The Event
The Tour de Greenbelt. This is a series of recreational rides in the Toronto area. We did the Rouge Park ride, a 25K ride starting and finishing at the Toronto Zoo.
Great work, Kacey!
My 4-year-old daughter Kacey and I did this ride together, she was on the trail-behind bike (it has its own set of pedals, but latches to my bike seatpost).
She rode like a champ! Kept us moving really fast.
The ride
This was more of a "tour" than anything. The cyclists involved were largely environmentalist types and city riders, not many roadies. When there are 4 rest stops on a 25K route, you should really expect that I guess!
It's my off-season now, so I didn't have any goals here, other than to have fun with my daughter.
Mission: Accomplished! She had fun. We stopped for apples, ice cream, and just had a leisurely time.
The organization was a bit shaky... the rest stops were just being set up as we got there sometimes, and there was confusion where to go for things like the "free ice cream". Also getting back to the Zoo, it wasn't clear where we should go for the post-race lunch... we ended up just skipping it.
Oh, and I found it somewhat ironic that the environmentalists who put this on served BOTTLED WATER! And we got the usual bag full of flyers. Not really consistent with the conservation theme... doesn't really bother me any, but always fun to point out the inconsistencies of others. ;)
Dalton McGuinty
The Ontario premier was there to kick it off. I guess he gets his due, since he really was the architect of the Green Belt. It's a great idea - set aside a large swath of land surrounding Toronto to remain undeveloped. He didn't speak for too long, just enough to get his soundbites in, so that was fine.
The Verdict
If you're looking to tour the Greenbelt's points of interests at a leisurely pace, then this is a good way to do it. But if you're looking to pound the pavement in a roadie-style group ride, skip this one.
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