Its early in terms of training for the 2010 Ride but I figure what the heck there are still a couple of months before the weather really gets nasty.

Last Sunday I rode 0 Ave. from 176 St. to Sumas Border Crossing and back.  The distance is approximately 77 km depending on where you park/start from (I managed to park at the truck scale at 4th Ave) and where you turn around at (I went right up to the border crossing before turning around). 

I ride a mountain bike so I don't profess to be a thin tire-speedster, nonetheless I finished in 3 hours 19 minutes which I was pretty happy with.  I have friends on road bikes who say they do the same ride in 2 1/2 hours.  I would definitely recommend this ride to anyone looking for a mid-distance ride (its still about 55 km less than either day of the Ride). 

A few things of note: (1) to get to 0 Ave you need to turn at 1st ave which becomes 176A St which then becomes 0 Ave.  (2) there is a fair bit of climbing and rolling hills between 176th St. and about 216th St. which surprised me considering I've heard this route described as being basically flat.  None of the hills are killer, but is is a good way to get your heart rate up early in the ride and it does let you know you are in for a real ride when all you can see in the distance is the road undulating and climbing ahead of you for as far as you can see (fortunately it does flatten out eventually and a good portion of this ride is relatively flat as advertised).  (3) there is no bike lane or paved shoulder along 0 Ave.  Fortunately, there also isn't much traffic.  I wasn't concerned for my safety at any point in this ride nor was I choking on exhaust either. (4)  I found the street/house numbering system to be quite helpful on the way back as I could have a sense of progress as the numbers counted down back to 176th St. (I don't recall exactly but I think Sumas Road is about 337th.)  (5) 0 Ave does not go all the way through to Sumas Road, it turns north at Townline Road and you then turn east again at Huntington Road.  (6) Huntington Road is renamed Vye Road after McCallum Road.  (7) The last couple of blocks on Vye before Sumas are quite a steep downhill.  If you are tired you may want to turn around here because otherwise you face a pretty steep (but reasonably short, 3-4 block) climb on the return trip.  (8) If you want to increase the distance you can stay on Vye Road instead of turning at Sumas to the border crossing.  I haven't done this yet but next time I come back I plan to ride Vye road until it ends at Old Yale Road.  I do not know what this section of road is like but from my reading of the map it looks like it may just change this ride from a 77 km one to a 100 km ride. (9) The road is rough over a fairly good part of it although not nearly as rough as some of the back roads in the US.  I found my hands going numb at times from the endless vibration.  (10)  There are no stores or places that make sense to stop along this route although I am told that when I turned south on Sumas to reach the border crossing what I missed is that had I turned north on Sumas away from the border there are plenty of places, including a Starbucks, not far away.  As this would be the halfway point in the ride, it probably would have been a better place to stop than alongside the road at the border crossing which is what I did.  Lesson learned for next time I guess!