Escape to Cottage Country

Well, there’s no doubt about it…it’s cottage country time.  With scorching temperatures, maybe a few bored kids at home and some weather weary pets, we dream of cool breezes (or any breeze for that matter), blue water and an inspiring view to peacefully muse over.  Alas, not all of us have a cottage destination to escape to.  Well…actually we do.  Right in our own backyard.

Swansea is an oasis in the middle of the city – it’s cottage country, with all the amenities of being in a metropolis and not a single three hour, traffic-rammed drive in sight.  Surrounded on three sides by water –the eastern border runs along Grenadier Pond, resplendent with weeping willows, nesting swans and wildflowers; the southernmost border is only a five minute jaunt to the beaches along Lake Ontario; and the western border follows the Humber River, with views out across the city.

 

Humber River



Swansea’s character is that of its namesake, Swansea in Wales, England – dominated by lush gardens and tranquil water landscapes.  Established, officially, as the Village of Swansea in 1925, Swansea’s history is equally tranquil.  From farmers to military colonels to painters, Swansea inspires a charmed life.  Artists have always felt compelled to create here – from James Howard’s wife Jemima to the Toronto’s Group of Eleven painters to most famously Lucy Laud Montgomery who wrote her last three “Anne” novels from 210 Riverside Dr. In fact the photo to the right is a view that Lucy would have looked at from her home.  As I stood there, it was easy to understand why Swansea provided a muse for these artists. 

Sunset on Humber River,
courtesy of Swansea.ca

This nook is for grabbing a book and a flask of iced tea to while away the hours under a shady tree.  Or watch an incredible sunset while the birds dive over the water. 



Grenadier Pond



Grenadier Pond has long been an aquatic retreat for Torontonians – beginning with the Grenadier soldiers for whom it’s named.  Citizens have flocked to its green cool shores for centuries beginning with the First Nations. When the Europeans arrived, (Etienne Brule perhaps!) they dubbed it the Garden of Eden.  



Grenadier Pond, photo courtesy of Toronto Standard article,
 "Why Grenadier Pond is Called Grenadier Pond" Nov 15th, 2011



This spots dictates that you sit yourself down on a picnic blanket, throw a line in and snooze with your cap over your eyes till you get a bite.  

  And then of course, there is the amazing beach along Lake Ontario – which rivals in my opinion any other ‘Beach’ in the city (and is also part of the International Blue Flag program too!  For beach quality on the day of your trip, visit Sunnyside Beach Swimming Conditions.)  On this huge expanse of white sand, you can’t help but feel you’re strolling along an old classic summer boardwalk movie – daisy studded bathing caps and surfboards would be fitting.  Sunnyside is a place to make the biggest sandcastles you can and play in the waves to wash off melted popsicles.

'''Photographer:''' Me, Leslie Mateus, a user of the portuguese wikipedia. *'''Date:''' August 28th 2005 *'''Description:''' View of the Sunnyside Park, Wester beaches, Toronto, Ontario, looking west.

Photograph of Owen Staples, RCA,
painting at Sunnyside Beach in 1907

 So when you’re feeling the need to slow down, sit by the water and enjoy this gorgeous summer before the harsh winds of a Canadian winter strike once again – look no further than your own backdoor and head to Swansea.  A day in cottage country is just the thing.

Mountain Bike Speak in Sunnyside

Language is an amazing thing for many reasons and I’ve always had a deep appreciation for it.  Today I added a new language to my repertoire – I’m going to call it MBS – Mountain Bike Speak.  Truthfully, I set out to learn more about the new Sunnyside Bike Park being built in our area and got a little sidetracked by the new features - it has garnered plenty of enthusiasm and excitement.  Features will include: a Skills Zone, a Pumptracks area, a Jump Line zone, and Drop and Wall Ride area.  At a loss, I realized I’d have to delve a little deeper.

So we’ll start at the beginning.  The course which will take over a currently unused area between the Gardiner Expressway and Lakeshore; running between Ellis Ave and Colborne Lodge Drive – is being designed by one of the most internationally acclaimed bike park designers, Jay Hoots.  Jay Hoots is a Canadian mountain biker who’s ridden with the Norco Team for years – he describes his discipline as Dirt Jump and FreeRide, and is a self- (and publicly) proclaimed  Mountain Bike Advocate.  When Jay’s not on a bike, he’s thinking about bike courses.  HOOTS INC. is an accomplished Skills park and trail design/build company, with over 30 of its bike parks all over the globe.

What’s interesting about these bike parks is they have a deep connection with sustainability and nature.  Bikers enjoy nature as much as any hiker and use their trails with respect.  So the really good news for all of us non-bikers, is that a previously unused, rather unsightly , stuck-between-two-highways space is going to not only keep the plants, grass and trees already there, but be beautified even more and turned into a really amazing park for bikers of all skills.  And the current “unofficial” bike park in the woods of High Park, will be given back to the chipmunks.

There has been a lot of consideration given to who is going to use this park – there will be an area for everybody – experts to beginners, trick riders to riders with kids in trail-a-bikes.  Hoots Inc. has designed the park to allow for groups of different skill levels to ride together without traffic issues. 

“The Sunnyside Bike Park incorporates a series of different areas that provide specific ride opportunities but everything can tie together. The park has a pump track zone, Huge jump zone, Wall ride, Drop Zones and elevated ladder rides with skinnies.  There is a perimeter trail that gets you from section to section or you can just hang out and pull a trail-a-bike with the kids. I tried to keep as many trees as possible and we will be planting more so the park with have lots of shade. I am trying some new concepts with tying advanced and intermediate lines together with some beginner stuff so that everyone can ride together but not have cross traffic issues. I think I have a precedent-setting number of lines and the park is going to really provide huge opportunity for riders to create all sorts of new lines…awesome!”  – Jay Hoots

Now let me translate…or rather Hoots Inc. translates for us:

“A ‘Skills Zone’ is the welcome mat to mountain biking and offers opportunity for riders of all ages on all types of bikes to learn and practice bike handling in a planned safe natural environment that allows Skills succession through progression based features that are all within a dynamic self taught environment.”

“Pump Track Zone” is an area filled with small rolling hills where kids can simply have fun riding over them or a spot where riders can figure out how to gain momentum from pumping and make it over all the hills without actually pedalling.

A Jumpline area is exactly that – a series of different level jumps on a trail (also called a “line” in MBS) for the bikers to use; and a Drop and Wall ride area is literally a section where bikers can learn to drop down onto a line or ride a bike up a wall and back down again. 

The beauty of all of these features is that avid mountain bikers want to learn how to do these things safely and skilfully; and to be able to do so on a course of this calibre, will provide an amazing service to our community.  So not only do we have some serious cool factor added to our neighbourhood, but also a beautiful park– including a drop off area, restrooms and shady benches (if you’d rather watch than ride) and all in a place where there was once nothing.

And let’s face it - it’s got us all a little stoked! (Mountain Bike Speak for pretty excited!)

For pictures of the new park, you can view the PDF.  For even more information on Jay Hoots and Hoots Inc, you can visit their websites.