Tour of the Oak Ridges Moraine 400K Ride Report: May 31, 2003
Reports by Phil Piltch and Oliver Moore

A Hurtin' Hilly Four Hundred
by Phil Piltch

The Oak Ridges Moraine, a remnant of our glacial past, lies just to the north of Toronto, running approximately 160 kilometres east from the Niagara Escarpment to south and east of Rice Lake. Most rivers running south through the GTA or flowing north to Lake Simcoe have their headwaters in the Oak Ridges Moraine. It is through much of this geological feature that the Tour of the Oak Ridges Moraine 400K brevet meanders; but it also includes parts of the Niagara Escarpment near Milton, Campbelleville, and Georgetown. It's a very scenic route, encompassing familiar territory from other brevets, but is also likely the most difficult 400 on the club's schedule.

Five riders set out to do this brevet (a sixth registered but did not show): Oliver Moore, John Rowe, Michael Thomson, Alan Thwaits, and myself (the organiser). After the requisite rider check-in and bike check, we set off. It was raining lightly, as forecast, and did so off and on all day. The route started out straightforwardly, going west on Eglinton/Lower Base Line, then north on Sixth Line to Britannia. It then turned north on Bell School Line for the first big climb. All five of us managed to stay together, even on this climb. Oliver, still riding his fixed gear, was well ahead of us and on the steepest part of the climb when he started riding in a circle and then stopped. At first I though he was going to get off and walk the hill, but instead resumed pedalling up the hill. He said his foot had come unclipped and he had knocked his pump from its mooring (though is was still secure with velcro strap). The next big climb was just after crossing under the 401, going north on Sixth Line. It was here that Oliver surged on ahead; that was the last we saw of him.

By this time the rain had let up, and it seemed to be getting a bit lighter. One thing I've always noticed is how vibrant plants look during and just after rain fall; the woods on either side of us seemed to glow bright green. There was also a pleasant sweetness to the air. I spotted the odd patch of trilliums. "Trillia" Alan shouted, insisting jokingly on the proper pluralisation. We were soon working our way east on far from flat roads, past Limehouse. We nevertheless managed to stay together. Just before Highway 7, we spotted a rather grand-looking estate, and speculated whether this might be what Brian Armstrong referred to as "the perfect rando clubhouse" he had spotted during is solo ride of the ORM 400.

The route then took us through the villages of Glen Williams and Terra Cotta, familiar to Michael and I from TBN rides. At some point going north on 10th Line just north of Glen Williams, I scooted ahead and try to take a picture of the others. I was only able to capture a rather fuzzy photo of John.

Somewhere before the turn north on Mississauga Road, we lost sight of John, who had fallen back on one of climbs. Our group was now reduced to myself, Alan, and Michael. We pushed on to the control in Orangeville, battling a rather strong east-north-east wind. Michael mentioned doing this same route in the reverse direction on the Alliston-Stratford 400 the week before. I noted that the hills seemed harder to climb on my geared bike that they did on my fixed. At first we had thought of just getting our cards signed and moving on, but decided to make the stop a bit longer. Alan and I had coffee, while Michael ordered hot chocolate. We each had butter tarts and bagels. A couple of elderly ladies asked where we were going and how far we had travelled, and seemed quite impressed with our exploits. This seem to set the theme for the ride.

After Orangeville, the route took us through the Hockley Valley, which seems to a mainstay of many of our routes. This was my fourth time through the valley this year, having done it once on the Maple-Erin-Hockley 200 and out and back on the Maple-Conestogo 300. And my first doing it on a bike with gears and freewheel. We noticed we were casting shadows on the road, and Michael joking wondering what the bright object overhead was. Perhaps the rain was finished and we were going to have nicer weather? Alas, it was not to be and we would receive further dousing from the heavens through much of the rest of the day.

It was just after the climb out of the valley that I felt a strange twinge of pain on the right side of my left knee. It subsided a bit but soon worsened and made climbing any significant hills painful. By the time we reached the Holland Marsh, it was becoming bad enough that I was having trouble keeping pace with Alan and Michael. We stopped briefly at the turn from Pumphouse Road to Graham Sideroad, where I took some extra-strength acetaminophen tablets to try to dull the pain. We then carried on to the turn in Queensville as I limped along behind the others. As we crossed Yonge Street, we noticed a lineup of various vintage Corvettes. We were passed by them as we went north on Bathurst and then east on Queensville. Nearly all had vanity plates with silly puns. It reminded me of the parades of Harleys and Jags I saw on the M-C 300.

When we reached the control in Sharon, there was some debate about where to stop. The consensus was to look for a convenience store, but finding none we settled on Vince's Supermarket, stocking up on water and quick eats. We shared a 10-pack box of butter tarts, and we each consumed a 500 ml carton of chocolate milk. Ah, nothing like gourmet tastes! Once again we receive some interest from locals - one chap asking us many questions about our ride seemed to know about PBP. Alan thought he sounded envious (there's that theme again).

