Ride for Heart

This event had been on my radar for two years, as some friends regularly attend for a fun ride on two of the city's major highways! I didn't consider doing it until this year, now that I have a bike that can take me a long way, and I can finally take it up a hill or two! I'd been practising a lot these past few months, and I can honestly say that I had honed all the skills I'd need to have a great Ride. I was really excited for weeks leading up to it - that's what confidence brings!

Technically, the max route available is 75km - start at the Exhibition, across the Gardiner, up the DVP to York Mills, down to the Bayview extension, back up to York Mills, back down and over to the Ex, then an extra jump west to Humber and finally back. My friend CM managed to do 100km last year by adding an extra loop up to YM. Well if he could do it, so would I! Same goes for our other friend ML - we were all in for a 100km time trial on our aero bikes. My other perennial Rider friends EW and JD were gonna go for the 75, one on a city road bike, the other on his heavier commuter. I would not have the courage. I still don't really enjoy cycling, so I wanted this to be over in as little time as possible. Plus I just wanted to fly!

Route Link

Since this is largely a family event and fundraiser, anyone expecting to speed through this needs to start as early as possible to avoid the crowds of pleasure-riders. I put myself on the start line at 6:05am, but looks like I could have started even before 6. A short ride through the Ex, and I found myself getting marshalled onto a Gardiner on-ramp! I was giddy as I slipped onto the empty highway. What a feeling.

I started passing any riders in front of me, and I didn't get caught by a roadie until after going through downtown. Before I knew it, I was gliding down the ramp onto the DVP, and this is where I recorded my top speed for the Ride, 50.8kph. This was also where I rode past some baby geese - waddling in the left lane! Very cute, but I hope they got outta there fast.

I finally got passed by a small group of roadies somewhere in Riverdale.

--Distance: 100km
--Duration: 3:27:00