OK, a bit of a long reply, but this is a ride I did a few years ago and really loved. See where you can hook into this ride and then off you go. I think the best way to do it would be to skip the first half (I just left it in here for others who might be interested) and start following this route where it is going North on Warden and then left on BOAG (I put a big brake in the text there so it is easy to find. This will give you quite a long stretch along Lake simcoe which is pretty nice.
Have fun,
Gerard.
MY FAVORITE TRAINING RIDE - The Toronto-Lake Simcoe Alpine Century
OK, so it’s not alpine, and it’s not a century, but I made up the name when Dan Empfield was publishing SoCal Alpine centuries on slowtwitch.com and he asked people to send in their own favorite centuries. And it provides around 6000ft. of climbing, quite a bit for the flatlands. And the hills in the last 50 miles are short but punishing. It’s one heck of a ride and as good as it gets around Toronto. It goes through all sorts of terrain, and aside from the first and last hour very little traffic. The route was suggested to me by my friend Nigel Gray, who as a professional athlete patrols these roads on a daily basis.
The way I rode the loop from home it is about 150 miles, but I will give you several options and shortcuts, so you can ride anything from 105-150 miles if you start downtown or 90-135 miles if you start at Endurosport, Canada’s premier triathlon shop. If you really want to start from where I live, let me know and I may serve breakfast or come along. But I think the real joy is in doing it all by yourself, at least that’s what I found - the reason I rode this loop was in preparation for the first off-road Ironman race in Rifle, CO. I have since had to shelve that plan due to a torn rotator cuff, but for the first time ever I have the feeling that it was more about the journey than the destination, and this day-long ride by myself was definitely the highlight.
You can create your own shortcuts since the roads roughly follow a grid pattern, even though they aren’t exactly straight. In this respect I would recommend to use Warden Ave., which further North is called Civic Center Road, as we will cross it several times during this ride and you can always take it back South to get back to the city.
I rode this on June 2, 2002 in very windy conditions (which also happened to turn so that it was a headwind most of the way) but if you are in descent shape, take enough food and start out slow it is doable. Two 750ml water bottles are enough, there are plenty of opportunities to refill. I would suggest a bandana or similar under your helmet and good shades, since there can be a lot of bugs around the lake, which is OK as long as they don’t get stuck in your hair. Since the ride goes through a relatively dense area with lots of sideroads, the description will be quite detailed, to make sure you don’t get lost. If you do get lost, you should be able to figure out roughly where you are and most people will be able to tell you how to get to major streets such as Yonge and Warden
Endurosport is at the end of Coldwater Rd., ride back to the start of Coldwater where it meets Leslie St. Go right on Leslie (North) past the lights and go right at the second set of
lights. These lights are just before Hwy 401. Follow this road as it bends back South, and take a left at the first intersection. Follow this road until the first lights, and turn left. This is
Don Mills, which will be renamed Leslie further North. This is your get out of town free card, follow this ride for the next 45min or so. The ride up Don Mills will give you a good view
of the expansion of Toronto, with new developments springing up everywhere. Follow the Road past Major MacKenzie Rd, and keep going until you turn left on Hwy 19.
SHORTCUT. If you only want to ride approx. 100 miles and are not interested in the Holland Marsh but do want to see Lake Simcoe, don’t turn left on Hwy 19 but go straight up.
When you hit Stouffville Sideroad, turn right and left again after 100m (Leslie). Keep following this road North as it twists and turns, at one point it turns to the right and ends in a
T, take a left so you keep going North. Follow this road all the way to Muloch, then turn right to Warden where you turn left. Take Warden North to BOAG, then look below for the
rest of the route. END SHORTCUT
Anyway, so the real route goes left on Hwy 19, now follow this road until you hit Bathurst, and turn left (North) on that street. There may be some construction on Bathurst, and if you are worried about that you can turn North earlier, for example on Yonge St. (the longest street in the world at 2000+ miles). Follow Bathurst or Yonge St. to King Sideroad, turn left
(West) on that street and follow it all the way to Weston Rd.
One cycling note of interest, the intersection of King Sideroad and Keele is just North of the spot on Keele where the Donut ride has its sprint finish. The donut ride is a classic ride in
Toronto, starting at 9am everyday from the Great Canadian Bagel at Eglinton and Laird (just blocks from our office). You may notice it starts at a bagel shop, not a donut shop, but it
used to be a donut shop back in the day.
Anyway, you’re going west on King Sideroad until Weston, and take Weston North as far as it goes. Weston is a beautiful, very quiet road, with plenty of historic importance as it
used to be the route over which people portaged their canoes centuries ago. Weston also has plenty of short, steep hills, and on the day that I did the whole loop quite a headwind.
Take it easy on the climbs, there are many more in the last third of the ride and they are just as tough if not worse.
Weston Rd. stops at a T-intersection with a very busy road, here you go left and take an immediate right 50m later. You have now entered the Holland Marsh, a completely flat piece
of very fertile land (which attracted fruit, vegetable and flower growers from Holland, hence the name).Keep going on this road until you go underneath the overpass (hwy 400) , then
turn left immediately. Follow this road and after it merges with the exit from hwy 400 it ends in a T where you go right onto Canal Rd. You’re still on the marsh so the road is flat and
quite fast as it is shielded from the wind, but be careful as around every bend you can find a slow moving tractor.