Although our next control was Stouffville, we wound up taking a rather circuitous and hilly route there, first going east on Mt. Albert Road (over that sharp little hump in the middle of said town) to CR 30, then north to Zephyr, east again to 6th Concession (yet more climbing), then south to Uxbridge (nice tailwind), east and south through Ashburn and Myrtle, before finally turning west to Stouffville. By this point I was having trouble keeping up with the other two, my knee still quite painful. We arrived in Stouffville around 6:30 and preceded to look for a Tim Horton's. We had to go further west on Main Street, past our turn on Ninth Line before we found it. One of the young ladies working there was so thrilled at the honour of signing our cards that she insisted on signing her full name on our cards rather than just initials (that theme yet again). A fellow at a table next to ours asked us a bit about our ride. On the whole we noted people were friendly to us, and Alan speculated that was because the route kept close to the fringe of the GTA. We all ordered nearly the same thing - soup and sandwich deals, though the turkey sandwich was accompanied by different choices of soup and Michael had hot chocolate with his. As planned this meal break was our longest, giving us a some well deserved rest. I tried a bit of stretching to see if that would help with the knee (it didn't).

Now well-fuelled and rested, we pushed on to the last intermediate control at Oak Ridges, just over 40K away. Back to Ninth Line we went, then north in to the now strongly northerly wind to Vivian SR. Not long after the turn south on Warden, we noticed flashing lights and found a police roadblock, cruisers with flashing lights and a forensics van. A constable there told us we would have to back track to Vivian, but Alan managed to pursuade him to allow to go west on a side road just before the road block. Soon enough we were back on route, pondering what was being investigated. As we crossed over Hwy 404 on Vandorff SR, I saw the sun low on the horizon, a great red ball, and stopped to take a picture. After a whole day of cloud and rain it was a lovely sight. It was getting dark enough for my headlight to stay on when we reached what we thought would be the place where Bayview would merge with Sunset Beach Road. But we found that things had changed significantly. We had to turn on St. John SR to get the "old" Bayview Ave, and then on to Sunset Beach. We used an all-night convenience store on Yonge Street as the control, stocking up on water and goodies. I bought a can of Mountain Dew and a bottle of Starbucks as well as some mineral water. I decided to save the Starbuck for later. I ate some of the food I had packed (pitas stuffed with peanut butter and dried cranberries).

This last stretch home was a quite a bit of a slog. I was initially able to keep up with Alan and Michael was we sped along King SR, but just after passing Bathurst found I could no longer match the others speed - the combination of fatigue and sore knee. I could only watch as Michael and Alan's taillights receded off in the distance. I finally lost sight of them just after Snowball. The hills were now a bit more daunting with a tender left knee (actually more like tender muscle and tendon), so I took them a bit more slowly, mostly seated. I enjoyed the downhills, even the windy one through the village of Kettleby, and through Pottageville. They were a nice break from the climbing. I had hoped the wind would die down at night but it was still as strong as ever. Luckily it was still from the north and slightly to from the east, so it was mostly a tailwind. With my growing fatigue, I found the climb going north on Mt. Wolfe a cruel one, but the view of the city lights to the south, after the turn on Old Church, was spectacular. The rollers of Old Church took me west to Caledon East, then a quick jaunt north on Airport Rd to Walker Rd and further west to Mountainview. Soon enough I was westbound on Old Base Line, and went I reached Hwy 10, decided to take a short break by the closed restaurant. I had another pita and pulled out the bottle of Starbucks. I also downed the last of my pain pills. It was getting quite cold, so I kept the break short. I used my brakes on the downhill through Inglewood so I wouldn't freeze. Not long after, I faced the last big climb of the ride, up past the Caledon Badlands on Old Base Line. At this point I finally made use of the small ring and twiddled up slowly. I could hear the torrent of water rushing in the ditch beside me, sounding like a mountain stream. I could see the city lights shining brightly to the south as I crested past the open area of the Badlands. I've passed them in in the day, captivated by the strange red and blue stripes, but now it was just eerie black shapes. One last short climb and then I was sailing downhill on Creditview. Having done this same route on a TBN ride many years before, I knew I face one last rude climb in the village of Cheltenham. After that the route back was more or less level, and I arrived just after 2:30 am at the Tim Horton's, quite tired but happy to have finished. Surprisingly I saw neither Michael nor Alan at the finish. I went to get my card signed and to see what if any thing was available to eat (not much). Just as I was getting my card signed, Alan and Michael arrived - they had missed a turn and took some time to sort out getting back on route.

It worth noting that in spite of the light rain, cool temperatures, and unrelenting winds, I quite enjoyed the day and this route. I recorded 3913 metres of climb on this route, making this likely our toughest 400. It's still a bit rough around the edges but well worth doing. As Alan observed, unlike the club's other 400s, at no point on this route is one ever far from civilisation, but one still has a sense of being deep in the countryside.