Simcoe County Loop Trail

Cycle Simcoe is a great cycling advocacy group that promotes cycle tourism in Simcoe County. One of the routes they have curated, is the Simcoe County Loop Trail.

I did it recently, and somehow managed to turn a 160km ride into a 175km ride, and I even got lost and didn't actually complete the whole thing!  :)

Executive Summary? I loved the first 1/3, from Orillia to Penetanguishene, I was mostly just hammering south on the western section, and had two mishaps (see below), and on my "cheater" route home on Line 15/16, I was simply hanging on by my fingernails, desperate to make it back to Orillia.

Starting in Orillia, I did the route counter-clockwise.

Three quick observations:

One day or Two days: I did it in one day. I don't recommend this though. I was pretty much just pedaling to try and get home the same day. "Pedaling" as opposed to enjoying the ride as much as I would have, if I'd been taking it easy. I'd recommend two days if you can, and having a more relaxed ride.

Bike: I rode a cyclocross bike with 32mm slick tires. I also had a rack and panniers, carrying a bit of gear. In my opinion you need one of the new(er) "adventure / gravel" style bikes (which are essentially 'cross bikes), or a hybrid. A road bike with narrow tires will be aggravating as hell with all the gravel, and a mountain bike will be too slow.

Fitness: Well, not that I'm fit, but to do it in one day at the very least your butt needs to be able to handle being on a saddle for 160(ish) kms. And to get home before dark you need to be able to hammer pretty decently all that while. Two days you could do a much more recreational ride.

Knowing the Uhthoff Trail and it's sometimes thick and loose gravel pretty well, I decided to use mostly country roads to get to Coldwater, avoiding the rail-trail. All these country roads are quiet and easy to ride, if you want to try this. The rail-trail is nice here is nice though, going through farmland and forest.

Trail just south of Coldwater.

Waubaushene to Penetanguishene is the crown-jewel of this route. Entirely paved, largely right beside Georgian Bay waterfront, and simply gorgeous.

Waubaushene

St. Marie among the Hurons

Midland

Just south of Penetanguishene the trail becomes this really cool series of "rollers". Steep descents to short wooden bridges over meandering creeks. It's really cool - you feel like you're slalomming up and down through deep woods (and you are!). This is the north part of the Tiny Trail. In fact, the west side of the Simcoe County Loop TRail, and the Tiny Trail, are part of the North Simcoe Rail Trail.

Tiny Trail

My first misadventure was that one of the Tiny Trail bridges was closed for repair, and I couldn't get through. I had to turn back to something called Overhead Bridge Road, and Concession 11 E, and thankfully noticed the return of the Tiny Trail while I was cycling along Concession 11 towards County Road 6.

North Simcoe Rail Trail

North Simcoe Rail Trail gravel

The west side of the Loop Trail, for me heading south parallel to County Road 6, I had a blip or two where the trail somewhat disappeared on me. I guess I found my way though. This whole western edge of the trail is not exactly spectacular. There's no water, and it's a long slog through farmer's fields. I also missed some signage somewhere that must have been telling me to get off the North Simcoe Rail Trail, and head east on-road for a bit, because I went at least 10km out of my way further south on the North Simcoe Rail Trail, before I realized that I was no longer actually on the Loop Trail.

At this point, now about 125km into my day, tired, and thrown off by no longer knowing exactly where I was on the trail, I gave up on the idea of navigating back to the trail and heading south down into Barrie, and then home along the Oro-Medonte rail-trail along Lake Simcoe. Instead I went into Midhurst and then back into Orillia via Line 15-16. Line 15-16 is beautiful by the way, but damn the pavement is torn to crap for long stretches, and makes for very rough riding.

While I didn't actually ride the east section of the Loop Trail, which is the Oro-Medonte Trail, I do know this trail between Orillia and Barrie quite well. It's flat, with good traction, and easy to ride. It's also entirely forest (and some fields). You don't get a glimpse of water unless you turn down one of the lines (Line 14 takes you to Carthew Bay which has a good store with ice cream).

So what I didn't see and can't comment on, is the route from Snow Valley Road (near Midhurst) south down into Barrie, and the Barrie waterfront.

Otherwise, here's my cheat-sheet:

Orillia to Penetanguishene: Spectacular fun and scenic!

Penetanguishene to Barrie: Farmer's fields, some wayfinding issues, County Road 6 usually visible off to the side.

Barrie to Orillia: Forest forest and more forest. (Go down to Carthew Bay on Line 14 to see water, and maybe do 8 mile point and up Line 15 back to the trail, in order to mix things up a bit).

And my particular "ride" on this day?

