Tour de Mississauga – 25km report
Sunday Sept 19, 2010 – 7:30AM
Denise, Drew and Mike decided to participate in the 3rd annual Tour de Mississauga in Streetsville. The weather was nice, 12 C and partly cloudy. We headed up Glen Erin, down Erin Center Boulevard, to Mississauga Road then on to Streetsville Memorial Park.
Riding to the Event
Denise led the way and we were there in no time. We had arrived early. The organizers had just started getting the registration tables set up. It was a bit disorganized but we were patient. We signed our waivers, filled out a raffle ticket and received our bike numbers. Drew – 803, Denise = 804, Mike = 805. It was possible to pre-register online but we had not. The 1st 100 to register received a Tour de Mississauga T-Shirt.
We had about an hour to kill before the start of the race. Denise and Mike were having way too much fun.
Denise and Mike
Since we had about an hour to kill we decided to go to the Starbucks on Main Street. I’m always OK going to the Starbucks.
On the way Denise had a little mishap. As she approached an intersection on Main Street she had a bit of trouble unclipping from her pedals. It’s very hard to stay upright while stopped and still clipped in.
Sure enough … she tipped over and ended up in a pink pile in the middle of the street, tangled up with her bike. As hard as I tried I could not get my camera out in time. I would have loved to had a picture of that. I asked her if she was hurt. She said “no”. I asked her if she was embarresed. She said “no”. In Mike’s usual quick wit he added “Well you should be”. It’s always nice riding with friends.
Denise wasn’t hurt and she got up quickly and was back on the bike. We crossed the Street and went to the Starbucks.
Drew and Mike outside of Starbucks in Streetsville
After Mike and Denise enjoyed a coffee we all headed back the the park to get ready for the start of the Tour.
It was started to get busy as bikers continued to arrive.
Waiting for the Tour to start
The rumor was that there were about 1,000 riders. This was a much better attendance than the 400 that participated last year. We hung out and did some people watching. Before long the announcer started. We had to wait for Mayor Hazel to say a few words.
The bikers were released to the course in stages, 100k riders first, 60k riders next and 25k riders last. We had decided on the 25k. We started out near the head of the 25k group.
We were off.
I was surprised, and disappointed, that the organizers had not arranged to close the intersections. There were volunteers helping with directions and ensuring safety but we had to wait at the traffic signals.
Waiting at the Intersection
With a large group of people there is always something interesting to look at. Take a closer look at the girl in the grey sweatshirt. I think she was absent the day the class went over helmet fitting.
Helmet or Hat? - Why not both.
After a few intersections the ride opened up and we enjoyed the course. It was well marked with a lot of volunteers, good signage and green arrows painted on the road to guide us along. It wasn’t too crowded but we were among people the entire ride. The route was a combination of roads and trails.
Denise enjoying the Tour
It was not a race but the time went by quickly.
As we turned off of Greensboro Drive onto Thomas Street Denise decided that she was going to break off and head home to mind the kids. Mike and I continued on toward the finish.
2010 Tour de Mississauga - 25k Route
We arrived back where we had started 1 hour and 18 minutes later.
At the finish there was a free BBQ. We were nearly the first ones back. The grills were going so we decided to stick around and have a burger.
The BBQ at Tour end
After enjoying the food Mike and I decided we would head home down along the Credit River.
We took a brief stop at the Challenge Park for a moment of silence where Mike had his accident a week earlier. We thought about doing some more of the ramps and jumps – NOT.
As we headed towards Erindale Park we saw a fisherman with a Salmon on the line. We stopped and watched him bring the fish in.
Salmon on the Line
We continued on to Erindale Park then we headed back to Rainbow Crescent.
Return from Tour de Mississauga
We had a great morning and a great ride. I thoroughly enjoyed the morning and will be putting the 4th annual Tour de Mississauga on the calender for next year.
Total distance – 43km
