Climbs in the GTA

I'm heading out to Cape Breton for an 8-day tour and I'm hearing a lot of
warnings about the climbs....

Any suggestion for training rides within a short drive from Toronto. I'd
like to put in some serious road work before June to get ready....

Thanks

--
David Conroy
P) 416.418.0577

Mike Latondresse wrote in message ...
"David Conroy" wrote in
t.cable.rogers.com:

I'm heading out to Cape Breton for an 8-day tour and I'm hearing a
lot of warnings about the climbs....


Kinda cold for that, this time of year... oh June! Should be better.

Any suggestion for training rides within a short drive from
Toronto. I'd like to put in some serious road work before June to
get ready....

Thanks


Rode across Canada from Vanc to Louisburg in 2001 and the toughest hill
of the whole trip was going up North Mountain riding clockwise around
the cape.


Counterclockwise is a real treat, too, but you get a great downhill
run. I'd recommend clockwise in hindsight, as (a) the wind is with
you, (b) the turnoffs on the hills tend to be with you (and you *will*
want to stop occasionally), and (c) the wind.

As to the original GTA [Greater Toronto Area, I assume] question, I
can't really help, but suggest you contact the Toronto Bicycling
Network (tbn.on.ca) as they have some nice hilly routes. Personally, I
just did Avenue Road, Dufferin, and other in-town hills, but really
should have done more, and taken less gear.

You aren't the first person to tell me we're heading the wrong direction
(counter clockwise). I'm doing the tour with Atlantic Cycling Network and
they laid out the route. I was thinking of going solo on my own route but
they run support vans as well as luggage transport so at least I'll just
have to lug myself up the hills.... no excess baggage!

Thanks for the info..

--
David Conroy
P) 416.418.0577

"Brian Huntley" wrote in message
om...
Mike Latondresse wrote in message
...
"David Conroy" wrote in
t.cable.rogers.com:

I'm heading out to Cape Breton for an 8-day tour and I'm hearing a
lot of warnings about the climbs....


Kinda cold for that, this time of year... oh June! Should be better.

Any suggestion for training rides within a short drive from
Toronto. I'd like to put in some serious road work before June to
get ready....

Thanks


Rode across Canada from Vanc to Louisburg in 2001 and the toughest hill
of the whole trip was going up North Mountain riding clockwise around
the cape.


Counterclockwise is a real treat, too, but you get a great downhill
run. I'd recommend clockwise in hindsight, as (a) the wind is with
you, (b) the turnoffs on the hills tend to be with you (and you *will*
want to stop occasionally), and (c) the wind.

As to the original GTA [Greater Toronto Area, I assume] question, I
can't really help, but suggest you contact the Toronto Bicycling
Network (tbn.on.ca) as they have some nice hilly routes. Personally, I
just did Avenue Road, Dufferin, and other in-town hills, but really
should have done more, and taken less gear.

On Sun, 04 Jan 2004 18:31:33 GMT, "David Conroy"
wrote:

I'm heading out to Cape Breton for an 8-day tour and I'm hearing a lot of
warnings about the climbs....

Any suggestion for training rides within a short drive from Toronto. I'd
like to put in some serious road work before June to get ready....

HIghway 6 going north from Hamilton to Guelph. IIRC the grade is 7% up
the Niagara Escarpment. Do circuits, and you will get your training
in.

East of the city, try the ride up from Port Hope to Rice Lake. Can't
remember which roads we used... it was a TBN ride on the hottest day
of the summer and I was to busy grinding to give the road number more
than half a brain. It is a rolling 500 ft ascent over 15 km.

Shirley Hicks
Toronto, Ontario

"David Conroy" wrote in message et.cable.rogers.com...
I'm heading out to Cape Breton for an 8-day tour and I'm hearing a lot of
warnings about the climbs....

Any suggestion for training rides within a short drive from Toronto. I'd
like to put in some serious road work before June to get ready....

Thanks

Hockley Valley - in Mono area (http://www.townofmono.com/tourists.htm
has a map of the local roads) The signs in the area have steep hills
warning for the cars. I've never done it on bicycle, looks too
challenging for me

Anywhere you are climbing the Oak Ridges Moraine - north of Port Hope,
or generally heading north from Toronto itself towards Lake Simcoe.
Here's a route description with 6000 ft of climbing:
http://www.cervelo.com/history/Gerard/simcoe.htm

"David Conroy" wrote in message ogers.com...
You aren't the first person to tell me we're heading the wrong direction
(counter clockwise). I'm doing the tour with Atlantic Cycling Network and
they laid out the route. I was thinking of going solo on my own route but
they run support vans as well as luggage transport so at least I'll just
have to lug myself up the hills.... no excess baggage!


If they ran a trip last August, I saw them going the same way as me
(CCW) up North Mountain. They were quite a mix of people, and seemed
to be not quite pacelining each other, but helping with the wind all
the same (I tucked in with them briefly.) They stopped for a
breather/water break at the top. I think they were doing Cape North to
Cheticamp that day, so two big climbs - probably their toughest day.

No luggage does have its appeals.

Hello David

You might want to look at joining a club which knows some o
these routes

I would suggest Randonneurs Ontario (www.randonneursontario.ca[/url]) o
TBN (]www.tbn.on.ca) as they have a good collection of people who rid
long distances for the fun of it and routes to get it all done

I hope that helps


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