Cycling Paths of Toronto 1 - Thornhill to the Beaches

The cycling paths of Toronto are one of the greatest assets of this big city. Where else can you ride from the northern most tip of an urban area to the southernmost point and back and 90% of the time be on cycling paths without those dangerous cars! Today I did my standard Beaches of Toronto ride. This trip starts at the Longos Plaza ( Bayview and John, Thornhill) and catches the Don Trail off of Laureleaf and Steeles and follows it down to Sheppard and Leslie. From here you have to cross east of Leslie and ride to the east of the North York General Hospital where the path continues down to Lesmill. Here you ride south to York Mills and Leslie and then south to Lawrence and hop on the trail again at Edwards Gardens. Keep following the trail south and then east to Victoria Park. Go south on Vic Park all the way down to Queen Street and check out the action on the strip. I particularly like the deals at Ends at the beaches. Every week there is some other great closeout deal. The owner is always around and very proud of his empire, and rightly so. After a stop at Pizza Nova, get back to the trails and head along the waterfront over to Cherry Street. Cycle past the Docks and get back onto the Don trail as you go north over the Gardiner expressway. The trail is clear again and this will wind north all the way back to Edwards Gardens. On my way north I take a different path and head along Banbury Circle and then onto the Bayview park system that ends at Bayview and York Mills. Be careful along Bayview as cyclists have been hit in this high traffic high speed area. Head north (stay on the sidewalk to be safe) up to Bayview Village, and then keep going north. There is a nice downhill at the end of Bayview so get back on the road and enjoy the speed. A good end of the trip is the Starbucks and the Longos Plaza at Bayview and Laureleaf where we started. For an extra bonus buy a fresh Montreal Bagel from Bagel Nash. Almost as good as the real thing from Montreal. Can you guess where I am from? These are even better as they come in whole wheat or regurlar style. Extremely delicious either way.

This trip is about 69 kms and should take approximately 4 hours to complete.
Great route for summer rides as there is shade and generally well treed.

Have a great cycling season.

The Adventure Guy