Steve's Cycling Blog
One of my previous memorable rides for 2016 was about a month ago when I crossed the Grand River 12 times (OK, it was 11, but the 12th was impassable, even by my standards!). For my 12th ride of my 50 memorable rides in my 50th year, I decided to cross 12 different bridges across … Continue reading Ride 12/50 – Crossing the Conestogo River 12 times
Last weekend I rode in Toronto, which used to be my backyard. Today I rode in my current backyard on a ride that included gravel paths, dirt roads, paved roads, some deep puddles and boulders by the Grand River, and of course, a couple of new crossings of the Grand. My 11th ride of my … Continue reading Ride 11/50 – KW Trails
Ride #10 of my "50 in 50" was the Tour of Pelham - another of southern Ontario's Spring Classics - on Sunday April 10. This was my first time entering this event, which was shorter than the other classics at just under 35 km, but still very challenging and enjoyable. After the 90-minute drive from … Continue reading Ride 10/50 – Tour of Pelham
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 … Continue reading Ride 9/50 – Toronto Waterfront Trail
I thought I'd add a short blog on a short portion of the Steaming Nostril race this past weekend. As mentioned in my previous blog post, each previous year of the Steaming Nostril has had an epic component, whether it was the cold -20C temperatures from 2014, or the nearly-unrideable slushy rail trail from 2013. … Continue reading The Longest Kilometre – Steaming Nostril 2016
For my 8th "memorable" ride of my 50th year, I entered the Steaming Nostril event in St. Jacobs, Ontario. The event is run by Cycle Waterloo and 2016 marks the 4th time they've organized this event. The first year was highlighted by slow, slushy rail trail near Elmira, while the second year (which I skipped) … Continue reading Ride 8/50 – 2016 Runny Nose (short version of Steaming Nostril) – Fat Bike Style
I've been leading a Waterloo Cycling Club gravel grinder ride on Saturday mornings for a few years now, and this past weekend, we rode most of the 2015 Steaming Nostril course. The 2016 version of the Steaming Nostril is next Sunday April 3 and will follow a lot of the same route. For my 7th … Continue reading Ride 7/50 – Steaming Nostril pre-ride
My 6th significant ride was a tour of some of the picturesque bridges across the Grand River between Waterloo and Elora. I'd been thinking about this ride since last summer and had been studying maps to find as many bridge crossings as i could for a 2-3 hour ride. With the weather calling for sun, … Continue reading Ride 6/50 – Grand River Bridges
There are websites that will take all of your Strava data and plot it on one map (veloviewer.com, jonathanokeeffe.com). I created a map of all my 2015 rides to see what it looks like. Warmer colours (oranges, yellows) are routes that I travelled more frequently; cooler colours are darker blue/purple. I added some new destinations/routes … Continue reading Cycling Heatmaps
As we head into 2016, I thought I'd summarize my year in 2015. I'm not racing nearly as much as I used to. I'm riding more than in the past, but racing less. I enjoy group (and solo) rides on my road bike, the gravel grinders (all year!), mountain biking (particularly at the local trails: … Continue reading 2015 Ride Summary
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