Tour of the Valleys 200K Ride Report: August 18, 2002

Hills and dales, and more...
by Jaye Haworth

"Some lovely scenery, and no significant climbing. It would suit both those who are looking to do a fast 200 and those who would like a relaxed ride in the country."

Hmmm, sounds good! So I made a few inquiries amongst the members to see if anyone might be planning to ride this and would they be interested in trying to make it a sub 9 hour 200? Conditions sounded promising. Oliver said he'd be riding and was confident we'd make that goal.

It was a fairly large group who started, but not everyone was planning to ride the whole route. Alan, Cary and Lori were all doing a shortened route. Brian, James, Bill, Oliver, Marc, Tony, and myself were going the distance.

So, heading out of Erin Mills at 8:00, I worked hard to hang onto Oliver's, Lori's, Brian's and Marc's back wheels (they were smokin'), finally losing sight of them just before Guelph. The headwinds were pretty strong, and the roads seemed to be always steadily climbing. Shades of things to come ...

Lori then turned back around the 60 K mark. Luckily for me, Tony was riding a similar pace, so we reconciled ourselves to a plus 9 hour finish (I asked Tony if he'd brought his lights - but I was just kidding!), and settled in to enjoy the scenery, nice quiet roads, and some biker talk.

I believe we were on Gore Rd (or maybe Puslinch Concession) when our conversation was rudely interrupted by a loose dog, which appeared out of nowhere, right at my suddenly vulnerable right leg!! I have to admit I screamed like a girl, and almost hit poor Tony, trying to get away from that snarling, snapping, black and white dog! Sorry Tony - but thanks for that manly yell - it had a much better effect on the dog than mine!

We were surprised to find the Tim's on the corner of Franklin Blvd and Main St. in Guelph closed - for good. So we rode a further K or so down to the newer one which was thankfully there (for a moment I thought I may have confused it with the one in Barrie - these Tim's in these small towns all look the same). Got all of our business done, then retraced our route, missed Glenmorris, corrected, and were happily reunited with Oliver and Marc! They'd lunched at Mr. Sub, and Brian had continued on alone.

So the four of us continued fighting those headwinds, until the long awaited turn around point at 103.6 K (East River Rd, German School Rd.).

The country side around Guelph has the most numerous, and the loveliest collection of old stone houses. The roads were very light with regard to traffic. The corn is really tall in the fields out there right now, which gives the roads a bit of a different, more enclosed look and feeling, which is rather nice. Unless of course, you're a city boy and you've been traumatized by too many B movies, as one of my companions freely admitted, and keep expecting zombies to attack at any moment.

Safe and sound, however, we were having a really lovely ride, a bit surprised by the number of hills we kept encountering, and then completely blown away, when we turned off Sulphur Springs Rd. onto Mineral Springs Rd. I was so shocked, I immediately dropped into my granny! Hard pack dirt with loose gravel, long and twisty, very steep, this was significant! Weir Lane was equally challenging, and when we all regrouped at the top of Hwy 8, we were hot, salty white, and very, very sweaty.

The descent through Crooks Hollow was a fast and fun reward, and the control at Greensville, a most welcome stop. Tony and I waited quite a bit for Oliver and Marc - worried when the first driver we stopped reported not seeing any cyclists back on the road - but then very relieved when the second driver reported 2 cyclists fixing a flat.

I like to think that it was the engaging conversation (Mount Everest expeditions) which kept us at the Greensville control for so long, but I suspect the truth was that we had all sat down (very dangerous!!!) on the porch, and just didn't want to get up! We were tired! James Smith rolled in shortly before we rolled out - he was also quite impressed with the climbs on this route.

As wonderful as the rides are, it's always uplifting, to clear that stand of trees on Lower Base Line Road, and finally see the Erin Mills clock tower. We hit the parking lot at 5:15, for a time, alas, of 9:15. Not too shabby though, considering the headwinds, and all those "insignificant" climbs.

Marc (drove all the way from Buffalo for this brevet) had an altimeter on his bike, and I look forward to finding out what the climbing totalled. It was really nice to meet him, and to ride with him, as well as Oliver and Tony. Good company! Good challenging route!!