10/21/2007. Total Distance: 71km Ascend: 800m Descend: 800m Strong Winds: 30km Weather Temp: 14C - 18C
We planned a route on the Niagara Escarpment, one of the few areas around Toronto with steep hills. I set out early Saturday with my RTL teammate Roman Allemann, also Carl Hoyer and Emily and Josh McCormick. It was a dull day, threatening rain, with incredibly high winds. We took a route starting in Campbelleville near Milton, heading south towards Hamilton, mostly on the top of the escarpment through farmland and a few villages but through some deep wooded valleys cut by streams running down the escarpment. The first descent of the escarpment was from Dundas Street to Cootes Pardise at the level of Lake Ontario, followed by a climb back up to Waterdown, the only stretch of urban riding on the route. As we descended the escarpment again and turned north, the wind increased. The steepest part of the route was Rattlesnake Point, where the road climbs 100 meters up the escarpment in a distance of about half a kilometer. Following that there were a few more steep valleys before arriving back at Campbelleville.
I found the first 10k the hardest - my body needs to warm up before I really get into the rhythm of riding and pick up speed. The winds, especially the gusts, were hard but I was able to stay on my unicycle. At times we?d rode together in a group, at others we?d find our own pace and ride alone, or sometimes I?d find myself with one other rider and the ride seem quicker when we chatted as we rode together. We were all pretty tired and sore when we finished, but all felt able to do another ride the next day.
10/22/2007
150
10/22/2007. Total Distance: 63km Ascend: 450m Descend: 450m Strong Winds: 25km Weather Temp: 14C - 21C. The same 5 riders as Day 1.
Roman planned a series of loops around the area where he grew up, in the rolling hills south of Brantford. We were all tired and stiff from Day 1, but the weather was beautiful, breaking all previous records for high temperature on that date. The day started out with some wind, but the wind speed built up and was really strong by the middle of our ride and continued very strong the rest of the day. I was having problems with my Achilles tendon, which had begun to bother me at the end of the previous ride. I found it a bit harder at the start and stayed at the back for the first 10 k, but then really got going. The countryside was farmland, cattle and crops. Maybe because we covered much of the area several times, I found the landscape less interesting than Day 1. There seemed to be less traffic. Some it was farm machinery. At one point I had to veer onto the grass at the side of the road as I was passed by a combine that took up the entire road. Part way through the ride I got a flat tire (the same had happen to Roman on his Nimbus ? the rim strip didn?t cover the rim properly so the sharp edges on the spoke holes punctured the tube ? he had told me but I foolishly hadn?t checked mine). Luckily we had brought a spare Coker so I just changed unicycles. I rode with 153 cranks on the Nimbus and 125?s on the Coker. I think that a length in between would have been ideal for that particular ride. Again, we were all tired at the end of the ride, but I felt that if I?d had to ride again the next day I?d manage it. Additional photos can be found at http://community.webshots.com/user/robertmccormick