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Tuesday 30 July 2013

Milton

I need more hills.  The trip to Collingwood was great, in spite of my consternation with the map I printed from the cycling club's website.  I had to ask for directions just to find where I was starting from. Turns out that Sideroad 33/34 where I began was right on a principle route, which expIains why so many locals cruised by all day.  I started by heading east, looking for Fairgrounds road.  My map called it Mill St.   Arriving at Creemore, it turned into Mill St.  It was as if the writer did the course backwards, marking road names as he went.  On towards Badjeros, I was lost again.  The crossing wasn't on the map.  I had brought a highway map with me, and used that to get bearings.  Turns out I was on the right road.  then I tried using the kilometre marks on the map as a guide for when to turn, and only ended up by resetting my odometer on the bike.  Doesn't make sense.  Eventually I ended up at Eugenia Falls which was on the map, and had a long straightaway afterwards, so I couldn't get lost anymore.  

You can see the CN Tower in the distance, I promise
 Milton has the same escarpment overlooking it as Collingwood.  I parked at the Go station, and took a meandering route southwesterly, until I saw directions for Rattlesnake Point, and followed those up the hill.  Wow this thing is steep.  I came to a parking area for the trails, and headed in a short distance to get a picture from the cliff top.  I wanted to go north to the cliff overlooking the 401, but without running shoes or a mountain bike, I wasn't going to be able to get that far over the rocky trails.  

Hate them dump trucks

Back on the road, I headed north, across the 401 and out of town.  I was treated to a long downhill, and another steep uphill.  That's what I came for.  It had dump trucks going up the hill beside me.  Hate those.  Good challenging road, though.  Saw a couple other cyclists out, which seemed unusual for a Wednesday.  

Spent about 2 hours on the road overall.  Feeling strong and ready.Got back the the car and leaned the bike against it.  Got in, and it's really hot from the sun.  I know! Open the side door.  I clicked the button and heard such a clatter.  It dropped the bike.  
Dropped the bike

Sunday 21 July 2013

Collingwood

Went to Collingwood for the weekend.  It's a lovely city on Georgian Bay below some of the best ski hills in Southern Ontario.  In the summer that makes for some great biking!  I looked up recommended routes on the local club's website.  The route for the Centurion ride looked good.  It's 170 km with 5 climbs up the mountain. 

Hilly countryside


It's the biggest hill I've ever gotten to ride up.  I set out at 9:30, heavily loaded down with Clif Bars and Rice Krispie squares.  Plus two Kellog's cereal bars that I found at the back of the cupboard.  They were so old, that the filling had sogged the crust.  I worried that I had too much food.  The intention was to simulate race day, with what I intended to bring for the Ironman.  Not to worry, at three hours in, I was only a third of the way.  The day rounded out to nine hours of travelling.  It's a tough course.  

View downhill to Collingwood


I'm still terrified of the descents.  I pulled up to another rider chat, and asked about that, and he says yes of course he rolls down at full speed, topping out around 75 kph.  Yikes that's fast on a bike.  I hoped that the new pavement on Bower Hill in Woodstock would let me have a few runs at that kind of speed.  It's the only thing near where I live that has that kind of steepness and length.  Alas, I went there to find they have only paved half way, and will be the rest of the summer to finish it.

It was a great day on the road.  Sixth in a series of 180 km rides this summer.  I'm getting stronger, because by this time I didn't awaken screaming in the middle of the night from having my leg muscles seize up in uncontrollable spasms.