I stopped to take a photo of the lovely cycling/pedestrian bridge that spans the Humber at the lakeshore, while Scott and Lisa continued on. After crossing the bridge, I nearly missed the turn north to Lakeshore Blvd, and had to double back as I passed one of the tall condo towers on the west side of Humber Bay. I soon found Lisa and Scott waiting for me a few blocks down on Lakeshore, and we then set off together, still wondering where Brian was. At First Street we turned south and meandered along quiet side streets, following the Waterfront Trail, with occasional views of the lake. At Marie Curtis Park, we then turned north and followed the trail along Etobicoke Creek. I had never been on this trail - it proved to be a very lovely stretch, with trees arching over the creek. I stopped once again to take a quick snap with my camera. Just south of the QEW the trail rose sharply and ended. Scott and Lisa were waiting for me there.

Once again we followed mainly quiet side streets north past Bloor and up to Burhamthorpe, where we did a short jaunt east before taking a side street north to another ravine trail, this time along Mimico Creek. Again it was lovely and tree-lined. The trail merged with the one along the south side of Eglinton, where we turned west to Renforth, then took Renforth north under the 401, and past the east side of Peason Intl. Airport, then followed side streets northward through industrial parks and up to Woodbine Race Track.

We then followed an access road on the west side of the race track up to Rexdale Blvd, then crossed it and went north along Humberwood Blvd through rather bland subdivisions to pick up the North Humber trail. All of this was new to me and an interesting adventure. We followed the trail southeast, but initially missed a turn, and found we were about to exit the park far short of the specified distance. After a quick re-reading of the route sheet, we went back down the hill, then found the bridge we should have crossed and continued along the path. All quite lovely. The trail took us to a park and we followed a park road, then another trail to exit on a side street. We then had a rather steep climb - something to expect when leaving a ravine.

A trek north on a backroad through the Woodbine Race Track
photo by Phil Piltch

We soon reached the first control, at a small Italian bakery/cafe, Capri Bagels. We stopped for a short time, refueling and making pitstops, then carried on the route. I noted the next control was on Rougemount, out past Scarboroug, so we had a little ways to go and the clock was ticking.

From this point the route was all on road, but again rarely on major roads. We followed minor roads east, just south of Steeles, then briefly went along Steeles under the 400, then back south and east along side streets to York University. I use to live in this area and found my self in familiar territoty. After going along campus roads, we went south along Sentinal to Sheppard, and then east along Sheppart, past Downview base to Chesswood. Once again some more meander through industral park north and east to G. Lord Ross Park. We made a quick stop at the washrooms in the park, then took a lovely trail, and side streets to Drewery at Bathurst. We then crossed much of the city, following Drewery, Cummer and McNichol. All through the ride both Scott and I were amazed the Lisa rarely consulted the route sheet, knowing almost instinctively each turn. McNichol ends at Tapscott, where we turned south and east.

Lisa disparaged over the loss of farmland and open spaces to suburban sprawl, no doubt brought home by the very sprawl we were cycling through in the section of Scarborough, known as Malvern. Fortunately, we were soon out the sprawl and cycling through Rough Park. We took Sewells Rd north to Steeles, crossing a narrow metal Bailey bridge, and going through a narrrow passage under a railway. By this point Lisa was feeling the fatigue of the ride - we had already done over 100km, and she had not done anything over 100km all season. We took a short break at Steeles and Beare Rd, accross the road from Widmore's produce market, now I note with an estate winery!

We continued south along Beare, Plug Hat and then Meadowvale, past the Metro Zoo to a Petro Can at Sheppard were we bought some much needed water. We soon hit some of the hilliest parts of the ride, going onlong Twin Rivers drive, and also the began the short section of the ride that was outside of Metropolitan Toronto. After regrouping at Altona and Sheppard, we continued on to the next control, only a few short kilometres away. Scott mentioned that he was going to try making this a yearly event - he found the ride quite enjoyable. He said that next time he would bring his mountain bike (he was considering it for this ride, but reconsidered after hearing who else was going to do the ride).

As we headed south, Lisa and Scott were a bit ahead, and missed the turn on Rougemount. I followed them to Kingston Road. Lisa seemed quite puzzled about where the control was, although she knew it was supposed to be at a Reid's Dairy store. I pointed out the we missed the turn, but that the control was one block east on Kingston Rd.

