terra Cotta. The country store there opened up just for us and sold us sausages and Gatorade. Happy Canada Day! |
| Sat, June 17 |
~102.00 |
~4:35:00 |
~22.3 |
~45.0 |
| This was an incredibly difficult ride due to the high temperature of 34 degrees. To make matters worse, I think I was a little under-hydrated, Stu and I each had a flat, and my bicycle was noisy which I found frustrating. Also, my cycle computer reset itself again, so the distance and time are approximate (I've picked up a new battery now, so it shouldn't be a problem any more). |
| Sun, June 11 |
63.93 |
3:09:58 |
20.2 |
37.5 |
| Dave and I set out on an ambitious ride to circle most of the city. We rode down to Queen's Quay, then took the Martin Goodman Trail westward, then rode up the Humber Trail all the way to Steeles Avenue. We then headed east on Steeles, detouring through York University campus and then through G. Ross Lord Park (they play cricket there, who knew?) and onto Drewry Avenue. We faced a number of obstacles along the way. On Queen's Quay I nearly collided with an on-coming, left-turning vehicle. The Humber Trail isn't very well marked, so once we got to the part that we're not familiar with (north of Lawrence) there were plenty of wrong turns and constant map-checking. As if that wasn't enough, I got another flat tire, which was my fault - my rim tape needs to be replaced and I've been too lazy to do it so far. We also had a very difficult time finding our way through G. Ross Lord Park. By the time we got to Yonge it was getting chilly and it was much later than we'd anticipated, due to the all the wrong turns and the flat tire, so we took the subway home. The original plan had been to continue on Drewry and Cummer Avenues until Leslie, then take the Don Trail back downtown. We'll do it one of these days. |
| Sat, June 10 |
~96.80 |
~4:00:00 |
~24.2 |
~53.0 |
| Training Ride #12, Kipling to Inglewood. As Stu noted in his log, we had strong headwinds for the entire northward leg of this ride which made it very tiring. I surpassed 1000 km for the season on this ride! Right afterwards, however, my cycle computer malfunctioned, and I lost all of my data (hence the approximate numbers on this entry). Luckily, just taking the battery out and putting it back in seems to have done the trick. |
| Sun, June 4 |
63.48 |
2:48:37 |
22.5 |
52.5 |
| The rain held off today, making the Becel Ride for Heart much more comfortable than the ride the day before. I rode to the CNE grounds with Dave, where we met up with Stu and Stephen, did the ride, and then rode back home. Dave and I averaged 23.5 km/h for the "Ride" portion of this trip. |
| Sat, June 3 |
102.22 |
4:01:49 |
25.3 |
49.5 |
| I rode to Kennedy Station (O'Connor provides a very direct route from my area) and then did Training Ride #10, Kennedy - Musselman Lake. It rained the entire time, making us very soggy and covering us and our bikes in road dirt. But it was good experience riding in the rain and the longest ride I've done so far. |
| Sun, May 28 |
38.10 |
1:50:28 |
20.7 |
43.5 |
| Ride with Dave starting from Old Mill Station. We rode north on the Humber Trail then headed home via the Martin Goodman Trail. |
| Sat, May 27 |
71.75 |
2:45:21 |
26.0 |
63.0 |
| Training Ride #9, Finch Station to Aurora and back. Absolutely great ride! |
| Sat, May 20 |
60.11 |
2:22:15 |
25.3 |
48.0 |
| Training Ride #8, Kipling to Oakville and back. It was my first time to Oakville, which I never realized is a quaint little town. Nice ride, other than some strong winds on the return. |
| Sun, May 14 |
50.59 |
2:29:50 |
20.2 |
44.5 |
| Dave and I rode west along the Martin Goodman Trail, and then north on the Humber Trail to Raymore Park (almost to Lawrence Avenue). It was my first time on Humber Trail, which is much more scenic than the Don Trail. |
| Sat, May 13 |
52.15 |
2:02:55 |
25.4 |
49.5 |
| Training Ride #6, including the ride from my house to College Station. |
| Tue, May 9 |
31.75 |
1:33:35 |
20.3 |
40.0 |
| Dave and I rode the Martin Goodman Trail to its western terminus. Part of it is still closed, but we detoured along the sidewalk. |
| Sun, May 7 |
33.93 |
1:50:36 |
18.4 |
39.5 |
| Though I was tired from the training ride in the morning, I think a large part of training is just getting used to spending lots of time on the bike. I'm still a little stiff sometimes after a long ride, but I think it's just a matter of getting my body used to it. So I decided to go for another ride with Dave. We headed downtown to meet his friends Richie and Roberto, who cycled part way up the Don Trail with us. Dave and I continued on to Sunnybrook Park and climbed the hill from the hill training clinic I had done the day before. |
| Sun, May 7 |
52.40 |
2:07:21 |
24.6 |
