Author: Ken Lasko

Sunday Road Tours | Sept 29 8AM

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For those of you who either don’t have a mountain bike or are afraid of trees, we have a road ride for you this Sunday! Since the winds will be coming from the NE, we’ll head out in that direction towards Belfountain so we can take advantage of the fabled “tailwind” for the ride back. The route will be mostly familiar but with a few minor tweaks to explore a few different roads you’ve likely never ridden before. There might be a good reason for that, but you never know! Both Grand Tour and Tour riders will ride together until Limehouse. Bring money for a coffee stop in Belfountain and tail lights are a good idea.

The weather right now is calling for cloudy skies and temperatures in the high teens with a decent wind out of the NE. The current forecast calls for overnight rain, but it should be done well before we ride. Hopefully, the remnants of Hurricane Helene doesn’t change things. Keep an eye on this space for any updates.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

All rides need a minimum of 3 members signed up in order to officially run. If a ride has the required number of riders, but no Group Captain riding with them, that group ride will be considered cancelled. The group can decide among themselves to hold an ‘unofficial’ ride and follow the route. All group riders take it upon themselves to know the route and are responsible for their own safety.

Ride groups will be:

NameDistanceAverage Speed
Grand TourLonger Ride29-31 kph
Tour AMedium Length Ride29-31 kph
Tour BMedium Length Ride27-29 kph

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Tour Medium Distance Ride will be following the map below

Route: The Grand Tour Longer Distance Ride will be following the map below

Sunday Gravel Ride | Aug 25 8:00am

We’re resurrecting the original route from the modified Super Sunday Gravel Ride. I wasn’t around, but apparently the weather was expected to be worse to the north of Guelph than the south, so a different route was used. We’re not going to have that problem this Sunday! We’ll take a break in Alma for some snacks and refreshments before making our way to the Covered Bridge and the G2G trail for the ride home.

Bring money for a coffee stop. Tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

CatNameAverage Speed
G1Fast26+ kph
G2Advanced24-26 kph
G3Intermediate22-24 kph
G4Relaxed19-22 kph

All rides need a minimum of 3 members signed up in order to officially run. If a ride has the required number of riders, but no Group Captain riding with them, that group ride will be considered cancelled. The group can decide among themselves to hold an ‘unofficial’ ride and follow the route. All group riders take it upon themselves to know the route and are responsible for their own safety.

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: All Speed Groups will follow this map:

Thursday Advanced Road Ride | July 11 6:30PM

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Since the nights are still pretty long, we’re going to stretch things out and hit Limehouse for a ride. The roads should be nice and clean after the washing that the remains of Hurricane Beryl gave them. We will be flirting with sunset, so make sure to bring lights!

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Advanced Speed Groups

Ride GroupSpeed GroupAvg SpeedGroup Name
ADV AR1 & R236+Hammerfest
ADV BR334-36Faster
ADV CR432-34Very Fast
ADV DR530-32Fast

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:30 PM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Advanced A Speed Group (R1 & R2) will follow this map:

Route:  The Advanced B, C & D Speed Groups (R3, R4 & R5) will follow this map:

Sunday Road Tours | April 28 9:00AM

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RIDE IS ON!!! There’s rain forecasted around 11am. We’re rolling out as planned, but may shorten the ride to avoid getting too wet. 60-70k is better than no K. Also, Kevin bought a fancy new rain jacket he wants to try out.

It’s Paris/Ancaster weekend, and its going to be amazingly warm with temperatures in the mid-20’s. However, mud sucks so we’re doing our own ride that won’t wreck our precious bikes. We’ll start from the YMCA on Kortright. We’ll skirt the edge of Cambridge and down to Ayr. We’ll stop at Timmy’s for a break before the return ride home. The SW wind should give us a nice push! The Medium ride length is only 11k shorter than the Grand Tour this week and the breakpoint is well past the half-way point near Cambridge. I imagine people won’t mind so much with the warm weather.

Bring money for a coffee stop and tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

All rides need a minimum of 3 members signed up in order to officially run. If a ride has the required number of riders, but no Group Captain riding with them, that group ride will be considered cancelled. The group can decide among themselves to hold an ‘unofficial’ ride and follow the route. All group riders take it upon themselves to know the route and are responsible for their own safety.

