Achieving a Metric Century!

I recently checked a pretty significant item off the Bucket List when I participated in my first Metric Century ride with a bunch of my cycling friends. In case you don't know, a Metric Century is a 100 km (minimum) ride, and while I had been churning out 70 and 80 km rides with regularity of late, stepping ... or more appropriately, riding ... across that magic 100 km threshold was a goal I set when all of this cycling obsession started. Many, many thanks to Kevin Simms, my inspiration and go-to for all things cycling, for setting up the route and the post-ride party of beers + burgers!

The photographer of the day was Doug Woods (a BNC VP) and he was kind enough to share his handiwork with the group. An avid mountain biker, Woodsy is pretty darn accomplished as a road rider too. Forming the posse was my now-regular cycling buddies of Hardy Wind and Jay Rothenburg ... this was a "walk in the park" for them ... and I was super stoked to have Sam Loucks join the fray for the first time. I'm a very lucky guy to have friends like these guys to ride with!

I will be completely honest with you that I felt I could accomplish the ride but I was trepidatious about how the final 20 km would feel, especially considering the route that Simmer had mapped out for us. We left Horseshoe Valley and did a quick detour south along the O-M #4 and across Bass Lake Rd to avoid the traffic of Horseshoe Valley Road, and then up #93 where Sam joined us in Craighurst. Ingram Road was the gateway to the traffic-calm side roads / concessions of western O-M, and we wound our way slowly north up some frickin' crazy hill climbs, eventually emptying out onto the Tiny Trail at Port McNicholl. Heading southeast along the trail toward Coldwater, we stopped for a coffee at EM's Cafe ... like so many other cycling enthusiasts ... and as luck would have it, we ran into Dr Joe Bailey (an ex Central buddy), his wife, retired teacher friend Tony Kay and his equally retired wife. The cycling community around Simcoe is a tightly knotted group! The completion of the loop found us weaving southwest through Moonstone until we found our way back to Simmer's place, falling just shy of the 100 km goal at 98.4 km, so I had to complete a few laps of the circle at Simmer's subdivision to record the full 100 km!

I freely admit that the post-ride beer tasted extra yummy, but to top it off with a beauty of a burger plus some quinoa salad a la Simmer was nearly Nirvana. Sprinkle in some hearty conversation about education, biking, and life left us all with a tremendous appreciation for being alive and well. 

Secure in the pride that I had broken through the mental barrier of riding a 100 km, the next goal was to do it solo and in one continuous ride. The opportunity to venture out into the surrounding countryside for a 4+ hour ride presented itself fairly soon after the group ride, so I donned my lycra, filled the water bottle, laced up the shoes and set off. I decided that Oro-Medonte was a better choice to brave the challenge, with its less busy side roads and concessions. I pointed north on used Old Second South to pull away from Barrie, and it soon became area that I had not ridden before, providing even more incredible beauty of the Canadian space than I had previously experienced. I knew that I would eventually need to head east and Orr Lake side road eventually became Moonstone Road leading eventually to Highway 12. I wasn't quite sure of the geography of the area so the turn south soon presented terrain more familiar as I easily navigated the ride home through Orillia and along Ridge Road. In the end it was a fantastic sense of accomplishment to complete the Metric Century on my own as my Strava app registered 105 km. 

To complete the week, I arranged to do a Buddy Ride with Hardy Wind, my now regular cycling chum, with a trip from Barrie to Creemore and back. Although the wind was strong and chilly, the gorgeous sunshine warmed our trip, resulting in a wonderful roll through Springwater and Clearview Townships. The highlight of the trip was a steaming cuppa Joe and a buttertart from Affairs Catering & Bakery! I had a Turtles variety and it was quite the delectable experience both in taste and price since Hardy treated! Yay to Hardy! I was surprised to see that Strava registered the full ride as another 100 km effort. BONUS!

It's been a pretty awesome week! Life is Good!