Ride Synopsis: The Tour de Claremont, or The House of Pain!!

A solid hard core group today. Thanks to Jeff, Dave, Emile, Christian, Ron, Dave, Steve , Barry & Graham for braving this inaugural stage. A smooth tempo cruise through Scarborough with great views including seeing the sunrise was a false prelude to what lay ahead. Crossing the Rouge River provided us with serene views of marshland and Lake Ontario as well as fisherman that were settling in for a morning of calm and certaily their heart rate monitors would not be flashing "DANGER: Red ZONE!!" A little cyclocross action later and we were set to rip through Pickering. Along Hwy # 2 and up Fairport. It wasn't until north of Finch that gaps in the peleton appeared and persisted until Brock Rd. The lead group was really stepping on the gas along Taunton Rd....not sure who was dishing out the pain as I was so far back but I have my suspicions. A brief regrouping at the turn followed by an Emile & Steve hammerfest into the heart of Claremont. The residents of Claremont failed to turn out in droves to see the passing of this year's tour although a man walking his dog did say "Hello" to us. I am sure the organiser will note the lack of enthusiasm from the locals when deciding on future tour routes.

A welcomed nature break in sleepy Claremont was followed by an out-and-out sprint to Stouffville. Jeff and I put in a viscious attack on a small rise that should have lead to a break from the group but we were nailed back and relegated to the debris of the peleton and limped into Stouffville...the lead group "home and cooled out". Dave S and Steve bought our coffees...thanks alot and if I miissed someone please accept my apologies. After dealing with the usual fan mail at the coffee shop we mounted our steel steeds (it just doesn't sound right to say carbon or ti steeds) and started the trek south to the Big Smoke. Not for the faint of heart as the peleton once again split asunder and it was grab that wheel or suffer alone!! Thanks to Dave S. for helping out on the way home. It didn't seem to take long before we were making the fateful turn on to Twin Rivers (from henceforth will be known as 123 Pain Street) when we pliunged down into the valley. A brief h'ors deuvres of a climb before the main meal may have deceived some but not many. Emile "slammed his hand on the desk" and "laid down the law" on this penultimate climb. Congrats to all...a tough climb after a few hours in the saddle!!

But wait, there's more. Our old friend Old Kingston Road. Barry Davis put in a cheeky attack but the "Heads of State" ( Emile, Steve, Jeff, Dave) were having none of that and reeled him in and relegated him (with himself) to the back of the pack. Steve crested first and a definite threat on GC. A wind aided Kingston road cruise brought us home to finish this epic metric century.

Next week we welcome back our fearless leader, Dan. I am sure he will be full of stories of his adventures out west or at least full of something.

Any copyright infringement on Phil and Paul's descriptions was purely intentional.

James Young

My stats may be a bit off as I started at Tims but didn't check it until I arrived home.

Computer Stats:
Average 29.5 km/hr
Distance 103.5 km
Max 67.9 km/hr
Time 3:30