Touring Musselman's Lake

Musselman's Lake is a small community in Whitchurch-Stouffville and the lake itself is a significant natural and recreational asset.  Being a popular destination among touring cyclists, and I decided to check it out for myself.  It was worth the trip.


Most online bike routes around Musselman's Lake (such as this one from Warden to Cedar Beach on the shores of beautiful Musselman's Lake) follow Ninth Line, on the east side of the Lake.  I found this part of Ninth Line to be a bit narrow and uncomfortable for cycling, since there tight turns and are no shoulders.  A better alternative, in my opinion, is to go along the west side on quiet residential streets.  There's a section connecting Connor Blvd to Cedarvale Dr that is closed to motor vehicles, but accessible by bicycle or on foot.

Musselman's Lake is a tranquil community with some awesome views, although most of the shoreline is privately owned.  It makes for an excellent rest stop.  Connect to Ballantrae via Aurora Road to the north, and to Stouffville via Ninth Line to the South.

 

Here is the trail connection between Connor and Cedarvale on the north side of the Lake

Ice cream shop at Ninth Line & Cedarvale

Restaurant at at Ninth Line & Cedarvale

Love your commute

On Fridays through the summer, I often cycled the 70 km roundtrip from my home in Maple to work in East Gwillimbury.  Though it was a long distance, it was an invigorating start to my day and I always felt great after doing it.  It improves my fitness, saves me money, and is a thrill.  I would have biked to work more often if it not for family commitments and the extra time it required.  It takes me about an hour and twenty minutes each way (which is about double the 40 minutes it takes to drive).

Boulevard path on Vandorf Sideroad east of Bayview

I tried different routes, and what I found was that most roads were more bike-friendly than I thought, with paved shoulders and only a little traffic.  I eventually settled on the route shown in black (north on Keele Street, east on 15th Sideroad / Bloomington, north on Yonge Street, east on Industrial Parkway/Vandorf Sideroad, and north on Woodbine).  One of the biggest route determining factors was avoiding the hills.  There are some thigh-burning climbs!  19th Sideroad between Keele and Bathurst, and St. John's Sideroad between Yonge and Bathurst come to mind.

Try it.  Bike to work.  Dust of that Schwinn and hit the ground pedaling.  You'll use all of your senses.  You'll notice things, like the smell of Fall, the birds chirping, the wind in your face, the swoop of each turn.  You'll feel alive, and it's wonderful.

Paved shoulder on Keele Street

Boulevard path on Bloomington

Crossing Hwy 404 on St. John's Sideroad

Crossing Hwy 404 on St. John's Sideroad

Bike lane on Keele Street at McNaughton

Beautiful vistas

 https://mapsengine.google.com/map/edit?mid=zMmshogRacy0.k7WKDn0mvbtA

Missing bridge on the Sutton-Zephyr Rail Trail

Back in May of this year, I checked out the Sutton-Zephyr Rail Trail in Georgina and East Gwillimbury.  It's a 14 km hard-packed gravel trail on a former CN rail bed, passing through quiet wooded areas following the Black River watershed. Holbourne Road/Hwy 48 to Brown Hill to Sutton.  

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The trail is in decent shape, though there were some big ruts at the south end due to snowmobiles. 

Unfortunately, the rumours were true that there is a missing bridge connection about 3km from the south end, and it would take some serious trekking through the bush to find a detour.  Hopefully the Town of East Gwillimbury will replace the bridge soon.

The trail could be promoted more, and perhaps even extended to connect Mount Albert with Sutton.  I only encountered one other person on the trail, who happened to be walking their dog.

Location of missing bridge over Black River.  Note the golf course to the south.



Good sized parking lot at the south end off of Holborn Rd

2013 Ride for Karen

This year, I had the pleasure of participating for the first time in the Ride for Karen.  Starting in Maple, the route explores parts of Vaughan and King in York Region, as well as sections of Peel Region.  It was the 12th consecutive year the event has run and, since the beginning, has raised over $2M to help kids with cancer.  What's impressive is that it is all run by volunteers, and thanks to sponsorship from Scotiabank, 100% of funds raised go to charity.

"Everyone who's here today had a choice.  We chose to be here to help kids with cancer.  When you're riding down the road today, think about how lucky you are to be able to ride." Kirk & Kris Tobias, organizers

100km route option (25k and 160km also available)

"Holy smokes," said a little girl playing on her front steps as the huge pack of cyclists passed through her neighbourhood.  I couldn't help but grin to myself.  It is quite a wonderful feeling being part of a special event like this.  It was like I was being pulled along by the other cyclists, and I shared their sense of community and camaraderie.

The ride took us through scenic countryside, forests and wetlands, and rolling hills, and the weather was beautiful.  At the first rest stop, at about the 50km mark, I loaded up on electrolytes, powerbars, oranges, and other good stuff.  Having not done any long training rides leading up to this ride, my thighs were feelin' the burn.  The second rest stop, near Weston & 16th Sideroad, was the point where the 160km and 100km riders split, and the 100km riders like myself bypassed a challenging hill north on Weston.  A delicious BBQ awaited me at the finish and I celebrated a successful ride.  It was a top notch event and I hope to participate again in the future.

Family trip on the Bartley Smith Greenway

One sunny afternoon last month, my family and I went on a bike ride together in Vaughan.  My six year old started off on the trail-a-bike pulled by me, while my two and four year olds enjoyed a ride in our Chariot bike trailer pulled by my wife.

We ended up doing a leisurely 20 km over three hours including quite a few stops (turtle watching, picnic lunch, McDonald's bathroom break, DQ ice cream treat).  Frequent stops is key with young kids.  

We started our journey near Keele & Major Mackenzie in Maple, and proceeded along some quiet residential streets to a new paved pathway on the east side of the railway tracks.  We then proceeded to connect up with the Bartley Smith Greenway south of Jacob Keefer Parkway and Basaltic Rd.  

New trail east of railway between Major Mackenzie and Rutherford

The Bartley Smith Greenway (BSG) is a natural valley corridor that follows the course of the upper West Don River through expanding residential and business developments in the heart of the City of Vaughan.  The surface is crushed gravel, suitable for most bikes including road bikes.  The trail goes under Hwy 7 and Hwy 407.  On this day we turned back just north of there.  

Access to a new section of trail off of Basaltic Rd

Section connecting Planchet Rd and Jacob Keefer Parkway

There are two new sections of trail just south of Rutherford that weren't quite opened yet but will be later this summer.  The long-term plan is for the trail to be continuous from Teston to the City of Toronto boundary at Steeles Avenue.  At Steeles Avenue it connects with City of Toronto parks and trails (including the new Finch hydro corridor trail), and forms an excellent link for commuting and recreation.

This trail is a real gem for Vaughan and the City has been doing a great job maintaining it and adding new sections over the last few years.  Here are a few highlights from our outing.

 Picnic at Keefer Marsh

 Trail a bike at trailhead at Planchet Rd

All smiles

A satisfying end to a great ride!

You can see the Bartley-Smith Greenway route on the York Region Cycling Map.