Toronto Donut Ride

The Toronto Donut Ride takes place every Satuday and Sunday year round including public holidays.

Through the summer months, donut riders number between 100 to 125 forming a large pack. Over the winter, weather permitting, about a dozen riders usually make the trek, making the Toronto Donut Ride a year-round event.

The ride is fast paced reaching speeds of about 50 km/h on straightaways. If you can't keep up, you're on your own.

History

The Donut Ride began first as a team ride of the Scarborough Cycling Club in 1976 organized by Roger Keiley and Barry Hastings. As the ride grew in popularity it moved to a new starting point more centralized in Toronto. It remained associated with a bike store for some time, and was insured by the Ontario Cycling Association. A serious accident in the 1990s led to the entire group being sued. Thereafter the ride became completely unofficial.

Although the ride often took place four times a week during the summers of the mid-1990s (including an extended 160 km run up to the Holland Marsh — the "Marsh Ride" — on Wednesdays), it is now primarily a weekend and holiday affair.

Ride route

The current route starts at 9 AM at the corner of Eglinton Avenue East and Laird Avenue , in the parking lot of a former donut shop - hence the ride's name. The donut store is now a Great Canadian Bagel shop. Only a small number of the eventual pack starts their ride here. Riders join along the route and the number of riders quickly increase, notably from a church just past the starting point, and from the bridge carrying Lawrence Avenue over Bayview Avenue.

Route Maps

• Short Route
• Medium Route
• Long Route

Ride Info

• Around 9:15 am, the ride passes by the Bayview Station on the Sheppard Line.
• About 9:30 am, many riders from the north end meet at the Petro Canada at Yonge Street and Crestwood Road.
• About 9:45 am, riders mostly from the western side of the Toronto join at the corner of Langstaff (old Highway 7) and Keele Street.
• In-city speeds are fairly low.
• As the pack grows in numbers it becomes large enough and quick enought to essentially ignore traffic signals and settle into a steady mid-30s.
• Once the ride exits the city around Highway 7, speed gets into the high 40s.
• The pack normally starts to split up on Keele Street, where a series of rolling hills drops the weaker riders, who form their own packs to continue. It's easier to hang in with the group on the return portion of the ride, which is downhill and frequently has a tailwind – allowing the peloton to attain speeds of 45-55 km/h.

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