Sharing my cycling experiences north of Toronto (in York Region and beyond, aka the 905), from bike commuting, to family leisure rides, to road touring, to mountain biking, and everything in between. Opinions are my own. Ride on!
Showing posts with label Bartley Smith Greenway. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bartley Smith Greenway. Show all posts
I went for a ride with my family looking for some geocaches. We ended up finding 4 out of 5 which is pretty good. We'll have to go back some time to get others further south along the Bartley Smith Greenway trail.
Rutherford GO Train Station #BiketoGO
Bartley Smith Greenway south of Rutherford Road in Vaughan
Bike Month 2015 has come and gone, but I had some memorable cycling experiences. Here are a few more photos from some events in York Region that I participated in.
York Region Pedalpalooza - Tom Taylor Trail in Newmarket
Myles from Spoke O Motion set up some bike demos. A quality bike makes such a difference in your cycling experience. I rode my first tandem and fat bike!
Tom from Bike Sports showed off some different types of bikes including an electric bike. Going faster and further with some power assistance makes me want to use a bike for more trips. Pat from Smart Commute was there with her new e-bike.
Vaughan Bicycle User Group hosted two rides. The Napa Valley Bike Lane celebration went from Sonoma Park to McMichael Gallery in Kleinberg.
Hydro Corridor trail south of Sonoma Park
Odette checking the map on the William Granger Greenway
The other Vaughan BUG ride was a Peter Rupert Bike Lane Celebration. Starting from Walmart at Major Mackenzie / McNaughton, we biked south on Peter Rupert/Confederation to Hwy 7 with a stop for refreshments at McDonald's, and back north on the Bartley Smith Greenway.
I participated in the Toronto Bike Network's Dim Sum Ride. The ride was led by Fred (who I previously met at Bike to Work Day Newmarket), and had about 10 cyclists. We started at Finch Subway Station and headed north to Markham for an authentic chinese cuisine near Pacific Mall.
Finch hydro corridor in Toronto
Locking our bikes before lunch
Bike Month York Region had many other events, like bike valets at festivals, charity rides, mountain bike races, and kids bike camps.
I'm all geared up for more cycling through the summer!
Here's another video to get you inspired to ride your bike.
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.
