Day 3 GWTA, Monday July 6th, Pickering to Port Hope

100.14km, 4:54:31 total cycling time, 20.47 kph average, 60.21 kph max

Breakfast courtesy of Ontario Power Generation, Starbucks in attendance and the LBS available to sell bike stuff and sort out minor mechanical problems.

The DJ played good morning music and gave us the rundown of what was going on.

So 9am start from Esplanade Park in Pickering, complete with police escort through the town to the lakefront trails. Seemed a bit overkill but Pickering wanted to get 250 cyclists down the hill and out of town with minimum fuss and maximum safety.

The first part of the day was a meandering mix of roads and multi-use paths. The paths are always pleasant to ride on but we have to moderate our speed for the sake of all the other users.

Lunch stop came early, at 10:20. This had been arranged when the intended start for the day was Fort York in Toronto and with the last minute scramble to reset the start to Pickering because of the Toronto strike it would be too difficult to arrange a new lunch stop with different location and vendors. It became an extended stop, a festive, picnic atmosphere.

The early afternoon found us more in mountain bike territory as some of the paths were more like single track. In places I found it smoother to ride in the grass beside the dirt/gravel track.

This also brought us to some challenging steep, gravel covered climbs. As I saw the first one approaching two other road bikes were attempting the climb. One had to unclip awkwardly part way up, the other fell attempting to do the same. When I saw a clear path I called out “coming through” and up I went. Having seen the challenge I started at a higher speed at the base and, motivated by not wanting to duplicate the other cyclist's fall, powered through to the top.

The second of these gravelly climbs began immediately after a very narrow gate. I decided discretion was the better part of valour, walked through the gate straddling the bike (the space between the poles was barely wider than my handlebars) and, since the alternative would have been to attempt a start already on the steep upslope, walked up the climb. One cyclist following actually, and impressively, rode through the gate and climbed the hill, real cyclocross stuff!

The third of these climbs was too long and steep for me to attempt, remembering the challenge of the first one.

At some point in all this I broke a front spoke. Compared to the rear spoke I broke on day one this had even less effect on the wheel. A minimal wobble and very slight out-of-roundness, barely noticeable except on smooth pavement – the advantage of an old fashioned high spoke-count wheel. I made sure it was secure and carried on.

On into the ‘highlands’ of Northampton County with both rolling hills and long climbs. OK so it’s not the Pyrenees. They’re hills to us.

I love the rollers. If you get into a tuck and let gravity accelerate you, you can grab a big gear before the bottom and, with a push, let your momentum carry you to the top of the next hill. On one descent I hit my daily max speed of 60kph and was able to reach the top of the next grade still doing 45. Fun! The potholes and broken pavement left from the spring thaw add to the challenge. Look way down the road and plan your moves. Alert and alive!

The long grinding climbs were another matter. Standing on the pedals or concentrating on turning smooth circles, or changing your pedal stroke to use muscles somehow not yet tired out to get you up the climb, finding a bit of acceleration when you thought there was none left. OK stop laughing. Satisfaction at the top!

Finally the sign that says 10km to go. Then 7.5. Then 6, 5. The 3km sign is at the bottom of a long climb. 2 miles, I bet the first one is uphill. Yes the climb was just over 1.6 km. But so close to the end!

Then down the hill, around a corner, a slight rise and a descent to a small park. 98km on the computer. Shame it couldn’t be an honest metric century at least (be careful what you ask for). Where is everyone? I know I’m not first by a long way, and this parkette is much too small. No, it’s a welcoming committee from the town of Port Hope with a gift package and information about what the town offers. And directions to the camp ground. 2km and a couple more steep hills they neglected to mention and I have my 2nd metric century of this trip … 100.14km.

The day ends in Port Hope at the Town Park Recreation Centre. The library’s open till 8pm, with internet access so I can post to my blog. But that seems like a lot of trouble right now. Check in, have a beer, gather my luggage and set up the tent before it rains (confirmation later it’s still rain-tight, much to my relief). Grab a shower. Arrange to stop in Cobourg tomorrow at Sommerville’s Bike Shop to have the spoke replaced. More beer, with pizza this time. Sit and trade war stories from the day.

Earlier start tomorrow. Set the alarm.

Day 2 GWTA, Sunday July 5th, Hamilton to Pickering

Day 2 GWTA, Sunday July 5th, Hamilton to Pickering (new)
119.82 km, 6:07:06 total cycling time, 19.59 kph average, 50.91 kph max

Had trouble locating the showers this morning – I found the directions unclear and when located one of the two options was locked up tight until late morning, so got a late start folding the tent. No worries except for the folks loading the truck (sorry!), was in plenty of time for breakfast.

Breakfast was pre-arranged at Baranga’s on the Beach. What they were offering was continental, at nine dollars. Rather than grumble about the price for a coffee and danish I decided to take the advice of volunteer Nancy, who pointed out the first rest stop was just 16km down the trail in Burlington.

