Get ready for some excitement as The Hastings Highlands Hilly Hundred returns to North Hastings on Oct. 1 with a brand-new Hilly Gravel Course.
This popular event is a popular charity century ride that has been one of the highlights of the fall for more than 10 years. It offers both diehard bike enthusiasts a full 100-mile ride, or something a little less arduous, a 100-kilometre ride, through some of the hilliest terrain in Eastern Ontario.
This year, a new Hilly Gravel Course has been included, just to add to the fun. It is approximately 140 kilometres in length, mostly on gravel roads with short stretches of pavement in between. This new course opens up new opportunities for riders to experience some of the amazing countryside and vistas on back roads that many will never have experienced before.
The Hilly Canadian Century ride will have participants climbing over a 108-kilometre route that extends east of Bancroft, over to Maynooth, to Elephant Lake Rd. and south through Highland Grove and Baptiste and back to Bancroft.
The Hilly is not about racing. It is about striving for your personal best. That said, it is quite exciting to see the riders file past the finish line in Bancroft, each having given it their all.
This year, the start and finish will take place at the Bancroft Ridge Golf Course on Chemaushgon St., just before the airport.
Why not make a nice day of it? Cheer riders on at the start line, take in some of the great shops and restaurants, or visit the farmers’ market in nearby Riverside Park in Bancroft, and then return to watch the riders make their way to the finish.
To find out more about registration and to see the photo gallery from previous events visit www.hastinghighlandshillyhundred.com
Ride on!
Photo courtesy of Black Dog Barnyard
