Saturday Intermediate Road Fondo Review

July 9th featured a real Fondo to Dundas and Waterdown. The starting point was Clyde Park on Village Rd in Cambridge. It comes with parking and a picnic shelter, more about that later. 20 cyclists showed up for the destination route or maybe the free watermelon. Some new faces, some old faces, lots of regular faces. 2 groups were made with Mario leading 1 and myself the other. Temperature was 16C, blue skies.
Ready to roll out

Tardy participant
Roads were good, speed was comfortable, the front group missed a few turns due to chattering and bright sunlight on his Garmin display, really. Traffic was civil, 2 abreast mostly right into Dundas.

Newcomer Amanda was made to feel right at home.
I’ve never been down Weirs Lane what a nice rush. Rode into Dundas, busy place, then up Sydenham Rd to Clara’s Lookout.
Nice view of the valley

Allez! Allez!

Del made it!


Down Valley Rd for some, down Old Guelph Rd and up Snake Rd

Our major climbs were over now. Stopped for refreshments in Waterdown at the Copper Kettle Café.
Used bikes!

Shade and chairs!

Chillaxing

Tactics discussion?
Got out of town heading for Mountsberg Reservoir. Surprised by a few tall rollers on the way.
Got to Highway#6. Busy!

Veggies

Main course with naan bread!


What a surprise at the end when Chef Brent pulled out 2 BBQs and serverd up a delicious meal. Drinks by Mario. And the alluded to watermelon was received with relish by all.
What a way to end this enjoyable ride to Dundas and Waterdown. 2 escarpment climbs and a delish lunch.
IMG_5089

No mechanicals, no issues, no one went home hungry!

Brian Legge

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“No mechanicals, no issues, no one went home hungry!”

Well, we can’t really do much better than that can we? :+1:

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Thought I would post a few more photos…



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July 23 Excursion to Erin. Belfountain and the Forks of the Credit, Cheltenham Badlands, Terracotta, Eramosa.


Ride With GPS elevation profile indicated to me a reasonable climbing day.

But in fact it was a lot more challenging. The Strava elevation map shows it much clearer.

Cheltenham Badlands. Unique to Ontario
18 riders drove 1hr to Erin for this Intermediate excursion ride. We had done this back June 2019. Great ride then. Peter’s route from 2019 didn’t change much for today. Rollers, hairpins, long climbs for S.Ontario. We split into 2 groups. I led the first group out. Peter and Jeff had the 2nd group. Off to Belfountain. And the loop around the Forks of the Credit Park


On to Terracotta for a stop and liquid refills. Desperately needed for the temperatures where climbing. We started off at 22C, after Terracotta it was 31C!


Stopped at the Terracotta Country Store for refreshments. We were there early for they really were not open yet. But we were served. :smile:


As we left the shade of Terra Cotta the temperature soared. Back to Erin we went


Sometimes you must give way to the farmers


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Chef Brent is our preferred cater for these events and he didn’t disappoint anyone!


New this week, freezies by Jeff! :sunglasses:
Great route today Peter. Great excursion ride.
Brian

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Fantastic photos and commentary Brian! Kudos to everyone who rode this route, and to Peter for organizing the route, Peter/Brian/Jeff for leading the groups, and to those who contributed to the post-ride refreshments.

I personally love the vibe that the Intermediate group is demonstrating this year…interesting routes, an inclusive culture, and some out-of-the-ordinary destinations and post-ride tailgating.

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I have to say, the other groups are just a little bit envious of all the fun & food you are enjoying! :smiley: Keep inspiring!!

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July 30th Intermediate ride. Holiday weekend. I expected a light crowd. 11 signed up, 19 showed up! Broke this up into 2 groups, Jeff took 1 group and I the other group. Jeff’s groups had 2 mechanicals, broken chain and a serious unfixable flat right away. Chain got fixed. NP. I took the first group out. Off to Conestogo lake and the required photo at the eastern lookout point.

Notice the grey cloudy skies. Cool start 16C. No sun. The weather forecast was way off again. Over 20KMph winds. The direction was correct though!
Good sharing of the load by all.
Into Country Sisters for food and refreshments.


Guess who’s shoes?

Jeff’s group rolled in due to the mechanicals just as my group was rolling out

Picked up 2 riders from the first group. On to Millbank and Streicher Rd. Big pace with wind at our backs.

Some red faces on a wrong turn, who cares! Made Hessen Strasse even faster for some.
Home to Sobey’s plaza.
Remnants of a watermelon at ride’s end.
Good day. Good group. Good ride

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August 6 2022 Intermediate ride to Woodstock.
Woodstock is a bit of a stretch from Waterloo so the start location got moved to Wilmot Centre, south of Baden. Lots of folks away on summer vacations and Group3 was poaching some of my big horses so a small but energetic group of 5 left. The fog rolled in at 8Am and although road visibility was reasonable the fog covered our sunglasses so thickly that they became unusable. Worse than road spray up near Wallenstein



Quiet ride down to Drumbo, did some train spotting.


