Durham Forest

October 2014.  A little late season mid-week trip to the legendary trails of Durham Forest.

Ian & Marty

Summer of Don Riding

Arguably one of the best trail systems out there right in our city:  The Don Valley.  Many of us have been riding these trails for over 10+ years and have seen them evolve over time.  But what has happened in the last 2-3 years has been an explosion of new trails, many of them linked together, and with lots of different degrees of difficulty.  And with some hilarious names:  The Ridge, Catalyst, Party Atmosphere, Rim Job, Big Old Titties, Gundy, Foreplay, Ho Chi Mingh, Climbax, The Ejaculator, Boo Trail, Mo Town, Flats.  Trust me, there's more.

http://www.ridingfeelsgood.com/topic/daily-trail-conditions-in-the-don/page/250/

From the top of Catalyst

The Lookout

Pyzer and ChrissyB

Lamey, Ian, Stitt and Marty

Perch Run 2013 Part II

Perch Run 2013

Brenda on Pottery Rd.

Little 40k Jaunt

Just Marty and I doing a quick 40k or so on a Sunday after Broomwagon closed for the day. This was at the lighthouse on the Leslie Spit.

More wintertime riding

Keep it coming so called winter...

It was snowing before the ride and we went out anyways.  

It got worse as the ride progressed.

The motorists must have thought we were crazy.

But what do they think when they see a cyclist actually enjoying themselves? 

After the ride in Brooklin, Jan 2013 (Stitt & Mart)

2nd Annual Perch Run

Yesterday, 6 Black Fly's set out on the 2nd annual Perch Run with a 100km jaunt from Cam's house near Burford to the sunny beach town of Port Dover and back. The run down to the lake was very fast as we made the distance in 90min.  Coming back took a bit more effort since it was uphill and we swear the wind changed direction on us.  With the exception of a couple of douche bag drivers who must have been extremely inconvenienced by our little bike ride (remember, don't be a douche - ever!) the ride went off without any major issues.  Next year, let's get everybody out!!!

Perch Run 2012

Tour de Caledon

Had to share some of this amazing ride with everyone.  The below pic was taken at the top of Mt. Pleasant Road just a few roads east of good old Albion Hills.  You might not be able to make it out very well, but in the far distance IS the skyline of Toronto.  We left the city around 6:15AM, parked in King City and road over to Bolton and back along some of the most beautiful, rolling roads there are in the GTA.   About 90km in total.  A big thanks to my riding companions, Anthony & Nigel!    

 

Broom Wagon/Black Fly group ride

From our group ride on Sunday.  We started at the shop, headed down to the Lake, rode west until we ran (haha) into the marathon.  We doubled back to the Spit, out to the lighthouse and back, up the Don path, and climbed Pottery.  In all, about 45km and the average speed was 25-35 kph.  The plan is to have a ride every Sun, leaving the shop at 9am.  No ride this Sun since it's Mommy's Day.

Epic climb to kick off the season!

Instead of easing our way into the season, why not jump right in full blast? No sooner had we donned the front door at VanAllen's, did Haase's brother-in-law Barret say, "get your stuff on, we're climbing Scenic Caves.". I laughed, and when Chris just shrugged, I realized he was serious. Scenic Caves is an epic climb behind Blue Mountain if you're not familiar. The kind of ride you shoot for later in the season. At least that's what it has been for me. I never did get to it though until yesterday, with Haase and Barret.

Chili Don-Don Ride

Hopefully another annual ride tradition was started today with an end of the season MTB ride through Toronto's Don singletrack.  We had to dress up a bit, but overall had pretty decent weather considering it was raining for the last few days - a little mud at this time of year is expected, right?

We finished with some beers, chilli and pecan pie to cap off what was probably one of the last trail rides of the year. :(

Thanks everyone for making 2011 another fun and memorable year for Black Fly Racing!

A little hike-a-bike.

Drew-man's 1st time on the Don!

Where's the trail, Tony?

Hydro Cut

Muller finishing off the double black diamond from Sept 3rd.

Perch Run 2011

We started out at Ryan M's place near Mt. Pleasant for the round-trip ride to Port Dover - outfitted in our new jerseys of course!! Looking pretty handsome I'd say....

A great time was enjoyed by the group, although the cross-headwind throughout the ride home made for some challenging K's (and some "twinging" hammy's and quads).

The ride ended with a BBQ (and Black Fly cupcakes and cherry cheesecake - thanks Haase and Stitt, you guys obviously have the Mr. Mom thing down pat), well-earned cold beverages of choice, and some quick dips in the pool, followed by some longer stretches in the hot tub!

Can't wait (?) to do it again next year, hopefully with even more riders.

Great job guys, and thanks for pulling me along...

First annual BlackFly "Perch Run"

We all know that BlackFly Racing is first and foremost a MTB racing team. Those are certainly our roots. Most (if not all) of us have a road bike in our personal fleets as well though, and thoroughly enjoy riding them. It was because of this that we decided to hold the first (annual hopefully) BlackFly Perch Run. Named for the destination and turnaround point, the Perch Run was a 100km "out and back" route to the sunny shores of Port Dover in Norfolk County, well known for its perch fishery.

We set out around 10:30 from Muller's house just outside of Brantford. Along the way we were buffeted by a stiff west cross wind that didn't seem to hinder our progress too much. We arrived in Dover all feeling pretty good; so good that Dean treated himself to a fish sandwich! Man was it windy down there though. Our return home was Epic (yes with a capital E). That stiff west cross wind had gotten stiffer and turned out to be slightly north-west making our ride a tough slog for sure. We all survived with no major injuries (apart from Hazer's unfortunate debilitating leg cramps with less than 10 km to go. We finished the day with an awesome BBQ and hot tub session back at Ryan and Sandy's (thanks again guys!)

It was certainly great to get a group of 8 of us out there on our road bikes for a day. Let's shoot for at least that many next year. Great job fellas!

My domestique

Sometimes you gotta get those K's in anyway you can and with anyone who's available.  And yes, Justin IS playing the harmonica!    

Weekend Warriors

A rare opportunity yesterday for a few BlackFly riders to get together and ride through Durham.

Despite getting poked in the eye with a branch (hence the squint) at the 1 k. mark and riding the rest of the 25 k. with only one eye, a great ride.

And if you look real close, you can still see the red Shiraz at the corner of Dean's mouth from the night before.
Way to go Hurricane!

Enjoy the summer rides everyone and make sure to bring your camera along and contribute to the blog.

Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal

We have to organize a trip to this thing next year!  As cyclists and cycling fans (and sports fans in general) attending a pro bicycle race is a pretty cool thing.  You might only see them every 15 minutes or so but I can picture us all hanging out on the course, maybe sitting in our camping chairs, and cheering on the lads as they climb past us.  Then we'll head down to the finish line and watch the end drama.