Steve's Cycling Blog
Over the past few years, there has been a noticeable growth in bikepacking. With the addition of routes and events such as the Central Ontario Loop Trail (COLT), Simcoe County Loop Trail (SCLT), BT700, Grand-Nith-Ramble, Cannonball 300 and most-recently the Log Driver's Waltz (LDW), bikepackers have a range of events that offer different levels of … Continue reading My Latest Bikepacking Setup
Without getting into too much detail, in June of 2019, I joined a work colleague Kelly and headed to Barrie to meet a larger group of cyclists from the GTA to ride the Simcoe County Loop Trail (SCLT). This 160 km loop includes rail trail, city trails and some paved roads and has been growing … Continue reading Bikepacking the Simcoe County Loop Trail and More!
A lot of the online resources for bikepacking describe routes that take many long days to complete. Locally, July 14, 2019 marked the inaugural Grand Depart for the BT700 - a 700 km loop around south-western Ontario! Not all bikepacking trips, however, have to been multi-day epic adventures. Last weekend, I did an overnight trip … Continue reading Bikepacking in the Kitchener-Waterloo area
There are a lot of articles (and probably books) about exercise and fitness and cycling after the age of 50. Many of them are written by exceptional people who have devoted a huge amount of time to staying fit and active. If you believe what you read on the internet, it was Bill Clinton who … Continue reading Perspective: Cycling after 50
As 2018 winds down, I am starting to look ahead into 2019. I'll be writing a 2018 cycling summary post in the next couple of weeks, but looking ahead, new cycling adventures are already appearing on my radar. In particular, Ontario's first multi-day bikepacking event (at least that I'm aware of) is scheduled for 2019. … Continue reading 2019 Cycling Plans – BT700
As daylight hours drop and temperatures get colder, it becomes more difficult for me to get motivated to ride my bike. A lot of my cycling friends have set up their trainers and moved indoors; their bikes won't see the outdoors until the spring. For others, the cycling season never stops; they may have put … Continue reading Late Fall/Early Winter Cycling – Motivation
When I first started to look into gearing up for bikepacking a couple of years ago, I was immediately drawn to the Canadian company Arkel for a couple of reasons. First, they're Canadian (based in Quebec) and they manufacture their products in Canada. Second, the reviews I read commented on the durability of their products. … Continue reading Product Review: Arkel Rollpacker (A First Look)
As I've stated previously: I'm a numbers guy. Now that 2017 is (nearly) done, I am going to summarize my cycling year in numbers: Total outdoor cycling distance: 4005 km Longest Ride: September 14, 2017, Day 2 of COLT 122 km Best Month: September 712 km Total Moving Time: 210 hours (8 days, 18 hours) … Continue reading 2017 Cycling Year in Review
I know the year's not over yet, but 2017 has been a good year for me. I started slowly, since I was recovering from a concussion, but my mileage (kilometerage?) slowly increased as the year went on. I thought I'd post some of my favourite photos from the year: In January, I joined Team Colin … Continue reading 2017 Year in Cycling Photos
I was recently asked about the difference between different bicycles and what each type of bike is best suited for. When I thought about these questions, I considered my own selection of bicycles and the specific purpose of each bike that I ride. I also thought about the question: If I only had one bicycle, … Continue reading What kind of bicycle(s) do you need?
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