Alas, the weather did not cooperate last Tuesday, so Marshall is going to try again. If this posting looks familiar, it’s because it’s an exact copy of last Tuesday’s. The only difference for next Tuesday’s ride is that the weather is going to be awesome, right? Over to you Marshall.

Although Mother Nature seems a little slow of the start line, it’s that “blossom” time of the year – i.e., time for the Ganaraska Freewheelers’ 6^th annual “Port Hope Blossom Ride”. Yes, it’s been 5 years since we headed out from the Port Hope Town Hall on our first blossom ride ending with an amazing time on The Beamish patio. 

Come on out this Tuesday and join your biking friends on this annual fun ride. The route has been changed up a bit this year, but we’ll still be hitting all the usual “not to be missed” views – Baulch Rd lilac tunnel, Loyalist Road and 4^th Line apple orchards, Bethel Grove hills of lilacs, Vimy Ridge lilac show plus climb and the amazing fields of lilacs at Cranberry Road and the 401.

All ending with lunch at The Beamish, hopefully on the patio.

Ride details at a glance are:

• Start location: Port Hope Town Hall (Victoria Street Ball Park for the non climbers)
• Time: 10:00 a.m.
• Distance: 58 kms with 3 shortcuts of 39, 45 or 50 kms
• Lunch: The Beamish (hoping for patio weather)

Here’s hoping that Mother Nature AND the Weather Gods are with us on Tuesday.

In lieu of a Friday ride this week there will be a special ride on Saturday June 1st^st. We are planning a Doors Open Northumberland ride in which we will visit some of the 28 available locations. Although there are venues located throughout our county, we are only visiting a few that are located in Cobourg, Grafton and (for the longer route) Castleton. Since this is a 2-day event, you may wish to visit some of the others (particularly those in Port Hope) at your leisure on Sunday. Details of this exciting event can be found here.

Logistics for Saturday June 1st

• Meet at the home of Diane McCormick in Cobourg. Di’s address can be found in the member section of our Website. There is ample free parking on her street.
• The ride will start promptly at 10:00 AM.
• There will be a pot-luck lunch at Di’s, but not starting until 3:00 PM. You should, therefore, consider bringing some snacks, or $$ to purchase some. The new café at the Grafton Inn has excellent coffee and munchies!
• A small lock for your precious bike is recommended.

The Rides

There will be two rides – a short 33km and a longer 62 km ride!

• The short ride essentially goes from Cobourg to Grafton and back and is 33 km in length. Di will be in charge of this group.
• After visiting one or two venues in Cobourg, the long ride heads off along C.R.2 to Grafton, where we will linger for about one hour. There are a number of interesting Open Doors locations in the village and, of course, there is the café at the Grafton Inn. We then head to Castleton via Shelter Valley Road, Pipeline Road and Old Shelter Valley Road. The return to Cobourg is by means of C.R.22, Broomfield Rd., Eddystone Rd., Boomerang Rd., Clouston Rd., Grills Rd., The Scots Line, Hoskin Rd., Danforth Rd., Brookfield Rd., and C.R.2. It is 62 km in length.
• Please print, and bring with you to the ride, a copy of the linked Doors Open 62 km route map. Brian H. has offered his services as a Tour Guide for the long ride group.

The Venues

The short ride group will likely visit more venues than the long ride group. The venues we could visit are as follows.

• (Cobourg) Sifton-Cook Heritage Centre
• (Cobourg) Golden Rail Pub at Legion Village
• (Grafton) Barnum House
• (Grafton) St. George’s Anglican Church
• (Grafton) The Canning Factory
• (Grafton) The Weslevan Methodist Meeting House
• (Castleton – long ride only) The Mill at Piper Creek
• Also in Grafton, across from the Grafton Inn, is Art Salad (an outdoor art show and sale). (Note: Ruth and Pete participated in it last year and thought it was a great event.)

There is obviously a lot going on in Grafton (including a café visit) so the long ride folks may wish to read up ahead of time in order to maximize the one hour that they will have there. The “express train to Castleton” will not wait in the Grafton Station for more than 60 minutes!

Be sure to join us on Saturday for a bit of local history!

Marshall invites you below to our upcoming Tuesday ride!

