From the ride
A few frames from the day.
A 54 km loop from Mount Albert out to Goodwood and back, on farm roads with more climbing than you would expect, a Schitt's Creek main street at the turn, and a bakery full of cyclists waiting at halfway.
Map, elevation, and the route file to take with you.
Farm-country climbing and a television-famous village, an hour northeast of Toronto.
"Barely an hour from the city and you are into farm country that climbs harder than the map lets on, with a Schitt's Creek main street and a bakery full of cyclists waiting at the turn."
This loop runs through the countryside where York Region gives way to Durham, right along the top of the Oak Ridges Moraine. The Moraine is a ridge of glacial hills that rolls for 160 kilometres across southern Ontario, and it is the reason the riding here climbs more than a flat-looking map suggests. Uxbridge, just up the road, bills itself as the Trail Capital of Canada for the network that threads through it. You feel all of that from the saddle: field after field of soybean and corn, gravel side roads peeling off into the trees, and a rhythm of rises that keeps the legs honest without ever tipping into a grind.
We rolled out from Mount Albert, a small village in East Gwillimbury that Quaker settlers first laid out in the 1820s and called Birchardville, before it was renamed for Queen Victoria's son Albert Edward in 1864. It makes an easy, low-key place to park and begin. The climbing starts early and the surprise of the day is the surface: several of these farm roads have been freshly paved, so long stretches roll by smooth and fast. The one section to plan around is Aurora Road, which carries more traffic than the rest of the route. If you would rather keep the whole ride calm, you can skip it for a slightly longer line on the back roads, and we would take that trade most days.
Halfway, the loop rolls into Goodwood, a one-intersection hamlet in Uxbridge Township that most people know without realising it. Its main street stood in for the town in Schitt's Creek across all six seasons, with David's Rose Apothecary now a real shop called Goodwood Mercantile. The stop we came for is Annina's Bakeshop, a cyclist favourite with a big outdoor patio that catered the show for five of its six seasons. It is the right place to refuel before you turn for home along Concession 3 and the quiet back roads that carry you all the way to where you started. Under an hour from Toronto, and it rides like somewhere much further away.
The reel. Open on Instagram →
Food, refreshments, parking, and local hints. Filter below.
We parked at the Mount Albert Community Centre, an easy place to leave the car and roll straight out onto the country roads. There is a coffee to grab and bottles to fill in the village before you set off, and you are on the farm roads within minutes, so it is a simple, low-stress start and finish for the loop.
Open in Maps →Do not expect it to be flat. Sitting up on the Oak Ridges Moraine, the first half rolls through farm roads that climb more than you would guess from the map. The upside was the surface: several of these stretches have been freshly paved, so you get long, smooth, fast sections to enjoy the effort on. Settle into a steady rhythm and let the countryside open up.
Open in Maps →Aurora Road is the one section that carries real traffic, though there is a wide shoulder to give you room. If you would rather keep the ride calm from start to finish you can avoid it entirely by taking a slightly longer line on the back roads. On a relaxed day, that is the trade we would make.
Open in Maps →The halfway village is the real-life set of Schitt's Creek. Goodwood's one-intersection main street played the town across all six seasons, and David's Rose Apothecary is now an actual shop, Goodwood Mercantile, selling Canadian-made goods. It is worth a slow roll through and a photo before you refuel, whether or not you have seen the show.
Open in Maps →Our halfway stop, and a cyclist favourite for good reason. Annina's does fresh baking, country breakfasts and proper lunches, with a big outdoor patio to sit and rest before the ride home. It is a local institution with a fun claim to fame too: it catered Schitt's Creek for five of the show's six seasons. Good food, welcoming to riders, right on Highway 47.
Open in Maps →From Goodwood the return follows Concession 3 and a string of quiet back roads that carry you almost all the way to the start. It is more of the same good riding: rolling farm country, little traffic, and a steady run home. Save a little for the rises late on, and top up your bottles at the bakery, because the places to refuel thin out once you leave the village.
Open in Maps →A few frames from the day.