Any Toronto or Greater Toronto Area riders on here?

[Shrike]

Just wondering what areas are known for being good for riding if living there. Road surfaces being well maintained, maybe some rural access or specific climbs or routes that are interesting. That sort of thing.

[bikerjulio]

I was for many years before moving out to Niagara.

It was getting increasingly difficult, but our rides were going out to the escarpment area. If they are still going I'd reccomend meeting up with the Mississauga Cycling club for a ride. They were actually pleasant to ride with compared to the west end shop ride I had been doing.

There are no long hills of course. Rattlesnake, on Appleby line is probably the steepest.

[Ghost234]

Milton is fantastic for riding. You can be in country roads in minutes and have some decent climbs nearby. Ancaster/Dundas area is also beautiful and a short ride away. If you're into mountain biking Kelso and Halton falls is a great.


If you are in the east end, the area east of Newmarket is pretty good. We used to do a few rides up to lake Simcoe every summer. Beyond that, Peterborough is really good with some rolling hills.

[Mr.Gib]

The further you get away from Toronto, the better the riding gets.

Toronto is the 4th largest city in North America, 3rd largest if you don't count Mexico city. The problem with Toronto is not just the 3 million people who live there, it's also the 6.5 million people that live in the Greater Toronto Area and everyone of them has at least two cars. It was a challenge when I left Toronto a decade ago, and my riding buddies tell me it has gotten exponentially worse since then. You need to pick your times and routes carefully.

If you are located close the the periphery you won't spend too much time getting to decent roads. Aside from the some interesting riding around various parts of the Niagara Escarpment, even well outside of the city, the land is mostly flat, the roads are mostly straight, and set up in a tradition square farmland grid. It's not good.

If your strong, I recommend the donut ride. Every Saturday and Sunday. Often over 100 riders in good weather. Stay in the front third if you want to avoid the crashes. It goes straight up through the center of the city to Aurora and the loops back. You don't have to worry about traffic with those guys. In some spots they take over a whole lane, sometimes two in full peloton formation. Crazy stuff, but fun if you can hack it.

[goodboyr]

Donut ride is dangerous ....many other groups to join up with that practice ride safety. Morning Glory, Dornellas, to name a few. Routes just north east and north west of city include Musselman's lake, Goodwood ( great bakery and espresso stop) straight up warden to Lake Simcoe, Keele and Weston hills, kettleby loop, etc.

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[bikerjulio]

I used to see the Morning Glory guys coming back from their ride at 8.00 am or something. They would start out at 5:00 am

I'd agree about the donut. I did it about 3 times I think. That was enough.

In addition to recommending the Mississauga CC, I always thought the LapDogs out of Duke's Cycling seemed like a nice bunch as well.

OP, a bit more info about what you are looking for would help.

[GonaSovereign]

Plenty of good spots to ride and train, but it is a big city with many people and many cars. It takes quite a while to find country roads, though.

East end, Dornellas is solid.
West end or central, Midweek is your best bet. Midweek is also responsible for most of the road and CX racing in Toronto.
There are tons of small clubs and groups heading east, west and north.

The Donut Ride is a great way to get 90-135 km in the legs any weekend or holiday. The pace is fast for about 35-45 of those, and the rest it's just steady. The group can get big and yes there are dumb guys and desperate hangers making bad decisions like any big group, but in general it's just fine. Stay at the front or at the back and all's good.

[goodboyr]

I think the op asked for routes, not clubs.

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[bikerjulio]

The quickest way of finding good routes is to join up with existing groups.

[goodboyr]

True. But there's also ridewithgps, and mapmyride too..........