Winter ride: Hamilton to Toronto

This past weekend two friends and myself got on the Go train to Hamilton to ride back to Toronto. We managed to get a good window of weather in between what was a very dry cold-snap and what would become a wet slushy week after. We got on the train around 10 o'clock and about an hour and 15 minutes later, we were in Hamilton.

The ride right out of the station is pretty. We passed these small bays of Lake Ontario with several ice fishing sites. People were out wind-skating (?) on the ice, and a large group of people were skating too. Picturesque.  It was around here that we had to walk our bikes up about about 10 flights of outdoor stairs (which thankfully had a bike track), and then we were finally on a trail headed towards Toronto.

It's about a straight shot the entire way, with a few deviations from the waterfront trail into Mississauga and along Lakeshore, but overall, it was a great ride. We stopped a few times to admire the skyline with the factories of Hamilton spitting out clouds that joined the  gray and blue sky. 

I enjoyed the ride on my 2000 Brodie Torque, which has become my winter bike, but it was also not without problems. I have realized that it might not be adequately fitted to my height. I noticed some pain in my left knee after about 50 kilometers or so and despite my adjusting on the seat, I wasn't able to really avoid it.

I  was also totally gassed by the end of the ride. My two companions seemed to get a lot more experience riding long distances these days, and by the time we rolled onto the Martin Goodman trail in Toronto, I was falling behind them and they were still cruising along as if they had just started riding. But it's kind of true—that's the way it is right now. I ride very short distances all around the city every day, several times a day. But I often don't get out for longer than 20 kilometer stretches, maybe once a week, if at all. I’d like to change that, but right now life is pretty busy and it's going to get busier.

Still, being able to carve out a Sunday to get on our bikes and ride for several hours, get snacks, stop and enjoy the scenery, was really great, especially in the winter. Years ago, I would have never even thought of doing this activity, but it was just bliss.

I wouldn't really change anything for the next ride. I'd probably bring more snacks, though. Let me list the things that I had to eat. First off, I brought cashews and chocolate. I also brought a bagel and then on the train ride, right before I got there, I stopped in at broad flour and Toronto and picked up a cardamom knot . That disappeared pretty quickly. Then we rode until about 1 o'clock, where we stopped in at a Tim's and I got a breakfast sandwich with a doughut and an apple juice. Lots of sugar. They also gave me an extra donut by accident, so I ate half of that as well.

Then we stopped at Starbucks about 10 or 15 kilometers later to get coffee, and I got a ginger cookie and a midday square.So between that and the snacks, I thought I would have been totally fine for energy, but I definitely felt like I was coming close to bonking after about 55 or 60 kilometers. It seems that even though I wasn't going that fast and hadn't had a late night the day before, I seemed to need so much more calories than I think when it comes to exercise at this caliber. All told though I made it in the end, what I wasn't anticipating, however, was how bad of a day I would have the next day.

I felt pretty fine in my body. I was a little sore and tired, but I only got six hours of sleep. Maybe it was because I had spent my Sunday with friends riding and then having dinner with more friends and family that going back to work on a Monday was particularly difficult.It was one of those days where I couldn't find the things that I needed to get going at the door or, you know, every possible thing that could go wrong was going wrong. I called it a bike hangover.

I'll be prepared more for that next time.