Today’s sojourn was a short jaunt by recent standards. Down Merrittville / Glenridge to Glendale, across to Niagara College, up Taylor Rd. to Hwy 20, Kottmeier to Beaverdams to Decew and home. Just a quick trip with enough hills to keep me busy.
Going down the hill by Brock University on Glenridge is always fun. There’s no doubt that today’s max speed was attained on that hill. It’s kind of scary but fun at the same time. I try to get into a full tuck, hands close to the centre of the handlebars, flat back, weight back, and it works pretty well. Gravity’s my friend when I’m going downhill. Gotta take advantage when you can!
Coming up Taylor road as an escarpment climb is pretty okay. The joys I have when going downhill due to gravity are rapidly sucked away as gravity gets its revenge while I climb. I haven’t cycled enough yet this year to really have any decent climbing endurance so while I can grind up the hills, I can’t say I’ve got any power to spare. Hopefully later this season…
I was passed by an asian-ish looking cyclist on a newer road bike while on Hwy 20. He didn’t even acknowledge me as he passed, which I though kind of rude. I was mostly able to keep pace with him on the rest of the ride. He even took the same route as me, although kept going straight on Decew while I turned right on Abbey to get into the subdivision. I almost caught him a few times but he didn’t stop at the stop signs while I slowed down almost to a stop. That’s a discussion for another day… Anyway, it felt good to keep up with a much younger cyclist 🙂
The stats for this ride:
D: 31.04 (304.03 km cumulative in 2020)
A: 26.5 km/h
M: 68.1 km/h – definitely down the Brock University hill
T: 1:10:10
Not the furthest ride, but a good one. The route could be a little more rural, but the stretch through St. Catharines along Glendale’s bearable. Really, Glendale is the worst road on the route, but I don’t know that it’s any worse than what you might experience in any other Canadian city. That being said, I wouldn’t want to ride it at night because the chances of seeing some of the bumps would be much less.
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