So all summer I have been trying to find a Thursday night to join Rick for a ride from the top of Pottery road down to the Leslie St Spit. Rick has been telling me about this ride and I have really wanted to do it, but with baseball and work (ok, and social events), there just hasn’t been one that fit. That was until tonight. Packed up the Red Rocket Jr. and headed to the Danforth.
Once we got all geared up (and said hello to Nugget), we headed out through some side streets and down a massive hill (yup, that’s the one from the title but more on that later). We passed the Toronto Police Canine Training Facility and then hopped on the Multi-Use path. The first portion was a little tough to ride because it is in the process of being widened and repaved as they complete Pottery Road, so there were a couple of spots where it was tough to squeeze by.
Once we got passed the rough sections (about 2km) the path twists and turns its way down to the water (running next to the DVP). Once we hit the bottom of the DVP, we met up with the east-west road that runs along the Lakeshore. It was pretty sweet. Nicely paved two lane path with traffic signals just for the folks that use it. We made our way to Leslie and then headed south. The spit is an interesting story as it is the ‘dumping’ ground for all the earth they dig up as the buildup the Toronto skyline.
The first part was decently paved and we were moving pretty good, until Rick took a wasp in the helmet. As he was adjusting his bucket and checking the damage I almost wiped out in some sand coming back for him. There were lots of cyclists out and joggers/walkers as well so it was a nice quiet ride (traffic was barred). Through one really terrible stretch, one really beautiful and then a hill climb with some serious rocks on the way up to a lighthouse.
Return trip back down to the Lakeshore (and a couple of spots where we really put the hammer down) and then an uphill climb all the way back to the hill. Now as bad as the title sounds, it was pretty awesome pedaling. Head down, legs pumping and aiming for 10 yards past the top. It was really a good one to get the heart pumping. Back to Rick’s with a total trip time of 1h 27m for 33.29KMs. 2500+ calories burned for this one.
Now it gets silly.
Rick and I threw on running shoes and headed out for a run right away. We planned on 2.5KMs, but about halfway, I knew that my body wasn’t going to handle it. I had some cramps in my calves and my right ankle was stinging (it’s really starting to piss me off). Total circuit was 1.42KM. I jogged about half of the distance and walked the rest (walking with a high tempo), but there was no stopping. This was my first training run and while not spectacular, I think it’s a good start.
Off to bed, gym after work,
Beez
