Due to uncertain weather tomorrow, the Century Ride will NOT be happening. There will however, be a regular club ride posted for 10:00am for those who wish to ride. Sorry ’bout that, folks.

It’s here! The First Annual NHCC Century Ride. If you’re ready for the BIG one, we’ve got a route that will take you on an imperial Century (160.9km). For the less crazy folks, there’s the metric Century (100km). And for those who are new to long distances you can still be part of the ride. The 62km route will take you along the first part of the route. (Please monitor weather forecasts: persistent rain may result in postponement)
The Routes
All three distances head out along the Waterfront Trail. The 62k group turns around after the first Rest Stop in Colborne, the 100k group goes to the lighthouse in Presqu’ile then back, and the 160km group exits Presquile then takes a 60km loop that takes you down to Consecon and beyond, returning to the park entrance and then back to Cobourg.

The route is FLAT! The highest elevation is 175m which is baby-stuff when you are used to riding around here.

Rest Stops and Support Vehicle
There will be rest stops in Colborne and Presqu’ile, providing riders with fresh fruit, trail mix, gatorade, ice and water (provided by the NHCC). If you wish to have the support vehicles carry other items for you, please bring them to the start point in a small bag labelled with your name. The designated rest stops and their approximate distance will be as follows:
–62km route: Colborne (32km)
–100km route: Colborne (31km), Presqu’ile Park Entrance (44km) and Colborne (69km)
–160km route: Colborne (32km), Presqu’ile Park Exit (59km) and Consecon (92km), Presqu’ile Park(115km), Colborne (130km)

Start time: 9:00am
Start location: The Arena on Furnace St.
Route Maps: Will be posted soon

In order to ensure enough supplies at rest stops, its important that you respond below and let us know you are coming! Thanks!

This ride will be an easy 40km out and back. That’s because we’ve got a BIG ride on Sunday, so we’re taking it easy. (other than the hill climb to get to the other side of Port Hope).

Start time: 10:00am
Start location: The park on Carlisle St. between Ewing and Westwood
Route: Waterfront Trail Westbound to Wesleyville then back. No route map necessary.

Please mention below if you wish to ride.

Lots of rain….and more rain to come. There will be no ride in Port Hope tonight, so leave the bikes at home and stay warm & dry. See you all next time!

No hills, just plain easy riding. This Wednesday we’ll start the Easy Ride at Cycle Transitions on D’Arcy St. just like Monday. Make sure you have lights on your bikes, dress warmly and lets hope it doesn’t rain.

Start time: 6:00pm
Sunset: 7:14pm (lights must be on at 6:44pm)
Start location: Cycle Transitions on D’Arcy St. Click here for Cycle Transitions location
Route: 25 km Pebble Beach Route Map with elevation chart here.

If you’re coming on the ride, please comment below to let us know.

Due to the shorter days, the new start time is 6:00pm.

The NHCC has a new system of delivering route maps to you, and they including elevation charts providing a visual of the ride’s hills. So, take a moment, print out the new route map beforehand and look it over. It’s 25km long with a few Danforth Rd. hills on the first half but the last half is pretty darn flat.

A little note about Hills
Don’t let hills scare you, and don’t worry ’bout other riders making it to the top before you—the plan is to take them as sloooooow as as necessary for you. We wait at the top for everyone to catch up and nobody minds at all if you need a few more breaks. Also don’t let those spandex-wearing road-bikers intimidate you—if you are riding a mountain bike, it’s understood that you are working harder than some in order to get up those hills.  Some of those fancy schmancy road bikes don’t have teeny tiny gear in the front so they are forced to take the hills faster.  🙂

Start time: 6:00
Start location: Cycle Transitions on D’Arcy St. Click here for details of their location
Route: 25 km route map here, complete with elevation chart

If you’re coming on the ride, please comment below to let us know.

We’ll start at Donegan Park on Sunday and follow the Waterfront Trail as far out as you wish to go and then return. Choose your distance, whatever you feel you’d like to do. There may be some who wish to do 100km in preparation for the upcoming Century Ride and some who only want to do 30 or 40km. By mentioning your preferred distance and/or speed, we can pre-organize into various groups accordingly.

Start time: 10am
Start location: Donegan Park
Route: Waterfront Trail (signed route; no map necessary)
Distance: Various distances

It seems to be working well when we leave it up to the group to determine a route and someone volunteers to lead the way. By this time of the year we are all quite familiar with the local routes so you know what to expect. We’ll designate a start location and time, and then leave it up to the NHCC membership to use the comments below to make it happen!

Note: “Welcome Cyclists Ride” cancelled
By the way, the anticipated ride where the NHCC were to accompany the Welcome Cyclists tour package on this coming Saturday won’t be happening as previously announced. Hopefully there will be some interested tourists signing up with Northumberland Tourism for the October weekend. 🙂

Start time: 10:00am
Start location: Donegan Park
Route: To be determined by group consensus

This Wednesday we’ll start the Easy Ride at Cycle Transitions on D’Arcy St. just like Monday. Again, if you show up at 6:00 Rick will open the doors and you can check out the facility. It’s a fabulous setup that they have there, definitely worth seeing.

Sunrise and Sunset
There’s a new feature in the right hand column of the website—a link to the official Sunrise and Sunset times so that you refer to it before heading out. The law requires that we have lights on 30 minutes before sunset and 30 minutes after sunrise. This is the time of year when we are affected the most.

Start time: 6:30 for the ride (6:00 if you want to check out Cycle Transitions)
Start location: Cycle Transitions on D’Arcy St. Click here for Cycle Transitions location
Route: to be determined

If you’re coming on the ride, please comment below to let us know. Can you lead the ride? If so, please let us know that too.

There won’t be any rain this week, we promise. We also promise that we won’t ride too fast, we won’t leave you behind, and you will have fun. Bring your headlights—Sunset is 7:29 so lights need to be on at 6:59. By the way, if you’re interested in checking out sunrise & sunsets every day, here’s the link: Sunrise and Sunset, Cobourg.

Start time: 6:30 pm (6:00 from Canadian Tire Cobourg)
Start location: Port Hope Town Hall
Ride leader: Heather and Brendan (Thanks, guys!)

Please comment below if you are riding, especially if you are wanting to meet and ride from Canadian Tire.