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Don Valley Cycle Caching Trip

chris-mouse

By chris-mouse
in Canada

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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

Posted
Posted

OK, now that the first cycle caching trip of the year is done, it's time to start thinking about the next one :ninja:

 

The overall plan for the route is to start at Sunnybrook park in the Eglinton and Leslie area, and work our way down the Don valley to the lake. From there, we go east along the lake, then north to Taylor Creek park. We can then follow Taylor Creek downstream to the Don again, and back up the Don to return to the cars. Along the way, there are numerous side trails we can travel up to visit many of the ravine caches on the east side of the city.

 

I don't have any real distance figures yet, but I'm guessing somewhere around 25km or so, depending on options. I can't promise no hills, but I can promise that we won't have to worry about climbing the Niagara Escarpment :drama:

 

So who's interested?

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

I hear Tomtec is going to use his unicycle for this trip and juggle an egg, bowling ball, cactus and chainsaw while riding.

Juggling%20on%20unicycle.JPG

Woah... I never metioned an EGG!

Do you think I'm crazy or something?

 

TOMTEC

 

Um.... do you want this arm back? Or can I use it as a trade item for that pocket flashlight in the cache? :rolleyes: If we do this in August, you we should be able to cook the eggs on the trail too

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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

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Everyone thinks it's a good idea, but nobody's mentioning dates, so how about I toss out some dates.

If I leave it for at least two weeks from now, that would make it into July. I'd want to avoid the long weekends, and I'd prefer a sunday, so that makes the following dates preferred for me:

 

July: 9, 16, 23, 30

August: 20, 27 (The 24 hour marathon is on the 12/13th)

September: 10, 17, 24

 

Anything much later than that, and we risk running onto the cold, wet fall weather.

 

Of those dates, which ones are people NOT available on? We can eliminate all those dates and see what we've got left.

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TOMTEC

+TOMTEC

Posted
Posted (edited)

July 9th is definitely out for me...

July 23rd is the National Cache event

August 20th is our cycling club championships

September 17th is GHAGAFAP V weekend

 

So those days are out for me... Of the other possible weekends, I have races scheduled, but I'll see what I can do once we have a firm date picked.

 

TOMTEC

Edited by TOMTEC
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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

Is June 25th too soon? That's this Sunday.

 

I'm committed to Field Day this weekend, as is Keith Watson (what about YOU Chris-Mouse??). July 9th is a possibility, but I'm still in "negotiations" with Kitten on this. Last two weekends in July are a definate no-can-do for me.

 

I'd like a refresher on the route please.

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WitchPig

+WitchPig

Posted
Posted

Hi, I am half of a team here from Australia and would love to join in on some events. Ride the Don a bit with my bike and would love to find some more caches whilst here.

 

I presume this is what your "tour" is about? If so, which caches are you particularly after?

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

Okay, scratch this Sunday then. Where is your field day? Maybe I'll come over and show you how to operate a radio. <snicker> :)

 

It's at the corner of Queen and Central Park Drive, in the field on the east side of the Region of Peel building. Basically it's best described as go to the north end of Bramalea City Centre.

 

Everyone is welcome, hams and non-ham operators alike. We'll be setting up in the morning, and the talking to other ham operators part starts around 2pm.

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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

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Posted (edited)

Is June 25th too soon? That's this Sunday.

 

I'm committed to Field Day this weekend, as is Keith Watson (what about YOU Chris-Mouse??). July 9th is a possibility, but I'm still in "negotiations" with Kitten on this. Last two weekends in July are a definate no-can-do for me.

 

I'd like a refresher on the route please.

 

Well, I be busy across the road saturday. I understand there's going to be a bunch of rowdies hanging out there and I want to keep a close eye on them :huh:

 

The plan for the route is to start in sunnybrook park, near GCG0WC There's five caches in that park. (Those cachers who were on the last 24 hour marathon hit 4 of them around dawn) From there, we head down the Don Valley cycle trail, hitting a bunch of caches along the way, and possibly detouring up the side trails to some of the other caches up the ravines in the area. Eventually, the trail brings us out near GC987D From there, we have the option of heading out on the Leslie St. Spit to GCVKC1

before continuing eastward to Ashbridge's Bay and eventually GC2EC6.

After finishing the boardwalk, we then head north on Victoria Park Ave. to Taylor Creek and GCV098. From there it's downstream to the Don again, and back up the Don to the cars.

 

note: edit to correct broken links.

Edited by chris-mouse
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Fish Below The Ice

+Fish Below The Ice

Posted
Posted

Remember that the bottom part of the trail is closed for the next couple of years while they turn the Don back into a real river. When you get to Queen St, you'll have to hoist your bike up the stairs.

 

An alternative choice is to abandon the trail when you get to Pottery Rd and go down Bayview instead. You'll miss out on GCTV32, GCTV72, and GCTQ7C, but you can pick up GCHYW5, GCV7N9, and

GCTV7Y instead.

 

There's a couple of other cool routes you could take in the area, but I won't mention them here because I don't want to give away the answers to puzzle caches or multis.

 

dave

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TOMTEC

+TOMTEC

Posted
Posted

That sounds alright... It looks the there are a few new caches back on the Toronto Islands, so that could be a possible day trip destination. There are a few multi-caches out there designed with the cyclist in mind, so that's something to look at also.

 

TOMTEC

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
Posted

looks like july is no good for me, perhaps Aug, Sept are a better bet other than Ghagafap, Fragglestock, and 24hr.