Although Mother Nature seems a little slow of the start line, it’s that “blossom” time of the year – i.e., time for the Ganaraska Freewheelers’ 6^th annual “Port Hope Blossom Ride”. Yes, it’s been 5 years since we headed out from the Port Hope Town Hall on our first blossom ride ending with an amazing time on The Beamish patio. 

Come on out this Tuesday and join your biking friends on this annual fun ride. The route has been changed up a bit this year, but we’ll still be hitting all the usual “not to be missed” views – Baulch Rd lilac tunnel, Loyalist Road and 4^th Line apple orchards, Bethel Grove hills of lilacs, Vimy Ridge lilac show plus climb and the amazing fields of lilacs at Cranberry Road and the 401.

All ending with lunch at The Beamish, hopefully on the patio.

Ride details at a glance are:

• Start location: Port Hope Town Hall (Victoria Street Ball Park for the non climbers)
• Time: 10:00 a.m.
• Distance: 58 kms with 3 shortcuts of 39, 45 or 50 kms
• Lunch: The Beamish (hoping for patio weather)

Here’s hoping that Mother Nature AND the Weather Gods are with us on Tuesday.

Below is a 2-part message from Brian H. inviting you to Friday’s ride and proposing an exciting event for you to attend on Saturday.

Friday, May 24

Friday’s ride starts from the home of Brenda and Wayne at the usual time of 5:30 PM.

Ride Leaders are Brian Hedney and Wayne McRoberts. The Route is the Northumberland Classic. Please print your own map.

This Friday’s route map actually shows a start from the Baltimore Community Centre, an easy 2 km ride from the home of Brenda and Wayne. The 45 km route starts by following the 20 km course that will be used the following day for the Northumberland Classic OCA race (see below under Saturday). This includes an ascent of the delightful Northumberland Heights Road! Although the route is 45 km in length, you will see from the map that there are several options available to shorten it. However, we are sure no Freewheelers would choose to by-pass the Northumberland Heights hill!

Après-ride pot-luck chez Brenda & Wayne.

Saturday May 25

The Province’s top cyclists will be in our neck of the woods on this day for an Ontario Cup race that starts at the Baltimore Community Centre. Further details about the Ontario Cup event can be found on the attached PDF and in this Northumberlnd News article from last year –  https://www.northumberlandnews.com/sports-story/8579504-cycling-race-comes-to-northumberland/.

Although this is not a GFW event, it could be an excellent opportunity to watch elite cyclists in action on a course that we will have ridden the evening before. These racers will ride up to eight laps of the course which, of course, means ascending Northumberland Heights hill up to eight times!

Join your ride leader Brian H. at 10:00 a.m. at the Bewdley arena for a ride that will follow the beautiful Two Lakes route. Choose from distances of 56 or 37 kilometres – regardless, you’ll enjoy a couple challenging climbs, some great lake views and rewarding downhills. Good eats at Rhino’s afterwards.

Note: Marshall’s Annual Blossom Tour will take place next Tuesday, May 28 to take full advantage of the blooms.

Friday’s ride will start at 5:30 p.m. from the parking lot behind the Dutch Oven in Cobourg. The route will be the Spring Fling offering three distances of 44, 40 and 31 kilometres.

If you plan to ride, please comment to let other riders know they’ll have companionship for the ride. And feel free to suggest post-ride dining options.

Enjoy the first long weekend of the Spring/Summer season everyone! Be safe.

Klaus will be your host for a ride starting at 10:00 a.m. from the Port Hope Town Hall. We’ll follow Le Tour de Cobourg map, a relatively flat route of 50 kilometres with options to shorten.

Lunch will follow at the Thirsty Goose on Walton Street.

Bring good weather!  

Deb P. is your host on Friday for our ride starting at 5:30 from her home in Port Hope. You’ll find her address in the Membership directory. There will be parking for 4 cars in her drive. You can also park on the North side of Peacock Boulevard and along Sanders Drive. 

We’ll be riding the Osaca Odyssey route with 3 distances to choose from (46 km, 36 km or 27 km). Pot luck to follow! See ya there!

Klaus is your host for Tuesday’s ride at 10 am. We will follow the First Half Flat route (56 or 44 km) starting and ending at the Whistling Duck at 75 Harbour Street in Gosport.

Join us!