Winds were still light through Innerkip. Load sharing was great. For a small intermediate group the pace was surprising good…

Woodstock’s Coffee Culture Café on Dundas St.
Chocolate tart. Mmmm
Winds at our backs as we turned north. Quiet Oxford County roads.
Brad dropped off at County Rd 8. 4 of us continued back to Wilmot Centre for watermelon. Mmmm

Watermelon etc.
For a small group our average speed was good. Didn’t really need a larger group to have a good day. Good ride. Good group.
Good times

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August 13th. In conjunction with Oliver groups 1/2/3/4 targeted Belwood and their tart factory for the food/rehydration stop.


Start was from RIM Park. We had 10 riders. Perfect size group.

Group 3 had +14 or so. They left first. Such a beautiful ride up Crowfoots Rd. Cool, quiet, fast, flat. :smile: We caught them up near Jones Baseline Road. Mike had a serious mechanical, lost a jockey wheel.
Screenshot 2022-08-14 085338
Mechanical Mike
Traffic was light and civil and the Fergus Scottish McHighland Games were on today. Brent had us go up 22 to 26 to avoid the Orangeville road. Shoulders are very narrow there. Good plan.
Screenshot 2022-08-14 085443
Oliver’s Group 3 passing us


Blake’s Group 2 passing us

The tarts were delicious. Not too sweet. Is there a better butter tart anywhere else?
With all road groups going to Belwood today there was close to 50 riders eating tarts and such


Veteran’s Memorial seen on the way out of town
Nice ride back to Waterloo. Down River Road in Elora.

Rare photo of Graham at the back. He seemed to be at the front all day. Nice

Screenshot 2022-08-14 090536


Heading home

Good day for riding . Good group. Good times.

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August 20 Intermediate ride to Melville’s Café in downtown Galt. I like this café. It has shade, patio, lots of room for the bikes, friendly. Just no water fountain. :face_with_open_eyes_and_hand_over_mouth:
10 riders to start, lots of missing riders resting for tomorrow’s Muddy Nose race in Milverton.
Nice cool start but you just know it’s going to warm up seriously by 11AM.
Traffic seemed busier than usual for a Saturday morning, but friendly. Down to Mannheim over to New Dundee. Light breeze.


Quiet country roads. Sweet riding
Took the group down Alps Road. New to some. Nice rollers

Arrived at Melville’s for cookies, coffee and other liquids.


Snacking in the shade

At the fountains in downtown Galt
Return to Sobey’s with a breeze at our backs.

I managed to run over this bollard in Roseville. Not much give in them. Real wakeup call! Split my finger open. Bloody mess it was.


Temperature was increasing, Jeff’s Garmin read 38C feels like. So we had another stop.

Rita’s sag wagon showed up with freezies and water with less than an hour left. Seemed like a good idea.

Jeff just returned from a week riding in Quebec. He was in good form as was everyone else today.

Watermelon at the end of the ride. Cool. Sweet.
Another good day for riding. Good group. Good times

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August 27th. Return to Belwood for more butter tarts.
8 riders to start, no wait 9 riders. Last one rolled in with a flat no less! Brent got him pressurized again but it didn’t last. He had to turn back 10KMs in. Hugo came in with a hurting knee and he turned back 20KMs in.
Nice cool ride through Ariss to Belwood, traffic was very well behaved. Got to Belwood as Jason’s large group 3 was leaving. They did leave enough tarts for us though. Thanks for the tarts Brent! Mmmm


Brent our Tart Taster


The Intermediate Group of the day…

Jeff left us in Elora. Nice ride back to Waterloo.


Heading back to RIM Park

Good day. Good group. Good times
Brian

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Sept 3 Ride review to Balzacs in Stratford. Coffee stop.
By 820AM it was starting to get steamy.
Jason had Alain explain his Canadian Track Nationals - Master Men Team Pursuit - Bronze adventure on Friday in Milton. I was impressed. Well done lads.

Brent saluting Alain and his team for their bronze finish.
So off we started with 9 riders.

A wrong turn past Erbsville and then Michal suffered a puncture on her tubeless tire. Played around with that for 20 minutes then determined the tire was deformed, really flat on one side. She returned home quite disappointed. On we went. Got to Stratford at 11AM, running a little late.


Ready to go back.


Heading up Wilby

Another good Intermediate group ride. Good day. Good group. Good times
Brian

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Thanks all for your help with my flat! Such a great group and looking forward to coming out again next time. Glad you all had a great rest of your ride! :blush:

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Sept 10th Ride to Drumbo.
Well there was only 1 rider signed up Friday night so I was going to cancel Saturday’s ride and try drafting in Group3 to Paris. Several riders were off doing other events elsewhere. But 4 riders showed up. There was a clash of cultures and I reconsidered my cancellation and led the Intermediate group to wonderful Drumbo, home of Morrows.

Lesson: Please indicate Going/Not Going so ride leaders can judge the interest

Winds were from the south and picking up but it was a nice morning. Light friendly traffic, no dogs, no mechanicals, Graham pulled us down to Drumbo nicely.

Nice quiet farm roads.
Temperature was increasing and we resupplied in Drumbo.


Bridge St bridge is closed

Stopped at the WCCC clubhouse for freezies and watermelon.