 

Ok C-A pick a date and we will vote on it.

 

September actually works better for me as it seems to be playing out, what with the summer folk festival season and all. Anyone else going to London's Home County Festival in July?

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Couparangus

+Couparangus

Posted
Posted

Okay, how about this for a route. Start in High Park and hit all the caches there. Then travel south to the bike path that runs along the lakeshore going east to the ferry terminal. Cross to Hanlan's Point, hit caches and then return. A rough guesstimate of distance is 32km. Once we're finished with the island we have the option of doing the Leslie Street Spit although this will add approximately 24km, so I'm guessing we'll likely pass.

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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

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High Park and the Toronto Islands sounds like a good trip to me. Do we have a date for it? We'd more or less settled for July 9th before, is that too close now? One thing to watch, there is a big piece of Lakeshore Rd. that is closed this weekend because of the Molson Indy. The trail is pretty close to the race route along there, so it may not be possible to get bikes through the crowds.

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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

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Posted (edited)

I'm available for cycle caching on the 16th. How about meeting in Centennial Park and cycling out from there? There's several nice multi caches within easy range of there, as well as a couple of traditional caches, and a few puzzle caches. Here's the list:

Riblet

You've worked so Hard

Micro Mania – Stage 1 - Trip Wire

Airline Stash Cache

Etobicoke's Secret Green

Death By Traffic

Horror Cache

Just your "Standard" Micro Cache

The Etobicoke Nile 2 -Upper-

Scrabble Cache - Rematch

Word Search

The Etobicoke Nile 1 -Little

The Cadillac of Caches

 

If you want to start at the south end, we could park at Marie Curtis Park and hit these caches instead:

"GO" Long Branch

GO Caching with Bouncy Bunny

Cave Falls

Everyone Stairs At Me

Wacky Wabbit's Wall

Lamb

Courteous CaChe

Alderwood Cache

 

The two groups of caches are close enough together that if you're feeling energetic we could even start at either end and hit them all. In that case, the total distance would be something like 20-25k for the entire trip.

 

Question, were do we start, and at what time?

Edited by chris-mouse
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Couparangus

+Couparangus

Posted
Posted (edited)

That works for me CM. I'll be on PRC UHF or FRS 2 whilst on route. I may have to affect some adjustments to my rear spokes but it should only take about 10 minutes as I'm getting rather used to it now. A new set of wheels will be in the budget next spring to coincide with the cycle show.

 

Hey RogueMonkey, what kind of wheels do you have on your bike with all those spoke? I need something that's stronger than what I have.

 

I've got a few Geocachers on my MSN now. Anyone is welcome to add me to their list. My email is qsl27 then the at sign hotmail dot com.

 

C-A

Edited by Couparangus
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TOMTEC

+TOMTEC

Posted
Posted

Right now I'm still around 100km from home, so I don't think I'll be up in time to make the 9am start... Unless I hear otherwise, I should be able to be in the area around 10am and I'll touch base via cell phone. I'm only looking to make 6 or 7 new finds and looking at the list for the Centennial Park parking area that should work out nicely. I check back later this morning to see if there have been any updates to the plan.

 

TOMTEC

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Couparangus

+Couparangus

Posted
Posted (edited)

Man, that was hot yesterday! (Just thought I'd point out the patently obvious) After I split to make my way home I had to cross the Etobicoke Creek and got my feet wet. Great fun though and if each of the steps in those multis were separate caches I would've bagged 25. At this rate I'll be at 500 finds in no time! :)

 

Nearly forgot the point of my posting. How many up for a High Pk Tor Island cycle outing?

Edited by Couparangus
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chris-mouse

+chris-mouse

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I'm up for it. When do we start?

If the weather is as hot as it was last sunday, I may need a ride down there and back.

I ended up doing 65km of cycling yesterday, and it's only 12K from where I live to Centennial Park. I don't think I'd survive a trip down to High Park and back in that kind of heat.

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Couparangus

+Couparangus

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Posted

I had a thought when chatting with Tomtec last night. Maybe we could do it on a weekday and all take a day off work? :laughing: Fridays are best for me. Not sure what kind of flexibility others have with getting a day off on short notice.

 

Of course, one could always call in sick. :laughing: If you firmly hold one nostril with your thumb while talking to your boss on the phone it sounds just like a nasty head cold - so I've heard. :laughing:

 

C-A

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northernpenguin

+northernpenguin

Posted
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High Park and the Islands sounds good to me... I'll have to see if I can play with my schedule to attend. Got any dates in mind yet?

 

TOMTEC

 

I've got a lot of weekend activities on the go, so I'm going to be very 'date sensitive'. Still, if I can manage to find a day free - I'd be interested in this one.

 

I get a Friday off every two weeks, so that works just fine for me. Next one is coming up on the 28th.

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TOMTEC

+TOMTEC

Posted
Posted

High Park and the Islands sounds good to me... I'll have to see if I can play with my schedule to attend. Got any dates in mind yet?

 

TOMTEC

 

I've got a lot of weekend activities on the go, so I'm going to be very 'date sensitive'. Still, if I can manage to find a day free - I'd be interested in this one.

 

I get a Friday off every two weeks, so that works just fine for me. Next one is coming up on the 28th.

Conveniently, I'm also off on Friday the 28th... Though I'm likely heading North later in the evening. Anyone else free that day?

 

TOMTEC

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