Ride groups will be:

NameDistanceAverage Speed
Grand TourLonger Ride29-31 kph
Tour AMedium Length Ride29-31 kph
Tour BMedium Length Ride27-29 kph

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 9:00 AM

Start Location: YMWCA

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Tour Medium Distance Ride will be following the map below

Route: The Grand Tour Longer Distance Ride will be following the map below

Thursday Advanced Road Ride | April 18 6:00PM

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Welcome to the inaugural Thursday road ride of the 2024 season! This ride will jog your memory of the last Thursday road ride of 2023, because we’re following mostly the same route! Last time, several people loaded the wrong route which resulted in some missed turns. I won’t name names (*cough cough* KEVINKOOLE *cough*) but make sure you get the right one!

Hopefully the weather holds out. It won’t be nearly as nice as Tuesday’s ride, but at least it won’t be raining!

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Advanced Speed Groups

Ride GroupSpeed GroupAvg SpeedGroup Name
ADV AR1 & R236+Hammerfest
ADV BR334-36Faster
ADV CR432-34Very Fast
ADV DR530-32Fast

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:00 PM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Advanced A Speed Group (R1 & R2) will follow this map:

Route:  The Advanced B, C & D Speed Groups (R3, R4 & R5) will follow this map:

CANCELLED: Sunday Gravel Ride | Oct 8 Hell-Naw

UPDATE 4:45pm Sat. TWN’s assessment of Sunday’s weather is still correct. Get an early start on eating turkey.

After such a glorious week, it makes total sense that the weather would pull a 180 on us and turn to absolute crap. It might be me. As of Friday evening, Sunday is looking to be cold, windy and wet. I’m not ready for these kind of conditions, and I don’t think anyone else will be either.

I expect that this ride will be cancelled. If by some miracle, the forecast changes significantly (it COULD…TWN can be way off at times), I will post something Saturday afternoon.

Bring money for a coffee stop. Tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        25-28   kph average

Intermediate     G2       23-25   kph average

Relaxed     G3       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: All Speed Groups will follow this map:

Thursday Advanced Road Ride | Aug 31 6:00PM

I do love this time of year, but I’m also very sad because this is the last official Thursday road ride for the 2023 season.

It’s not all sad news though. We’ve still got one more Tuesday ride next week and we’ll be doing Sunday road and gravel rides until the weather stops us.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Advanced Speed Groups

Ride GroupSpeed GroupAvg SpeedGroup Name
ADV AR1 & R236+Hammerfest
ADV BR334-36Faster
ADV CR432-34Very Fast
ADV DR530-32Fast

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:00 PM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Advanced A Speed Group (R1 & R2) will follow this map:

Route:  The Advanced B, C & D Speed Groups (R3, R4 & R5) will follow this map:

Tuesday All Members Ride | July 11th 6:30PM

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5:30 PM WEATHER UPDATE: The ride is not yet officially cancelled. It’s looking like the current weather system will pass just before 6:30PM. However, if we are still under EC Weather Alerts at 6:30 PM we must officially cancel the ride, clear skies or not. This does not stop members from choosing to ride unofficially. Click here to help make your decision. NB: We are cancelling the Try-a-Ride outright.

These are the Mid Season Routes for the TAM Ride. They will remain the same for several weeks giving riders an opportunity to see how they progress in fitness week-over-week. Bringing lights is always a good idea. Especially this early in the season.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

Make sure you’re in the right kph speed group. Speeds are the same but the ‘R’ numbers have changed a bit since last season.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Speed GroupAvg SpeedGroup NameFormation
R138-40+HammerfestRace Tactics
R236-38Hammerfest LiteRace Tactics
R334-36Team PursuitConstant Rotation
R432-34Very FastPaceline
R530-32FastPaceline
R628-30ModeratePaceline
R726-28SocialPaceline
R824-26RelaxedPaceline

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:30 PM

Start : Calvary Baptist Church at Arkell and Carter Rds

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The R1 & R2 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Route: The R3, R4 & R5 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Route: The R6, R7 & R8 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Thursday Advanced Road Ride | June 8 6:30PM

RIDE IS ON!!! Not nearly as smoky as they were forecasting and any rain is nowhere near us. See you at the library!