On the left side of the road you will find a drainage canal, and as soon as a road splits off to the left across a bridge over the murky waters, take that road. This road is 5th line and
climbs a short while, then remains on that plateau and at the first stop sign you turn right (10th Sideroad). Turn right again at the next intersection (6th line) , then left on Simcoe Rd
and follow this road into town. On your right you’ll see a couple of tennis courts, and if you are in need for water there is a water fountain at the side of the courts. Otherwise,
continue on this road until you hit Holland St (also known as #11) and turn right. This is a fairly busy road, but you don’t need to remain on it very long. Follow this road past
McDonald’s, continue another few minutes until you’re out of town. When the road curves slightly to the right and you get to a set of traffic lights, turn left. Immediately turn left
again (Holland Landing Rd.), this road curves right again and is now called Bathurst. After a few minutes, turn right on Queensville Sideroad. You will follow Queensville Sd. Rd. all the way across to Warden.
As you hit Warden, turn left (North) until you reach BOAG Rd. Go left on BOAG, then right on Catering Rd. You will
Warden again and turn left again. Eventually you will turn left on Pollock Rd. Pollock will lead you to the promised land. Follow it all the way until at some point, as you have climbed
one of the longer hills, there it is below you: Lake Simcoe. As you descent you will come upon a set of lights, with signs saying that the Quensway South is left and the Queensway
South is right. Since this makes no sense at all, we’ll go straight and then immediately take a left, onto Cook’s Bay Rd. This road goes straight to the lake, and turns right so that you
have the lake on your left side.
Now all you have to do is stay close to the lake. As you ride along you will find the road blocked for cars, but on your bike you can go straight through. A bit further the road will be
blocked again, this time by water, but you can continue straight on using the pedestrian bridge. Be careful on the far end of the bridge. Soon after you hit a T, go left to stay close to
the lake. Keep following the Lake Shore until at a certain point you can’t and you come across a major road (Metro Rd.). Go left on this road and go North for a few minutes, until you
turn left on Bouchier Rd. Take the first right (Osbourne Rd.) and follow this road which becomes a parallel road to Metro Rd. On the left you will see what hard work or selling Enron
shares at the right time can do for you. The drawback for us is that these properties are so big that we can’t see the lake, but Osbourne ends soon (the last property on the left has a
low, stone fence and if you look carefully you’ll see a baseball field inside (just barely under regulation size).
Turn left on Lake Drive and soon you will be following the lake shore again. Stay on Lake Dr. until 50m before it ends, at which point you go right onto Hedge Rd. Follow this road all
the way to St. Andrew’s church (you’ll go through Sutton at some point, so if you get lost ask for Sutton, then go East on Hedge), where you turn South (right) onto number 18 (York
Rd.) Take this to Old Homestead, go left to Weir Rd, go right on Weir and then left again on Ravenshoe. Follow Ravenshoe to Udora. I rode this without a written description, and by
this time I couldn’t really remember which road led to Udora. So on Ravenshoe I asked a local, who said “Udora is the stop sign with the flashing light over there”. More accurate
descriptions of of a true metropolis have seldom be given. Udora does have a gas station where you can buy some drinks and food.
From the Udora intersection with the flashing light, go South on Main St. (also 7th consession) to Zephyr St. Turn right on Zephyr to 6th consession. If the hill on the left looks
appealing to you, turn left on 6th.
SHORTCUT: If you can’t envision yourself riding up that hill and a few more with the same incline, continue on Zephyr to 4th concession. You can go South on 4th until you hit
Wagg (a short distance past the shooting range and 10m after crossing the railroads), where you can turn right and go over to 2nd concession. The original route also comes
across Wagg (from 6th to 2nd concession), so from here on you can follow the route decription further below. 4th Concession isn’t flat either, but it’s better than the other route.
END SHORTCUT
So, the die-hards turned left on 6th, now go down 6th and take a left at Davis Rd. Go one major road over to Concession 7 (or Main, or First). Turn right, you are now closing in on
Uxbridge. On the left you’ll see a penetentiary with soccer pitches nicer than you’ve seen in any World Cup (funny what you have to do to get good athletic facilities). Go through
Uxbridge (another chance to refuel or call a cab) and continue South on Main. The road gets pretty hilly now, just when you’re likely going though a bad stretch. Once you reach
Wagg, turn right (careful with the gravel) and follow this road all the way across to 2nd consession.
NOTE: There may be no sign at 2nd concession, but it’s the major road after 3rd consession (there is some logic to these names).
Once you reach 2nd consession, go left. Follow this road down to Webb.
LONGCUT A bit before Webb you will see Prouse Rd. on the right, a road I described in my Paris Roubaix Challenge story. The real die-hards can take this road for a bit of
off-road excitement, then turn left at the first road (1st concession, Durham 30, Scarborough-Pickering townline, whatever it is called). The real Paris Roubaix Challenge goes
right here to Bethesda where you turn right that gets you back to the main route (which approaches Bethesda on Durham 30 from the other side. END LONGCUT
So the real route goes further down 2nd consession to Webb Rd., where you take a right turn (it’s easy to find, since it is the intersection where 2nd turns into gravel, another part of
the Paris-Roubaix Challenge). Take Webb to the first major road (1st concession, Durham 30, Scarborough-Pickering townline), turn right and after a few hundre meters, jsut after you
cross a little bridge, turn left on Bethesda. It is gravel but not too tough to ride on, I’ve never flatted on this road on my road tires (but there is no guarantee you will be spared too).
Cross over 10th line and continue on Bethesda to 9th line, turn left (South) and go all the way down to 14th Ave (somewhere halfway you will go through a small town, and 9th line
seems to stop at Main St. Take Main St. a few meters to the right and 9th will continue on your left). Go right on 14th Ave. and follow it past Warden Ave. The road now continues as
Alden Rd. while 14th Ave continues on the right. Stay on Alden Rd. until it ends, then turn left onto Esna Park Dr., right onto IBM and left onto Victoria Park.
