But for me, the anticipation of this unique adventure had started months before \u2026<\/p>\n
I had been looking forward to the Randonneurs Ontario Fleche since last autumn\u2019s General Meeting, where several Huron members began discussing the possibilities for a London to Kingston effort.\u00a0 I offered to coordinate a team and to begin route planning.\u00a0\u00a0 Having never participated in a Fleche before, my first challenge was to get my head around the unique (and sometimes quirky !) Fleche rules.\u00a0 But as I reviewed online anecdotes and previous Fleche reports (of teams \u201crunning out of road\u201d in the final 2 hours, or \u201cfalling short\u201d in the total kilometres covered, or number of riders finishing), the rules and objectives began to make sense.\u00a0 It also became apparent to me that a London to Kingston route would be ideal for a Fleche:\u00a0 At approximately 460 km total (depending on selected route) there should be no danger of not having enough kilometres available in the final 2 hours, and the \u201c80% of proposed route\u201d mandatory distance is about equal to the 360 km minimum requirement.\u00a0 In other words, if we ride well and cover 360 km in the first 22 hours and still have the legs for 25 km in the last 2 hours, \u201cwe\u2019re good !\u201d<\/p>\n
The generally \u201cdownhill\u201d elevation profile from London to Kingston, plus the statistical probability of prevailing tail winds, were additional factors that suggested this ride could be great!<\/p>\n
In logistics and route planning, it became apparent that an evening start would be ideal.\u00a0 The thought of arriving sleepless and exhausted in Kingston on Sunday morning, then turning around and driving 5 hours back to London (and 3 more hours for Carey and Chris) was not at all appealing.\u00a0 A Friday 6 pm departure would have us going through Toronto in the middle of the night, allowing us to use roads that might be too busy during the day.\u00a0 A Saturday evening arrival would allow us to pig out at the 24-hour Denny\u2019s, rehydrate on barley energy drinks, and get a good sleep before driving home.\u00a0 (I was delighted that the other teams also chose a Saturday-evening arrival plan!)<\/p>\n
The route was plotted \u201cfrom scratch\u201d on Ride with GPS<\/em> using the \u201cKISS\u201d principle \u2013 follow the safest main and direct roads and use 24-hour Timmies for Controls.\u00a0 Being a Fleche (not a Brevet) we would have the option of detouring onto a parallel path (eg bike path) if a particular section of the route was too busy.<\/p>\n So back to the ride itself \u2026<\/p>\n The weather forecast had been looking ideal in the days leading up to the ride. \u00a0Carey and Chris had driven from Port Elgin to Dave\u2019s residence, and the three of them biked down the 9 km to meet me at the ride start location (near the London Velodrome).\u00a0 I had biked down from my home in Ilderton (45 km, with a few detours along the way) so we were all \u201cwarmed up\u201d while we waited for our GPS time to show 18:00 hours.\u00a0 \u00a0As we set out from London, it was more overcast than expected.\u00a0 And in the first few kilometres, we actually felt a rain drop or two.\u00a0 But the weather and rando gods were smiling on us, and the remainder of the ride would be completely dry.\u00a0\u00a0 With fresh legs, we rode easily through the rural Southwestern Ontario evening.\u00a0 Having ridden together on previous Brevets, all four of us were familiar with each other\u2019s riding styles, and were feeling quite comfortable riding in a \u201cloose\u201d group at a steady speed.\u00a0 We arrived at our first Control in Paris at 9:20 pm, feeling good about the 25 km\/hr pace we had been maintaining.\u00a0 After the first of many \u201cTimmies recharges\u201d we would have in the coming hours, we were back on the road, eagerly anticipating the night ride down the escarpment towards our next control in Port Credit.\u00a0 With the full moon doing its best to light our way through an overcast sky, and car traffic lighter than we expected, the late evening riding seemed quite relaxed.<\/p>\n As we biked through Hamilton and along the waterfront through Burlington and Oakville, the twinkling lights on the water, the marinas, and the silhouettes of upscale residences provided many amazing views!\u00a0 Carey commented that he would definitely be coming back to ride this section in daylight.\u00a0 We pulled into Port Credit Timmies just after 2 am.\u00a0 Another quick caffeine injection, and we were back on the road, heading along Lakeshore Road into the Big Smoke.\u00a0 We had a brief stop near the Exhibition Grounds, while Chris dealt with a minor mechanical issue (a loose bolt).\u00a0 (Over the whole ride, Chris Carey and Dave each encountered a mechanical annoyance \u2013 Carey had a \u201cscrew loose\u201d, which some of you would say is nothing new! \u2013 As for Dave, the tensioning bolt on his Brooks Saddle came loose and fell off in the darkness!\u00a0 This resulted in Dave riding on leather resting directly on the seat rails, and his talking voice becoming ever more \u201csoprano\u201d as the ride went along! \u00a0For those who don\u2019t know Dave, he rides a fixie, so \u201cgetting up out of the saddle\u201d was not an option for alleviating the discomfort!\u00a0 As for me, a recently-replaced but very creaky bottom bracket assured that the other riders would not fall asleep on the road.\u00a0\u00a0 But no spills and no flats for anyone throughout the ride!