We’ve done a lot of rides to the southeast lately, so we’re going to change it up a bit and head towards Hespeler. Yes, we’re starting out heading southeast, but we’ll veer west once we get south of the 401. We’ll thread our way through Hespeler before hitting Chilligo Road (my favourite) and back into town via Speedvale. Bringing lights is always a good idea.

NOTE: Due to a bridge closure on the original route, the routes have been slightly modified and will now go up Concession 7 and across Gravel Pit Alley. Make sure to download the latest version (updated as of 3:20pm Thursday).

FAST RIDERS WANTED!! Feel frisky? Want to put the hammer down? The fine folks in R1 & R2 want to meet you! Not ready for R1 & R2… then please keep a steady, cohesive pace without surging. R1 & R2 = race tactics, surging. Sub-R2 = no race tactics, no surging. If someone in your sub-R2 group is surging, don’t chase them, let them keep going until they catch R1 & R2. So remember: Don’t chase, keep a steady pace!

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Advanced Speed Groups

Ride GroupSpeed GroupAvg SpeedGroup Name
ADV AR1 & R236+Hammerfest
ADV BR334-36Faster
ADV CR432-34Very Fast
ADV DR530-32Fast

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:30 PM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The Advanced A Speed Group (R1 & R2) will follow this map:

Route:  The Advanced B & C Speed Groups (R3, R4 & R5) will follow this map:

Tuesday All Members Ride | May 16th 6:30PM

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These are the Early Season Routes for the TAM Ride. They will remain the same for several weeks giving riders an opportunity to see how they progress in fitness week-over-week. Bringing lights is always a good idea. Especially this early in the season.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

Make sure you’re in the right kph speed group. Speeds are the same but the ‘R’ numbers have changed a bit since last season.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Speed GroupAvg SpeedGroup NameFormation
R138-40+HammerfestRace Tactics
R236-38Hammerfest LiteRace Tactics
R334-36Team PursuitConstant Rotation
R432-34Very FastPaceline
R530-32FastPaceline
R628-30ModeratePaceline
R726-28SocialPaceline
R824-26RelaxedPaceline

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:30 PM

Start : Calvary Baptist Church at Arkell and Carter Rds

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The R1, R2, R3, R4 & R5 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Route: The R6, R7 & R8 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Sunday Gravel Ride | Oct 30 11am

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Say it isn’t so! This is supposedly the final scheduled gravel ride for the 2022 season! We’re not going to go down without a fight, so we’re going to take advantage of what promises to be a seasonably lovely day for a ride out to some bits north of town that I’ve never done, and hopefully you haven’t either. We’ll make the mandatory buttertart stop at the halfway point in Bellwood before venturing out and hitting Jones Baseline for the return jaunt through Fergus.

Bring money for a coffee stop and tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        24-26   kph average

Intermediate     G2       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: Both the G1 & G2 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Sunday Gravel Ride | Sept 11 8:00am

Once again, we’re heading out to the copious amount of gravel roads NE of Guelph and making our way into Hillsburgh. Its going to be a spectacular day, so make sure you sunscreen up and bring lots of water. According to RWGPS, this route is 2/3 gravel, which is a good thing, since this is a gravel ride. We’ll make a stop in Hillsburgh to refuel. Bring money for snacks and as always, tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        24-26   kph average

Intermediate     G2       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: Both the G1 & G2 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Thursday Advanced Road Ride | Sept 1 6:00PM

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Welp, its the penultimate Thursday road ride and its going to be a banger of an evening. We’re going to do a classic NE route out of town on roads that should be pretty quiet. R1 will do a bit of a bonus on Ash Street and Indian Trail. Bringing lights is always a good idea, but especially for tonight. We’re going to be pushing the limits of daylight, so speed is of the essence (but I don’t have to tell any of you that).

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The three Advanced Speed Groups on this ride are:

Hammerfest   R1       35-40 kph average plus some surges

Very Fast         R2       32-35 kph average

Fast                 R3       30-32 kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:00 PM

Start Location: East End Library at Starwood and Watson

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: The R1 Speed Group will follow this map:

Route: The R2 & R3 Speed Groups will follow this map:

RIDE CANCELLED | Sunday Gravel Ride | Aug 21 8:00AM

RIDE CANCELLED: There are several nasty blobs of weather headed this way. It could go either way, but I’m not keen on getting caught in a thunderstorm.

