Ride #9 of my “50 memorable rides for my 50th year” was this past Saturday in Toronto. It wasn’t memorable because it was a race, or because of distance, speed, or duration. Rather, it was memorable because of the location.
I grew up in Toronto but spent most of my childhood living in the north part of Scarborough, so I thought I’d go for a ride along the Waterfront Trail. I thought I’d start around the Rogers Centre and ride out past Cherry Beach and out to Tommy Thompson Park, then follow up with a walk around downtown.
Toronto is a huge city with a lot to offer. Sometimes, when something is right under our nose, we take it for granted. I’ve done some travelling and been to some amazing cities, but in my quest to explore new places, I tend to overlook places that are closer to home. The Martin Goodman trail along the shore of Lake Ontario is a paved multi-use trail that takes riders/runners/walkers past some wonderful scenery and history. Out in Tommy Thompson park, you can look back towards the city to see the cityscape.
In T.T. Park, there’s plaque to commemorate the achievements of Vicki Keith, who not only swam across ALL FIVE Great Lakes, but also swam across Lake Ontario using just the butterfly stroke!
After my short 25 km ride (link to my route: HERE), I put my bike back in my car and changed clothes, I walked around downtown for a while. The Blue Jays game just ended (they lost), but I mingled with the thousands of baseball fans in their jerseys, hoodies and ball caps (and the occasional Red Sox fans) while making my way up Blue Jays Way to Queen Street. Toronto has all kinds of hidden secrets – pathways, park benches, stairways, shops, cafes, bars (I walked past the Legendary Horseshoe Tavern) and smoothie places (where I grabbed a healthy, green smoothie) that are worth exploring. And where else can you buy 10 guitar picks for a dollar, with no tax? Plus they threw in a few extra… because when can you have too many picks?
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