46.5 |
| Training Ride #5, including the ride from my house to Castle Frank Station. Because this was a repeat of the previous day's ride, it was a smaller group. And since the route was very complicated, I decided to follow the lead pack, who were supposed to know where we were going. (They did take one wrong turn, but I checked the map and got myself back on track.) I could only keep up with them for about half of the ride, but it was definitely a good workout. |
| Sat, May 6 |
32.55 |
1:28:58 |
21.9 |
42.5 |
| I rode to the 519 for the Expo Seminar, then up to Sunnybrook Park for hill training. I did 4 climbs and then headed back home on the Don Trail. |
| Tue, May 2 |
36.58 |
1:52:17 |
19.5 |
42.5 |
| Dave and I rode to Velotique to get him some cycling shorts, and then we continued on to the Scarborough Bluffs. Unfortunately, before we got there, I got another flat tire. Since the weather was nice, I fixed it and then we forged ahead. We were almost there anyways. Dave did quite well on the hills, though he might tell you otherwise. |
| Sun, April 30 |
66.50 |
4:03:03 |
16.4 |
49.0 |
| A long, leisurely ride with Stephen. I rode up Bayview and Rosedale Valley Road to meet Stephen at Mt. Pleasant and Moore Ave. Then we biked up to Sunnybrook Park and then down the Don Trail to Queen Street. From there we biked out to Tommy Thompson Park and around the docks before heading back up the Don Trail to Don Mills and Overlea. I accompanied Stephen to his place and then rode home on Mt. Pleasant. I got going pretty fast on some of the down hills on the way back downtown. |
| Sat, April 29 |
45.97 |
1:55:14 |
23.9 |
44.0 |
| Training Ride #4, starting from Kipling Station. This was the best training ride yet. Much warmer than it has been, and very little wind. It's also a great route. I had trouble keeping up with Stu on his new bike at times! |
| Sat, April 22 |
2.29 |
8:43 |
15.8 |
28.4 |
| Training Ride #3, aborted. |
| Wed, April 19 |
31.99 |
1:20:10 |
23.9 |
39.0 |
| I biked down to Queen's Quay via Sherbourne and then went west along the Martin Goodman Trail to where it is closed for maintenance. Then I headed east, going around the docks and ending up at The Beach (I think it makes more sense to call it "the beaches," but whatever). On the way home, a fast cyclist passed me when I was stopped at the lights at Leslie and Lake Shore, so I kept up with him all the way to Riverdale Park, doing about 30 - 34 km/h most of the way. My multi-tool came in handy on this ride... I guess I hit a bump, perhaps train tracks, and my handlebars got tilted downward a bit. I didn't notice it at first, but once I did, it drove me crazy, so I had to adjust them. Last year, my seat nearly fell off one ride, and I didn't have anything to fix it with. I really need to go over my bike and check all of the nuts and bolts! |
| Sat, April 8 |
36.58 |
1:43:12 |
21.2 |
42.0 |
| First official bike rally training ride! We had a good turn-out even though it was very very chilly. I wore 6 layers on top and my woolen winter gloves over my cycling gloves, but I didn't know what to wear for bottoms other than my leg warmers and shorts. My feet were the worst - very cold and numb, but I was comfortable otherwise. The ride started from Finch Station, and it was my first time bringing my bike on the subway. It was fine, but the cleats on my shoes were quite clicky. Here is the route map, except that we had a short detour due to construction. |
| Sun, April 2 |
39.42 |
2:02:50 |
19.2 |
41.5 |
| I met Dave and Stu at Dave's place, then took Jarvis down to Queen's Quay. We wanted to do the Martin Goodman Trail, which takes you west along the waterfront, but it was closed. So we did a 180 and headed for Cherry Street Beach and then Tommy Thompson Park. To get home, we took the Don Valley Trail up to Queen and then crossed over to Jarvis. I headed home on Carlton Street. It was rather chilly, especially out on the lake. |
| Wed, March 29 |
31.24 |
1:21:20 |
23.0 |
41.5 |
| Headed to the Don Valley Trail via Bayview, then cycled north to Sunnybrook Park with a short detour for the killer hill. After cycling south to Lake Shore, returned home via Cherry Street/Sumach - King - Parliament. |
| Sun, March 12 |
23.26 |
1:01:41 |
22.6 |
41.5 |
| I headed south on the Don Valley Trail (via Riverdale Park), then rode out to the end of Tommy Thompson Park (a.k.a. the Leslie Spit), around the docks, and home on Parliament St. |
| Sat, January 28 |
12.21 |
40:44 |
18.0 |
34.0 |
| First ride of the season! I borrowed Luke's bike and fixed it up so that Dave could come along. We rode up Bayview Ave. to Pottery Rd. and then got onto the Don Valley Trail heading south. We came back through the Distillery District and then up Parliament St. |
