20240921-22: G2G Rail Trail – Guelph to Goderich to Guelph.

Seven cyclists enjoyed a two day out and back trip on the G2G rail trail, perfect weather, and each other’s company (Greg Andre-Barrett, Ari Caylakyan , Italo Bravo , Yaniv Leichtmann, Ken Waring, Kourosh Alasvand, and Terry Walsh).

Trip Photo Album: https://photos.app.goo.gl/5wzM3DDQQubGe5ar8

20240921 G2G Guelph to Goderich:

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48159513

Friday night Greg Andre-Barrett drove Ari Caylakyan , Italo Bravo , and Yaniv Leichtmann to Guelph, had dinner at Buan Gusto (tasty but some complaints about small portions), met Greg’s friend Ken Waring (TBN guest), and stayed in a large house rented on Booking.com. Saturday we parked downtown in the East Parkade, where Kourosh Alasvand joined us. About 7am we started G2G westward to Goderich. At km 3 we had breakfast at Tim’s. The rest of our 142 km trip was almost entirely on hard packed gravel rail trail, through bucolic farm land, with perfect weather, at km 22 the West Montrose Covered Bridge, at km 53 Anna Mae’s Bakery for tasty snacks, at km 109 tasty beer and lunch at Cowbell Brewery, at km 122 a cool fording of the Maitland River, at the end at km 140 a refreshing swim in Lake Huron to wash off the trail’s white dust that coated everything, discovering that Aris’s tubeless tire had a slow leak but looked like the sealant had plugged it, having a tasty refueling meal at Steve and Mary’s (with appropriately a toy train running on track above us), having Terry Walsh join us in Goderich for the ride back tomorrow, and finally a well earned sleep at Bedford Hotel. (Note: After these day 1 photos is day 2)

20240922 G2G East Goderich to Guelph:

Route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/48159706

Sunday morning at 6am the room with our bikes was still locked. So we walked to Tim’s for breakfast. When we got back the room was unlocked. Ari’s tire seemed to be holding air. About 7am we started our 142 km trip back to Guelph. Just outside Guelph Ari’s tubeless tire went flat. So we cleaned out most of the messy sealant and put in a tube. Instead of fording the Maitland River we went north and crossed on the Auburn bridge. In Blyth Ari’s tire went flat again. This time we did a thorough inspection of the tire and discovered about a 10mm slice. We put in a new tube with a tire boot patch between the tube and the slice in the tire. No problems after that. At km 81 we stopped in Milverton for lunch at New Orleans Pizza and Milverton Mini Mart (sandwiches and great ice cream). At km 83 everyone rode the rocky gully trail (where last year Italo broke his lever-brake lever). At km 113 practically on the trail in Elmire we stopped for a late lunch at Fry Days, so small that we almost missed it, but real tasty food and fresh squeezed lemonade. With some energizing food and drink in our bellies, we told our tired legs to shut up and just pedal the rest of the way back to Guelph and the Locomotive. We agreed (especially those roadies new to gravel) that gravel trail riding is 20-25% harder than road. The second day was tougher as we were tired and the G2G eastward for about 90k is mostly uphill at a steady 1-2%, which is much harder than it sounds. But everyone kept up a pretty good average pace as Saturday was 20.9kph and Sunday was close at 20.1kph.