Finally took some photos of my bike in Richmond Park, London today. Its a beautiful place but gets pretty crowded when the weather is nice. You have to watch out for deer too, their traffic sense is terrible.

 

 

 

 

I do like riding round Richmond park but it does get a bit boring after a while. Unless you're training that is. I tend to do a few laps then try to work my way out of London. I live in crouch end in north london. I bought my Cervelo from Sigma sports just down the road from the park in Hampton wick. I take a ride there when i need a service or a check over, or some parts. I then ride north west and try to circumnavigate back to crouch end outside of the noise and traffic. Nice pics tho.. Do you ride for a club?

Stu   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kdog and Kcat's yard. There is GREAT riding  less than 45 minutes from Toronto. These pictures are north and north east of Whitby and Oshawa.

kdog:

 

Kdog and Kcat's yard. There is GREAT riding  less than 45 minutes from Toronto. These pictures are north and north east of Whitby and Oshawa.

 

 

All those rollers look like fun, though you can keep the wet pavement!

D

 

I live in Ajax and it's 18k to get out of town and enjoy the countryside. Over 100 to 120k it adds up to about 1000m of acsending.

I didn't think you could get 4 blocks in 45 minutes in YYZ.

 Too bad you're a have not province and they don't pave those roads.  Otherwise it would be a nice ride.  Many cars ?

Not many cars.  Love Halifax, have a daughter a DAL. 

thom_y:

I didn't think you could get 4 blocks in 45 minutes in YYZ.

 Too bad you're a have not province and they don't pave those roads.  Otherwise it would be a nice ride.  Many cars ?

 

A have not province? how I disagree. I maybe have only started riding recently maybe for the past few months, but I've enjoyed every road in north whitby oshawa so far. I have yet to come across a road not paved. Your reference to taking 45 minutes to get 4 blocks confuses me you must not have biked.

Last years trip to the south of France with the S1. 140 Degrees mid August riding up Ventoux for the first time. Attacked by flies at the mid section with the tress but glad to escape them at the lunarscape. Arrived at top to some fantastic views. I wish my normal rides through North London out to Hertfordshire were as beautiful

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A have not province....please don't forget the years of transfer payments for those lovely roads, infrastructure and clean harbour ....Halifax is lovely, and I'm glad as a tax paying private business owner I've been able to help out the east coast. Believe me I did not vote for the fool presently in power in this province. The terrain shown in the pics is lovely, serene, and paved...and hubby is headed out right now to put in a cool 100k on this mild, sunny Monday afternoon....

kcat,

sensitive !!!  I was trying to be sarcastic, although the roads are paved, they look in rough shape in sections and could use resurfacing.  Then, it would be great!

But, Yes, I believe Ontario was officially declared a have not province last year, as for the first time it required transfer payments from the Canadian gov't:

http://www.thespec.com/article/460755

This is in contrast to Newfoundland now being a have province with it's oil industry...

Don't worry, you haven't been supporting me in NS all my life, as I am also from Ontario, but have lived here since 1991.

But, hey I am grateful for all of the support Alberta, Ontario has given NS over the years. It helps keep me employed in the health care sector, my kids have great schools (across the road from our house !) and I'm riding on better pavement than some of my friends in have provinces.  Keep it coming.

One of the main reasons I cannot move back to Toronto, is that I love the fact that I can get on my bike starting from the middle of urban Halifax and within 10 minutes I am riding on a tertiary highway (with no stop signs or traffic lights to contend with) and often riding rolling terrrain along or near the ocean.  My wife and I both work in university hospitals as specialists, and therefore, typically need to be in a city for work.   If I lived in central Toronto, there would be no way I would have the time to put my bike on the car to drive 45-60 minutes just to start the ride... I don't have that kind of free time unfortunately with relatively young kids... nor patience

The reference about getting 4 blocks, relates to how friggin difficult it is to get anywhere from downtown Toronto by car.

I am so happy I don't live there anymore, when I am stuck in traffic trying to get uptown and the traffic is not moving. Sure, there are potentially great roads and rides way outside of the city for cycling like you showed us, but it is not that easy to get out of downtown ! And for the most part, you can't realistically do an out and back ride from the middle of Toronto which involves getting out of the urban jungle. Frankly the Don Valley ride or Lakeshore doesn't cut it for me !  Despite our poor province, I am fairly spoiled as the last few years some of the popular training loops in and around Halifax have been newly paved and are much smoother than what your pictures show.  We don't have much in the way of a shoulder, which is one bad thing for cyclists.   There is one turn off one of our rides (Sambro) where the road is like Paris-Roubaix to head out to Chebucto Head. I do it once a year for the view of the mouth of the harbor and the Atlantic, and then wonder why I bothered and pray I don't flat.

 You should come out for the riding.  And keep those transfer payments.

kcat:

thom_y:

I didn't think you could get 4 blocks in 45 minutes in YYZ.

 Too bad you're a have not province and they don't pave those roads.  Otherwise it would be a nice ride.  Many cars ?

 

A have not province? how I disagree. I maybe have only started riding recently maybe for the past few months, but I've enjoyed every road in north whitby oshawa so far. I have yet to come across a road not paved. Your reference to taking 45 minutes to get 4 blocks confuses me you must not have biked.

 

I went to school in Waterloo, Ontario many years ago, and the country roads in the region were superb for road riding. Drivers were good too - conditioned from sharing roads with horse-drawn buggies of the Old Order Mennonites. 

 

 

thom_y:

The reference about getting 4 blocks, relates to how friggin difficult it is to get anywhere from downtown Toronto by car.

I am so happy I don't live there anymore, when I am stuck in traffic trying to get uptown and the traffic is not moving. Sure, there are potentially great roads and rides way outside of the city for cycling like you showed us, but it is not that easy to get out of downtown ! And for the most part, you can't realistically do an out and back ride from the middle of Toronto which involves getting out of the urban jungle. Frankly the Don Valley ride or Lakeshore doesn't cut it for me !  Despite our poor province, I am fairly spoiled as the last few years some of the popular training loops in and around Halifax have been newly paved and are much smoother than what your pictures show.  We don't have much in the way of a shoulder, which is one bad thing for cyclists.   There is one turn off one of our rides (Sambro) where the road is like Paris-Roubaix to head out to Chebucto Head. I do it once a year for the view of the mouth of the harbor and the Atlantic, and then wonder why I bothered and pray I don't flat.

 You should come out for the riding.  And keep those transfer payments.

 

 

It is actually very EASY to get out of downtown Toronto, to get to where we ride. Its an easy 45 minute train ride to out of downtown from union station. I ride the Train to take my bike to and from downtown. Also why would you drive downtown id rather bus/subway/walk... and given the condition of the roads where we ride those roads do not look that smooth but in fact are not that bad to ride on.

 

 This ride is about 30 min from home and about the same from Brisbane CBD

OK, kdog or kcat, mother nature is playing havoc with us here in the east... One taste of winter so far, but not like the back to back storms we had this time last year...  So, rather than contemplate if and when I put the bike on the trainer, I much rather spend almost 2 hours riding the Sambro loop in today's 9C.   Last weekend, I was just coming out of quarantine for possible H1N1...

However, the day started off glorious when I took my son to soccer and headed for espresso, then the clouds moved IN...

 

 On Saturday morning during my ride the skies looked that dark, thought for sure it was going to rain :S. I would not have been pleased if i had gotten 45k from home and had to deal with rain and wind on the way back :(