I was in love up until Penetanguishene, and then it started to sour when I got turned back on those Tiny Trail "rollers". It felt like from this point on, I was fighting the trail a little, both with way-finding and with enjoyment of my surroundings. By the time I realized I was off the trail, somewhere above Snow Valley Road, I was pretty much shattered, and no longer in the mood to head down into Barrie.

I absolutely inched along Line 15/16, and would have been an absolute wreck of a cyclist and human being if the helping tailwind that I had on 15/16, had instead been a headwind.

Virginia Capital Trail : June 2019

Folks, in Virginia U.S.A, running between Williamsburg and Richmond, is the Virginia Capital Trail.

I rode it one way to Richmond, and then back again, the next day, to Williamsburg.
I wish I had something better to say about the experience!

Let's do it this way...

Williamsburg
The city of Williamsburg is quite lovely, and was pretty darn receptive to cycling. I found a bike lane on Richmond Street, and a bike lane / wide shoulder on Jamestown Road, which leads you down to the start of the Virginia Capital Trail. Jamestown Road is one of the two main ways to get to Jamestown (where the VCT actually starts... it does NOT start in downtown Williamsburg), and Jamestown is the one I'd recommend a person use to get down to the trail.

Colonial Williamsburg, and Jamestown down on the river, are popular tourist spots. The old town of Williamsburg largely preserved as it existed in the 1700s.

This (below) is a view of the James River, from the Colonial Parkway.

The Colonial Parkway (picture below) is the other main route from downtown Williamsburg, to Jamestown and the start of the VCT. BUT... despite the fact that you get some better views and vistas from the Colonial Parkway (as compared to Jamestown Road)... the Colonial Parkway is a really rough stone aggregate surface. I was riding my Jamis 'cross bike with about 32 mm tires... and I still hated the experience of riding on that surface. I wouldn't even consider it on a road bike with 23 or 25 mm tires.

The Virginia Capital Trail

Is boring.
I'm really sorry. I hate to be critical. But it's boring.
The trail is 50+ miles of pavement, running alongside highway 5. Mostly forest on both sides, but sometimes fields of wheat.

I'd been thinking that there would be nice views of the James River as you rode along. That there'd be little beach areas with concession stands, park benches, and places to stop and look out over.... something! But there aren't! Not at all! So... Saturday morning... I found myself just pedaling and pedaling and pedaling... not because I was trying to make good time, but rather because there was nothing else to do.

Now, if you view the interactive map online, and click on the various "attractions", you might find a few things that interest you. But, you might not. And not all of those attractions are even open to the public at any given time. AND... they're not alongside the trail. If you want to see them, it's a detour. AND... another beef I have... is that there's no physical / printed map or guidebook to the VCT. At least not according to the bike shop I stopped in at, in Williamsburg, to try and find one. So cycling along the trail you're riding blind, not knowing what you're passing.

The VCT... I hate to complain about 50 miles of paved trail... but I don't know what I'd use it for, if I lived down there. It isn't fun to ride.. so I wouldn't spend weekend mornings on that trail. It's not super convenient for fast road bike rides, though I did see some people doing that on the trail. So, I don't know. Better to have it than not have it, but I got the impression it was most heavily used by people riding from Richmond. about 10 miles east (to this little parkette where the big bike is, below), and then back into Richmond again - neglecting the other 40 miles of trail towards Williamsburg.

Richmond
Finally! People! Life! Stuff!
Good God... it was such a relief to get into Richmond and see people again. Richmond is pretty cool, especially since I ride on Zwift, and one of the Zwift courses is Richmond (due to the World Championship which happened in Richmond in 2015). So, some of the streets of the city were "known" to me from my virtual experience of riding them on Zwift.

This big bike (picture above) is about 10 miles east of Richmond.

Street art along the Canal walk in Richmond.

The Canal Walk is really fascinating. I found myself wishing I didn't have my bike with me so I could just wander along more slowly and enjoy everything without pushing a bike and wearing hard to walk-in-footwear! I also wish I'd had a Richmond travel book in my hands, so I knew more about the civil war history I was passing by, and which a few of the bridges are historical reminders of.

The VCT running under old trestle tracks heading into Richmond.

I was in Virginia due to a conference, and my eyes really opened wide at discovering the existence of a long dedicated cycling trail between Williamsburg and Virginia. So, my 'cross bike (equipped with rack and panniers) came in the car with me, and I was hoping for some lolly-gagging along... stopping here and there for coffee, ice-cream or beer, as seemed appropriate. But... with nothing to see or do... I just kept pedaling.

Maybe that's what the VCT was for me... just some exercise, in between the history of Richmond on one side, and Williamsburg on the other. That's not the end of the world, but I was honestly hoping for more.