The City of Burlington couldn’t have been more accommodating. The new Burlington MEC (Mountain Equipment Co-op) was on hand to help with mechanical issues (no spoke though), some city staff were on hand with water, melon, grapes, apple and orange slices, this organized by one of the counselors who did the ride last year. Also two local Starbucks were giving out free coffee and energy bars. Always welcome!

MEC has a look at my lumpy rear wheel:










Starbucks gratis ... a good thing:

Actually this is one of the little joys of this supported tour. I'd packed assorted energy snacks for the week; nuts, candied ginger, fig bars etc. But the 41 communities supporting this ride hand out so much stuff that food is the one thing you just do not need to bring. I was just clueing into this and left the stop without any goodies, but a few kilometers down the road Burlington had a second rest stop, so I dropped in just long enough to grab a Clif bar and keep going.

Coming into Toronto we saw the first of the temporary garbage dumps necessitated by the municipal strike.

Day 1 GWTA, Saturday July 4th, Niagara-on-the-lake to Hamilton
86.28 km, 4:40:54 total cycling time, 18.43 kph average, 43.56 kph max

Those of us camping at Fort George in Niagara-on-the-lake unloaded our bikes and luggage pitched our tents on the evening of July 3rd. The evening included a party with local vintners and Steamwhistle brewery in attendance. Music was provided by _ Town, a Juno Award nominated band, bringing music of the islands to the festivities.

Things on two wheels:


The British Army’s in NOTL standing guard against a possible American invasion. Still they take time out to fire a field gun signaling the 09:00 start of the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure. Great chaps. Fortunately the Americans stayed on their side of the border except for a few friendly Yanks who came to Canada to join the ride.



Day 1, I wore an England side national football jersey. With all those guys walking around Fort George wearing swords and carrying muskets I didn’t want any misunderstandings.




Off at 9am from Fort George with a one gun salute. 250 cyclists rode through NOTL to the Waterfront Trail. Beautiful day, even the ducks were enjoying the sunshine.

Unfortunately I broke a rear wheel spoke this morning about an hour from lunch. This wheelset is 26 years old (original to the bike) and has never given any trouble in all that time. I removed the spoke and nipple, re-inflated the tire, and made my way to the lunch stop with a wobbly rear wheel.

One advantage of such a well organized tour is they’ve arranged for bike mechanics to meet us at various places. Day one lunch is one such place. They didn’t have a spoke to fit (how many would they have to show up with?), but at least managed to true the wheel so it runs straight between the brake blocks.

Fantastic lunch put on by Autumn Restaurant; home made bread, fresh salads, everything fresh from their own garden. This was Autumn’s 1st anniversary in business: their first catered event was last year’s inaugural GWTA.

Back on the road, rear wheel going bump … bump … bump. Wheels should be round, but with a missing spoke this one isn’t. At least it’s not dragging on the brake, but I’ll have to get this fixed properly. Can’t ride this all the way to Quebec. For now I’ve decided this is my high-tech rear wheel. 35 spokes instead of 36 makes it lighter, more aerodynamic!

A stop on the way was a tour of historic Grimsby, with strawberries and ice cream.

That night we made camp at Confederation Park in _. I split a bottle of Kozelmann’s Red Moose (picked up at their stand at the party the first nght) with Drew from St Catharines, Deb from Ajax. The three of us joined up with Dan, Ted (one of the tour volunteers), Michelle and Ari for supper at Baranga’s on the Beach. Apparently they’d expected the crowd to descend much earlier and had packed up what had been laid on and sent some people home and closed their patio (not that we were especially late), so we ate in the restaurant.

Countdown is on ... GWTA

Just finished the last prep on the Raleigh and the countdown is on to the Great Waterfront Trail Adventure!


A change in itinerary. The original plan called for us to spend night 2 at Fort York in Toronto. Thanks to the T.O. municipal workers' strike that venue has been commandeered for trash storage. The new plan is to make our way to Union Station, load our bikes on trucks, and take the GO train to Pickering.

Somehow that seems like cheating. I suspect a few will carry on across the Martin Goodman Trail, up Kingston Road into Scarborough, and on to Pickering on our bikes. Should be about 100k total for the day.

Packing is mostly done. I’m just deciding what tent to bring since luggage is limited to 2 duffel bags.

The little tent fits me but the rest of my gear would fend for itself each night. As long as the duffels are still rain-worthy that would be OK.

The big tent sleeps four in a pinch so has plenty of room for all my kit out of the elements, and would be more 'luxurious'. But then I’d be packing less kit to make room for the tent.

Of course I could have gone out and bought an in-between tent or a monster duffel but I’m in a ‘get rid off stuff’ mode and ‘get stuff’ runs counter to the program.

So tomorrow morning it’s load the truck and off to Niagara-on-the-lake!