Hey guys, for those of you who don’t know I just moved to Toronto. I just wanted to see if anyone can give me some help with rides in the area that I can do starting from downtown (Bloor and Bathurst area). I’ve talked to a lot of people and all I seem to hear is how good the riding is, the Donut ride, and other things that don’t help me get out on my bike on a regular basis. I am hoping to find a few good rides, 1.5 hrs long (ish), that don’t require me leaving the city.
My knowledge is limited to shorter trails leading to/from mountain biking trails.
Between traffic, street cars tracks, parked car and traffic lights/signs, I find it not convenient to drive on roads inside the city (between 401, DVP lake and around Jane street), but it really depends on your personal preference/time of day/speed/etc.
This all means I know more of the bike trails inside parks than roads. But hey, it’s probably better than nothing.
The don valley trail, from the gardiner up to either sunneybrook hospital or edward gardens is about 15k without cars, only 1 road crossing @ pottery road.
It has a few short climbs at the north end - sunneybrook park to sunneybrook hospital, Lawrence Ave E up to Park Ln Cir (can’t access from Bayview, Come from the East or through Glendon campus) are probably the better ones.
Similar to lachine bike path, it can be busy at times, but weekdays / early morning weekend is usually pretty light usage.
From the Gardiner, you can connect to the lakeshore bike path, which in total is around 30K. I know the east portion has been recently redone, no clue about the west. the path itself can be very busy with people and generally slow from yonge to about bathurst, but Lakeshore Avenue itself can get backed up with car traffic, so it’s a mixed bag.
Also, if you go east, you are a bit out of the city, and can probably find some roads to go on decent clip (Woodbine would be my first guess)
There is also some stuff from High park / along Humber river, though I never knew it well / been there in years, might not all be paved.