Training Log Archive: iansmith

Today, I biked 160 km from home in Toronto to my department's retreat at Geneva Park near Orillia, on Lake Simcoe. I have a GPS track, but I didn't bring my ANT stick, so it will have to wait. My journey had three stages: a solo trip to Newmarket, a group ride just past Barrie, and a final solo leg to Geneva Park; each leg was about 50 km.

The other nine cyclists in the group were meeting in Newmarket, about 50 km north of my home; most traveled up on Saturday night. I decided that if I was going to journey by bike, I would not be halfhearted; while my cycling is largely confined to < 20 km/day of commuting, I had confidence in my abilities. I packed 2L of 30% gatorade in a camelbak, a 1L of 30% gatorade bottle on my bike, 2 extra tubes, my hand pump, a CO2 inflator with one charge, 6 granola bars, and my wallet and phone. My clothing consisted of bike shorts, 3/4 tights, a wicking undershirt, my typical bright yellow long sleeve, a windbreaker, gloves, and a balaclava.

I woke up at about 4:30 AM, ate breakfast, checked my inventory, said goodbye to Katie, and was on the road by 5:10. The first leg, from Toronto to Newmarket, was uneventful. At 5 AM, there were few cars on the road, and I rode for the most part without interacting with cars. I had to stop to check my route a few times, and this would have been mitigated by just sticking to Bathurst and eventually Yonge for the entire route rather than the convoluted trip up Dufferin that google proposed. I arrived at about 7:05, about ten minutes before our proposed rendezvous; I tried to push a bit because I didn't want to be late, though I was disappointed that my speed did not exceed 30 kph.

The next leg consisted of riding in a convoy with the other nine riders with varying levels of experience and speedyness of bike. Our plan was a very casual ride; the first session of the retreat started at 2:30p, leaving us 7 hours to travel about 100 km. I was a little surprised how much slower biking as a group is; while necessarily we were bounded by the speed of the slowest rider, there was more frequent stopping and logistics. The hills on Route 4 were not trivial; I mostly rode in the back to make sure that no one got left behind or blew a tire without someone who could let the front know. We reached Barrie at about 11:05 AM, debated lunch options, and settled on a pizza place called PIE that opened at 11:30. I had eaten there before; we ordered and ate as quickly as a sit-down place allows, and we were back on the road by about 12:15p.

We departed Barrie and rode on the gravel Barrie North Shore trail with intermittent pavement. After about 6 km, there was a fork - the group wanted to continue ride on the gravel trail for another 30 km to Orillia, but I had misgivings - both because I wasn't sure my narrow tires could handle so much gravel and because gravel is slow. So, I set off by myself on paved roads. The route had some substantial hills, but I had all the advantages of riding solo - I was limited only by my own speed, and the logistics were simpler - I stopped only when I needed to, without need to regroup. I felt strong on this third leg, and rode the 51 km through Orillia to Geneva Park with gusto. There were some tricky route finding parts near the end, as I had to find ways to avoid the planned Route 11 - which turned out to be a highway. I arrived at Geneva Park at about 3p.

Squash with Mickael. I lost three games 11-4, 13-11, 11-4, and on our fourth game, my return hit Mickael in the eye. I felt terrible, of course, and we stopped after the match. He has previously chosen not to wear safety glasses, and we have discussed this. He was fine beyond a bruise, but I think he will wear safety glasses in the future.

Can't stop coughing.

Home via Bathurst and Vaughn; was faster.