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Wednesday, July 12, 2017

Tour de GTA (Greater Toronto Area)


***Updated after I actually did it with some new notes!!!***

I want to do something epic and I have always had this one in mind, but haven't found a day to pull it off.

Friday is the day!

The Concept

Bike from Whitby to Burlington (or the reverse).
Use the GO train to get back (or to the start).

Note: after actually doing it - the hills west of Yonge are much, much harder than the hills east of Yonge!  I prefer having fresh legs to tackle the worst stuff and have a progressively easier ride as the miles add up - so next time I will find a day with favourable winds and go Burlington to Whitby.  It should be easier!


The Route

196km of awesomeness.

Gmap-pedometer.com link (warning: takes time to load)

Note: St. John's Sideroad is closed at Highway 404 until December 2017 - actually it's a longer stretch than that.  I added 5km messing with detours - check for construction updates before using this route!!!

There are probably shorter routes, but would they be as cool?  I.  Think. Not.

I used a bunch of sources, mostly Strava Heatmaps to figure out where people ride a lot.  I'm hoping that has yielded a safe route without too much traffic!

Potential Rest Stops

0.1km - on the east side of Brock are a bunch of food options, McDonald's and some other stuff near the gas station.

~20km - Ashburn General Store at Ashburn and Myrtle (SW corner)

39km - turn north and go into Uxbridge, lots of stores etc to refuel (and a nice little town)

56km - turn south onto Ninth Line, just before Musselman Lake on the right side there is a little store where lots of cyclists congregate to refuel

58km - at the corner of Aurora Road and Highway 48 there's a convenience store right on the route (but I highly recommend Musselman Lake because it's pretty)

Pottageville - there's a gas station, presumably with stuff.

94km - right at the intersection of Main and Church in Schomberg is a little convenience store.  How convenient!  Edit: I stopped here, had everything I needed.

119km - Mono Road - I think there's a store here, but not 100% Edit: I noticed a gas station, but didn't stop.

147.5km - Confederation and Wildwood/Prince near Georgetown.  Edit: SW corner has a convenience store, fully stocked.

193km to the end - lots of stuff along Appleby Line.

Other Route Notes

If you go Burlington to Whitby - you get to go up the infamous Rattlenake Point climb.  It's steep and a good way to warm up the legs!  In the opposite direction it's a sketchy downhill instead.

There are actually quite a few climbs end to end, no matter which way you go.  I suspect East to West is easier (EDIT: NO IT ISN'T!!!), but it could be about the same?  Either way the start and end are at about the same elevation.

Pick a day when the wind is blowing the right direction, because 195km of headwind is a lonnnng day at the office.  I'm planning to go westward as that's the way things are shaping up for Friday.






1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Enjoy! I hope the rain holds out.