As we pulled in the plaza where the Reid's Dairy was, who should we see sitting on the bench - Oliver, enjoying a cup of ice cream. We were puzzled as to how we had missed each other up to this point - Oliver said he was informed that he missed us by only a few minutes at the first control and had arrived at this control about 5 minutes earlier. He had opted for the 8 am start, valuing his sleep, and started at 7:45am. Somehow Oliver had passed us but clearly on a somewhat different route. Indeed, Oliver had found the route challenging to follow. I found the idea of an ice cream cone too tempting and got a "Toonie" cone, a huge single scoop on a standard cone for all of $1 plus 7% Jean tax. After we had our chosen refreshment, we carried on.

The route took us south to Rough Beach park, where we crossed the pedestian bridge back to Scaroborough. Scott demonstrated his mountainbiking skills on his Lightning Ti road bike, riding down the stairs to the bridge. Oliver was quite tempted to do the same, however not on his fixed gear. Lisa and I opted to walk as well, for other reasons. Continuing west on Lawrence, Oliver and Scott went well ahead of Lisa and I and we didn't see them unitl the next control. At this point Lisa was feeling quite fatigued on the hills and stated she was going to forfit her medal and not ride down Bluffer's Park. I encouraged her to complete the ride, and told her I would wait at the top of the hill, even if she had to walk it.

At Lawrence and Beechgrove, we picked up the Highland Creek trail, one I had done on my own a few times before. This came in handy, since there was a point near the crosing under Kingston Rd where one could wind up off the trail ( and grinding up a large hill to boot). Again at Old Kingston, I knew we had to go on road to the other side of the bridge to pick up the trail on the north side of the road. This trail is also quite lovely, one of many in the city. At the end of this trail, we meandered side streets north to Lawrence, the over to Orton Park, crossing a section of the very trail we had done. We went north on Orton Park, crossed Ellesmere, and were now on Military Trail. As with Twin Rivers, the road also does a steep dive, then a steep climb, and I was standing on the pedals up the last bit of this one. I waited at the top for Lisa, who at this point decide to walk the last steep bit. Military Trail took us accross Morningside Rd and past the Scarborough Campus of U of T. Once again we crossed the very trail we had done as we headed west on Old Kingston Rd, and also faced a "little" climb up to Kingston Rd. As I waited to Lisa at the top of the hill, I quickly consulted the route sheet and noted a mistake in the directions, which told us to go right on Morningside, but it should have been a left to get to Guildwood. I ignored the directions and we turned south on Morningside.

From here the route took us through the somewhat toney neigbourhhood of Guildwood. There was an interesting climb up a road/pathway to Hill Crescent, and lovely road south of Kingston I had used on several occations. There was a bit of a climb west to Markham and Lisa fell behind. I waited at Bellehaven, but after a few minutes turned back to Markham and finally found Lisa pedalling toward me - she had thought we missed a turn.

Going east on Twin Rivers Rd, in the wilds of Pickering, east of the Rouge Park
photo by Phil Piltch

After a short run on Kingston Rd, we turned left and south on Brimley and down the big hill to Bluffer's Park. We took a quick washroom break, then went back up the hill. I took the hill slowly, using for the first time my "granny" ring, then waited at the top for Lisa. To her amazement, she said she was able to pedal the entire way up the hill. So much for walking. Once again we were riding along Kingston. Kingston is perhaps not thought of as particularly pleasant - a big busy road with rows of strip plazas - but there are occationals gems along the way, such as the beautiful murals on these sides of shops portaying the history of Scarborough. We had a nice downhill run to the control, and we found Oliver and Scott already there, along with Bruce, enjoying iced tea and samosas, courtesy of the hosts of the house where the control was located. A handmade sign "Meanstreets" was posted in the window of the door of the house, making this control official.

The last portion of the route took us through "Little India" on Gerrard, then north though the Riverdale neighbourhood, accross the Millwood Ave bridge, then east along Overlea, past the Science Centre. On the climb up Logon, Scott and Oliver got well ahead of Lisa and I and we did not see them again. We then went through the Flemingdon neighbourhood, then north along St. Denis, following a part of the Don ravine. Yet more climbs on now tired legs. There was a short jaunt on Don Mills from Winford Dr to Lawrence, then west to the Bridal Path. Lisa's spirits were now much better - she knew she was near the end of the ride. We finally rolled into the finish at 6:45pm to find Bruce reading in the shade of a tree, waiting for us. He said he had just missed Scott and Oliver, and had seen them pull away as he was nearing the school ( he was on bike and he ridden from the last control). Lisa was quite happy to complete the ride. All in all, a great day's outing. The route was ejoyable, the paths fairly quiet, and the day not overly hot. Definitely worth doing again! Thanks Bruce for hosting this wonderful brevet!