Heading home

Another good day of riding. Good group. Good times.
Brian

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Sept 17 2022 ride. Destination was PunkeyDoodles Corner west of New Hamburg. Group of 8 riders started off on a cool Saturday morning. Several new riders joined us so there was some ongoing orientation as we rode off into the morning.

Quiet country roads. Very little traffic. Pleasant morning ride.
The temperature and humidity, unusual for mid September, was increasing as we rolled into New Hamburg. I haven’t been at MeMe’s Cafe for some time so choosing it for our rest stop today was an excellent idea. Highly recommend it for a place to feed and water. Mmmm

Heading back to Waterloo
Up to Wellesley and Bamberg from New Hamburg and then watermelon back at Sobey’s.
Another good day to ride. Good group. Good times

Brian Legge

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Intermediates challenge Kimberley and the Grey Highlands
The planned route below. 3 good 250m escarpment climbs each. Anticipated cool morning start. Get up 2 hours earlier to drive here.

These were the conditions that 18 Intermediate Group 4 and some Group 3 riders showed up at 9am in Kimberley.


Starting temperature was 8C which dropped to 6C further down Beaver Valley. Brrrr.
Kevin and I stashed some water/Gatorade/bananas at the Museum in Rob Roy first thing.

This is the view behind the General store in Kimberley.

The meet up area was the parking lot beside the library museum. Parking, johnny, picnic area. Perfect place.
We split into 2 groups. Jeff and Mario had the second group. Announcements were made, Chef Brent was to be returned back to Kimberley in good condition.
8C to start and then it got colder once into Beaver Valley. Arm and knee warmers for most, 3 layers for others and one or two unprepared or very warm blooded were in their summer kit. Brrr

A notoriously late comer caught us after the first climb 1 hour in.
New member Joe came out fresh from mountains of central Europe and fit right in.


Lots of other bikers out there today. Traffic was pretty good. Roads were very good.


Trees were just starting to turn into the fall colours.

Rob Roy water stop.
Jeff and Mario kept the second group together. No one got lost. No mechanicals.


Hydro Electric water storage silos

Chef Brent brings everything. Delicious food, BBQ, cutlery, did I mention delicious food. Totally under rated this member.





Chef Brent at work





Good social time after the ride. Deserts helped.
Excellent year end ride for the Intermediates.
Good route. Good group. Good day. Good food. Good times

Brian Legge

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Awesome pics and commentary Brian! Your post-ride recaps and photos are just one more part of the reason why the Intermediate group is so strong this year…

October 1 2022 Destination Fondo to Mattamy Velodrome in Milton.
The starting point was Clyde Park on Village Rd Cambridge. 88KMs. One descent down the escarpment to Milton. One short but steep climb up Bell School Line and good rollers to the way home.
Winds projected to be from the east changed to northeast but I stayed the course. Temperatures started at 8C and rose through the morning. Most of the roads were protected from the wind by trees until down on Tremaine Rd in Milton.


Seven riders started out. New to the group was Geoff who rode over from Galt for the ride. Pulled most of the day. Thanks Geoff.
The route was finalized later in the week by Tommy who absolutely insisted on a CCW direction for some black magic insane arbitrarily reason. This was one of the nicest routes I’ve been on for a while. Quiet. Scenic. safeish.

My favourite part of the route was on Twiss Rd just north of Derry where it twisted down and back up at 18% grade. Just came up so quick on a bit of a blind corner. Sweet.


Twiss Rd surprise



Geoff looking back for stragglers. What a leader!
The ride to Mattamy was uneventful. We brought our bikes inside, Brent gave a tour upstairs.

Wall of Fame
Coffee at the Fix Cafe. A nice break. Ready to roll out

Brent finds his rear tyre flat. We go back inside for the repair. Can you beat that?

Waiting for Brent


Mattamy Velodrome in Milton

Back on the road again. Up Bell School Line, good climb that was. Over to Campbellville. West of Campbellville Russ gets a pinch flat at the stem. First tube doesn’t work. Next tube the valve doesn’t hold air. Something with the valve extension maybe. Russ calls a cab.


2 big guys struggled to get that tyre off and on. Please don’t glue one side of a tyre to the rim!

Geoff enjoying the show
Off we go again. Two 30 minute breaks have affected some of us. We’re dragging home minus Russ.

Andres cramps up. We break up.


Fall colours were starting


We meet back up in Clyde. Russ arrives shortly after in a cab.
We have a debriefing meeting. Watermelon is shared. Tall tales are regaled again.
Good group today. Good route. Saw more fall colours this week
The Intermediate Road season is over for 2022
Everyone is safe. Had fun. Had exercise. Made new friends. Reconnected with old friends. Fitness levels were vastly improved from the beginning of the season.
Good times. Good days.
Thanks for coming along for the ride

Brian Legge

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Awesome pics and write up (as always) @Brian ! Thanks for being a great ride leader this season…always a good group ride when you lead, guaranteed!

Glad you all had a chance to see the track too!
As always, if anybody is interested in riding there I am happy to answer questions and guide you through sign up. Send me a message!

As for insisting on a CCW ride to the track… CW would be sacrilege!! :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye: :wink:

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