04-23-2017, 11:25 PM
(04-23-2017, 07:29 AM)Canard Wrote: That was one of the options we were looking at, yes! I've been using Google Street View at crossroads at a lot of the trails to take a look at their state of upkeep. That segment you mention in particular looks to be in very good shape. I really want to ride the Welland Canal - it looks like a super-relaxing ride, and I love watching boats go through the locks and lift bridges and stuff.
200 km - Wow, that's all I can say! I don't think I'll ever be able to do that; but, I guess you don't get somewhere without first setting a goal, right? If you don't mind my asking, what kind of bike setup do you have, and what kind of roads or trails do you usually ride on?
It's usually my knees and my butt that say "time to stop now", not my state of energy... so maybe my next step is to finally do what Jamincan suggested a while ago, and get my bike properly set up with an official fitting!
200k is a pretty big ride... I never thought I'd be able to manage anything like it either when I started getting into "serious" road riding, I started out doing 20k and 40k loops around the country side and kept going a bit more and a bit more. The first time I did a 100K I thought I was gonna die by the end. The type of long distance riding I do is called randonneuring, it's more like rally than a race. I also do a lot of random rides around the country here just for fun and riding random trails. I'll go quite a ways out of my to find the quietest roads and look for scenic ones too, usually it means some hills but it's worth it for me. I've started riding gravel roads a lot more too, there is almost no one on them.
I've also ridden along most of the Welland Canal, it's so awesome! There are wicked old lift bridges that are so cool and the ships are so big up close. There's also the old flour mill in Port Colborne, you can see it on streetview at 251 Omer St. Pretty neat stuff all the way along that trail. In that area, the Niagara Parkways is also an exceptionally scenic ride and pretty easy starting in Fort Erie. I've done it the other ways, starting in NOTL and those short steep hills are a bear. The traffic in the falls itself is kinda scary but also slow due to the congestion. I usually don't stop if I am on my bike at the falls, seen 'em so many time. There's also a little trail called the Friendship trail that runs parallel to lake Erie but it's flat and kinda boring. Beats riding the roads around there.
I have a few different bikes, most of my riding is on a specialized roubaix, carbon fiber road bike, I also outfit it with a generator hub and lights for night riding. I've taken it on lots of stonedust trails but I have a touring bike with fatter tires that I use for anything more gnarly. I've got a mountain bike but I rarely hit the trails anymore, used to love it as a kid.