I haven’t done any gravel rides to the north and east of town for quite some time. I was hoping to do that for this ride, but it seems as though that area has been well-represented in the gravel ride rotation as of late. Therefore, we’ll be going in much the opposite direction. Its a bit of a shorter rip, but we might be happy with that, depending on which way the weather turns. The weather for Sunday morning is saying “Chance of a thunderstorm”, which really means “Chance of awesome weather”. Cuz it could go either way. Check this page frequently for updates. I’ll post the final go/no-go at 7AM Sunday.

Bring money for a coffee stop and tail lights are a good idea.

Load the route on your bike computer if you have one, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        24-26   kph average

Intermediate     G2       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: Both the G1 & G2 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Sunday Gravel Ride | July 17 8:00am

This is one of my personal favourite gravel rides that takes us on the winding trails of Kitchener/Waterloo. Its a whole lot of fun and there will be several times where you’ll say “I had no idea this was here!” or “NOW I know where we are!”

We’ll start at the usual spot by the Guelph Youth Music Centre and head out of town and make our way to the straight, flat and somewhat boring Guelph-Goderich railtrail. We’ll make our way to the north end of Waterloo where we’ll hit the Grand River Trail. Lots of tight twists and turns along the Grand River. The halfway point is at the Woodfired Cafe, where you will have a chance to refuel. From there, we’ll ride the Walter Bean Trail through Kitchener to the south end near highway 8. After that, its all road until we get back to Guelph.

The forecast is looking good, so that means there might be a fair number of pedestrians. Ride safely and slowly around people, make yourself known and thank people as you go by.

IMPORTANT: We normally have two groups each led by a sanctioned club ride leader. Unfortunately, the person who normally leads the G2 Intermediate ride won’t be around (yeah, what a jerk, right?). As the sole ride leader, I will ride with the G1 Advanced group and we will make periodic stops at any tricky spots to make sure everyone is on track. Hopefully, this will work for all parties. If this proves to be untenable, then the G2 group may continue on their own, but it will no longer be an official, sanctioned GCC ride. This means that you won’t be insured by the club should something happen.

At least one member of the G2 group MUST load the route on your bike computer, to minimize any chances of getting lost. Please make a comment in the ride sign up form to let others know if you are able to load the route on your bike computer. If you don’t know how to do it, here’s how.

Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        24-26   kph average

Intermediate     G2       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 8:00 AM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: Both the G1 & G2 Speed Groups will follow this map:

Wednesday Gravel Ride/Try-a-Ride | June 15 6:30PM

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Its looking to be a warm and potentially wet evening for this edition of the mid-week gravel ride. For this one, we’re heading out on the Guelph-Goderich trail until just before West Montrose, so you will have to do your kissing on some other bridge. From there, we’ll thread our way across to Jones Baseline for the return leg, which will take us through a portion of the Guelph Lake trails.

Special Note:

Prospective members who have not joined GCC may participate in tonight’s ride via Ontario Cycling Association’s Tryout Program.  In order to participate, you must:

  • Have adequate riding experience and fitness
  • Prior to attending the ride, complete Ontario Cycling’s Try-Out Participant Acknowledgement Form.
  • Provide the Ride Leader with a copy of your Ontario Cycling registration confirmation

The forecast right now is calling for potential thunderstorms. If you were on last Thursday’s club ride, you may have noticed me hightailing it home well before anyone else to avoid getting caught in the thunderstorms that rolled through. That’s cuz I’m so sweet, I melt when I get wet. If it looks like rain will happen, I will post a cancellation no later than 5:30pm.

The sun sets quite late this time of year, but bringing lights is always a good idea. Disclaimer: Depending on rider turn out, some Speed Groups may have to be combined.

The Speed Groups on this ride are:

Advanced            G1        24-26   kph average

Intermediate     G2       21-23   kph average

GCC members only. To become a member join HERE

Advance sign-up required. Reserve your spot by clicking HERE

Start Time: please be ready to pedal at 6:30 PM

Start Location: Guelph Youth Music Centre 75 Cardigan St

Check here for weather cancellation posted no less than one hour before the ride begins

Route: Both the G1 & G2 Speed Groups will follow this map: