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Tour of Oak Ridges 400 report
Story by Wim Kok, BC Randonneurs.
Thank you for organizing this brevet. As indicated earlier I finished the ride in 21:07 just after 3 am at the same place where we started from. I rode most of the ride by myself,. It was an enjoyful experience. While it is called the Oak Ridge Moraine 400 km, it could easily be marketed as the ride of the blooming lilacs. Their fragrances were everywhere, though occasionally disturbed by a skunk's whiff. The ride is rather surprising in that one never gets the sense of being just a stone throw away from Canada's largest metropolis. This is due to the well chosen rural nature of the route. Amazingly it is not until some 15 km before the finish line that one is back in suburbia. We started with 9 (+1) riders at 6 am from Wendy's at the Erin Mills Town Centre shopping mall under cloudy and drizzling skies. The +1 represented the toddler, who was attached to his Dad's bike for the first part of the ride. Speaking of teaching them young!!
Off we went into the country side, only to be greeted by a blocked road due to bridge construction. Back tracking and looking for an alternate way to the intended route. The resident riders knew the area well enough to re-connect. Fairly soon the first climbs appeared: short, steep and nasty, but not fatal. Interestingly we came through areas, which I had visited on fieldtrips during professional conferences some 10-15 years ago. I recognized the gravel pits where we stopped, as well as the fence made from tree trunks. A slide of the latter is still in my collection! With a 600 km brevet on Vancouver Island still in my legs from the weekend before, it became obvious that I didnot have the snap to bounce up the hills, so after about 3 hours or so, I (had to) let the faster riders go. Near Cataract I missed a turn and had to do quite a bit of backtracking. At 11 am I pulled into Orangeville (Km 104) at the Deja Vu restaurant to get the card signed. Friendliness greeted me at this stop, where I received complementary water and a can of coke courtesy of the restaurant. The woman who signed my card emphasized: "do not forget to have fun"!!! This reminder was useful during some of the tougher sections in the ride. Next time when cycling into Orangeville, do remember the Deja Vu restaurant for its friendly service.
After Orangeville it was eastward through the very pretty Nottawasaga Valleynear Hockley. While the route sheet indicated to turn left on the Adjala Road #4 just after climbing the hill, the road was not marked as such, which resulted in back tracking (again). Soon after turning south and then east near Colgan, the pavement turned into gravel due to road construction. Meanwhile the skies remained clooudy, and the air rather muggy at times. The route through the Holland Marsh was very interesting. I swear that this scenery could have been somewhere in the Netherlands. The canals, the pumphouse and the vegetable producers, farmbuildings, equipment and fieldworkers (except for their hats, which looked rather oriental). At 14:23 pm I pulled in Vince's Country Market in Sharon (Km 181) for my second control signature. In Uxbridge I sat down for a bowl of soup, a bagel and a bit of recovery. Things went a lot better after that. At Ashburn I reached the farthest point east on this brevet. At 18:35 pm I pulled into Stouffville (Km 267) for yet another control signature. The convenience store clerk mentioned that two cyclists were ahead of me by about 10 minutes. Buoyed by that thought I continued, however never did catch up. At 20:51 pm I pulled in at Oak Ridges (Km 311) .
After restocking and installing/checking the lights I rode into dusk. Luckily the skies had cleared, which extended the dusk period. Due to increasing darkness and fatigue, my sense of direction waned a bit. Not being familiar with the area I had to stop a number of times to ask the locals for confirmation of the road names. This slowed my average speed. At km 350 things became confused in that the route sheet indicated to turn LEFT, while the remainder indicated to go North (right). I took the left turn and after required 3.2 km realized that there was no Old Church Road, so I turned back to the intersection, pulled out a map and studied the route card some more. Luckily a woman stopped-- bless her heart - and she not only pointed me in the right direction, but also gave me her "Backroad Map of South Central Ontario". This was a real gem, because it showed all the backroad and their names. This is the map to have on the a brevet like this. It exposed the error on the route sheet: TL should have read: TR - turn right. While valuable time was lost, it also demonstrated that detailed maps are invaluable on brevets. Especially in areas with a dense road network constructed along lines in a specific land settlement and survey system. It is not a question of riding from A-B-C-D as I am used to in NE British Columbia, where few choices exist. Moreover it also showed that there are many samaritans around, willing to help strangers at at all hours of the day and night. Faith in humanity received another boost. After this episode the ride continued smoothly to the finishline at Km 418. All in all I must have covered close to 450 km, including backtracking. Nothwithstanding that, a great route and wonderful people. Thanks again.
E.W. (Wim) Kok
Fort St. John, B.C.
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