\u00a0\u00a0 )<\/p>\n The next magical moments on our ride occurred as we entered the dedicated bikelanes along Toronto\u2019s waterfront.\u00a0 The last time I had been here (two years ago) Queen\u2019s Quay and the surrounding area was a construction mess.\u00a0 Now, it\u2019s beautiful and almost European in its design and bicycling functionality.\u00a0 (Of course, we were riding it in the middle of the night, with no cars or pedestrians around.\u00a0 We chatted about how crowded these bikelanes would be in a few hours, when the city awoke.)\u00a0 Carey had to stop to take pictures of the Rogers Centre and CN Tour.\u00a0 Tourists!<\/p>\n We ascended the streets of Scarborough towards the bluffs, where we encountered one of our only navigation challenges:\u00a0 A bike path off a residential street did not appear to exist.\u00a0 We spent 15 minutes or so circling a public school in an attempt to find the trail, before Dave (zooming into the smallest scale on his GPS) lead us back through the bush and darkness, to a muddy single-track path.\u00a0 We found our way through Bluffer\u2019s Park, and were treated to more amazing night views of the Scarborough bluffs.<\/p>\n Heading along the Waterfront Trail, we enjoyed the sunrise over the Pickering Nuclear Plant and Lake Ontario shoreline.\u00a0 We reached our next Timmie-target (Ajax) just after 6 am. \u2013 235 km behind us, just after the 12 hour mark !!!\u00a0 Speculating that daylight, tailwinds, and more coffee would spur us along, we began to ponder whether we might really be able to complete 100 % of the proposed route!\u00a0 A fifteen-minute power nap on the lawn was proposed, but we decided to save that treat for Cobourg when the sun would be warmer.<\/p>\n We reached Cobourg just before 11:00 am, enjoyed a Timmies breakfast, and pushed on after the brief nap we had promised ourselves.\u00a0 It felt great to take off our shoes and lie on the grass under the warming sun.<\/p>\n Back in the saddle again, it became apparent that we were NOT going to be blessed with tailwinds, and the terrain east of Toronto was not as flat as we had pretended it would be.\u00a0 We knew our \u201c100 %\u201d goal was not going to be achieved.\u00a0 As we approached Belleville, Carey began to muse about how nice it would be to have a \u201cpint\u201d.\u00a0 I could not disagree.\u00a0 With fifteen minutes to go before the mandatory 22 hour report time, we spotted a \u201cPatio Open\u201d sign, causing our bikes to quickly veer off the road!\u00a0 Just enough time to order cold beverages and fill in the Birdy\u2019s Pub address on our Control Cards before the clock strikes 4pm.\u00a0 Our friendly and interested waitress signs our cards and snaps a photo.\u00a0 80% of our proposed route accomplished? Check.\u00a0 360 km completed? Check.\u00a0 25 km do-able in the next 2 hours?\u00a0 Hmmm, maybe not, if we have a second pint.\u00a0 So back on the road it is!<\/p>\n After Belleville, it was just a matter of knocking off as many kilometres as we could in the remaining hour-and-a-half.\u00a0 As we continued east on Highway 2 towards Napanee, I kept checking the Garmin as our post-Birdy\u2019s kilometres crept towards 25.\u00a0 With that final Fleche requirement satisfied after crossing Marysville Road, we had to now think about where we would be at the 24 hour mark to document the end of our official ride.\u00a0 We were shooting for our next proposed Control (you guessed it – Timmies in Napanee) but fell a few kilometres short.\u00a0 At the corner of County Road1 & Jimmy Kimmet Blvd. we stopped to watch the GPS time show 18:00.\u00a0 Just over 420 kilometres ridden in 24 hours ( 91% of proposed route – Moving Time almost 19 hours, Moving Average Speed 22.2 km\/hr) \u2013 we were all feeling pleased!<\/p>\n Of course, we were still 40 kilometres from the hot meal, cold beer, and soft beds we were now hallucinating about!<\/p>\n Aside from the sore nether regions and stiff shoulders you\u2019d \u00a0expect after 24 hours in the saddle, I think we were feeling fairly\u00a0 strong.\u00a0 An electrical tape repair of Dave\u2019s broken saddle was making his ride a bit more tolerable, and the promise of non-timmies food was incentive to keep us rolling.\u00a0 After two more hours of steady riding, we were on the streets of Kingston I had seen 2 days ago when dropping off my Truck for our return trip.\u00a0 It seemed like it had been two weeks ago!<\/p>\n Just after 8:30 pm, we pulled into the destination hotel.\u00a0 460 kilometres covered in 26.5 hours.\u00a0 After well deserved (and needed) showers, we met up with some of the Toronto gang for dinner in Denny\u2019s.\u00a0 The Ottawa Wanderers, having arrived earlier, had already crashed for the night.<\/p>\n Next morning, we were back in Denny\u2019s to have breakfast with the other teams.\u00a0 It was great to renew acquaintances, put faces to names, and share exaggerated anecdotes regarding our Fleche adventure.\u00a0 Many thanks to Carey, Chris, and Dave (and of course the Wanderers and Hogtown Express) for making it so memorable!\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 Ride report from John Cumming: Four Huron randonneurs \u2013 John Cumming, Chris Cossonnet, Dave Pearson, and Carey Chappelle \u2013 set off at 6:00 pm Friday evening May 20th from South London, with anticipation and quiet resolve to cover as many … Continue reading ![\"P1040844msc\"](\"https:\/\/blog.randonneursontario.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/P1040844msc.jpg\")
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