Congratulations to Dylan Pearce for breaking the existing record for the circumnavigation of Lake Ontario in the following categories: Male, 18-49, Upright bike

WUCA Lake Ontario Circumnavigation Record Attempt

On June 27th, 2026, I set out from the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ontario, in an attempt to establish a new World UltraCycling Association record for the clockwise circumnavigation of Lake Ontario. The purpose of this ride was to break the existing record while raising awareness and funds for mental health through the Ride Beyond Limits: Breaking Records to Break Stigma campaign.

The objective was simple, complete the full Lake Ontario circumnavigation route as quickly as possible while adhering to all WUCA regulations and verification requirements. The route follows the shoreline of Lake Ontario through Ontario and New York State, incorporating the required shuttle crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge.

Route Overview

The clockwise Lake Ontario route began and ended at the Rainbow International Bridge in Niagara Falls. The route traveled west through Hamilton and the Greater Toronto Area before continuing east along the north shore of Lake Ontario through Belleville and Kingston.

Following the mandatory shuttle crossing at the Thousand Islands Bridge, the route continued through northern New York State, passing through Oswego, Rochester, and Niagara Falls, New York, before returning to the starting location in Niagara Falls, Ontario.

Starting Line

The attempt began at 8:04am on June 27th, 2026.

It all started on the Niagara River Parkway directly beneath the Rainbow International Bridge in Niagara Falls, Ontario, at the same location used for previous WUCA Lake Ontario circumnavigation records. The location is adjacent to the viewing area overlooking the Niagara River, immediately south of the bridge structure.

Conditions at the start were, 16°C, almost negligible winds, 92% humidity and a very low hanging cloudy, foggy morning.


Niagara Falls to Oakville

Leaving early in the morning would get us ahead of any traffic and tourists in the Niagara region. Temperatures started to rise as the sun came up and the clouds started to disappear, averaging a temperature of 20°C. While having a below 5km/hr wind from the north, this section was very quick at an average speed of 32.8km/hr at 235W with an average HR of 149BPM.

Oakville to Oshawa

We knew this segment was going to be the most stressful of the whole ride due to the increased traffic as we got closer to Port Credit and increasing heavily as we neared Toronto. From the start we knew this would be an issue, no matter what time we had left in the morning from Niagara Falls. As we approached the beginning of the afternoon, temperatures started to rise to an average of 25°C during this segment, still with minimal winds. The sun and UV were starting to become very hot and strong with no clouds longer visible in the sky. 

Riding through Toronto, the waterfront path was taken to avoid heavy traffic on busy streets however, the waterfront path during the afternoon would also be very busy. From lots of cyclists, people walking, events happening downtown, injured cyclists being tended to on the path by paramedics and a severe car crash where the path intersected one of the roads, we knew this wasn’t going to be an easy segment. Being on the path I would no longer have my support car behind me, limiting our communication. This was expected to be the most stressful part of the ride, as long as we could get through this, the rest was going to be easy and calm.

Being the busiest part of the route, it was known time was going to be lost here with an already 30 minutes of stop time just from stop signs and red streetlights. During this segment, the average speed was 29.5km/hr at 225W with an average HR of 152bpm.

Oshawa to Thousand Islands

From this point on we knew the most stressful part of the ride was out of the way and would be much more smooth sailing. At about the 8-hour mark, 240km, was when I took my first quick break off of the bike. I took a few minutes to mentally reset, stock up on fresh bottles, food and reapply sunscreen with the strong UV rays. Similar to much of the previous part of the route, this segment had still maintained very flat elevation. With the heat really starting to set in during this ride, I started experiencing cramps on the bike as we had been losing so much fluid and salt, leaving my kit with salt stains all over. Two hours of easier pedaling and massaging seemed to help while intaking as much sodium and fluid as we could. As we approached Kingston, the sun was starting to go down at the 13hr 40min mark, we decided to change bibs, clean and reapply a dressing on my foot from a slight injury the week of and transition into night gear with a high vis vest, lights, etc.. 

Temperatures stayed warm but slowly started to drop while the sun had started to set which in turn led to a very high humidity. We averaged a speed of 32.0km/hr during this segment pushing 219W at 135BPM.

Thousand Islands to Niagara Falls

Riding this route a year prior, I knew what I was expecting during this stretch and had always looked at it as one segment in my mind for some unknown reason. The last 375km stretched from the Thousand Islands Border Crossing back to Niagara Falls, NY. This border crossing required a mandatory shuttle as cyclists are not allowed to cross. Once crossing the border, we pulled over as soon as we were able to and continued the journey through the night. It was known this whole stretch would not be easy, with nothing but rolling hills all the way until the end.

The quiet upper state NY roads were filled with wildlife during the night. From dodging multiple deer, bunnies, skunks, a groundhog and a dog! The night time temperatures dropped to 13°C but, was incredibly humid. My kit stayed damp throughout the night and my Coros Dura headunit was almost unreadable with all the water and condensation on it. As tough as we knew all the rolling hills would be, it was perfect for keeping me on my toes and avoiding drowsiness on the bike. Whilst also giving me a chance to get out of the saddle a lot more for comfort compared to the rest of the route being so flat. 

The sun eventually started to rise, showing a beautiful sunrise to start the morning. It wasn’t quick before the temperature reached a hot 30°C, where it was imperative to keep bags of ice on my back under the jersey to keep the core temperature down. As we rolled through Rochester at 8am, I knew the rest to Niagara was the home stretch. The last few hours I started to experience some very painful chaffing, resulting in soft pedaling back to the finish line with the advantage of a slight tailwind. Between the pain from chaffing and the increased RPE at this point, it was just too much to hold onto my goal pace until the end.

We were able to complete this segment with an average speed of 30.4km/hr at 196W averaging 128bpm.

Finish

After an added 10km total added to the route from construction detours, lots of heat, a humid night and countless hours of riding, we finally made it to Niagara Falls, NY. Pulling up to the Rainbow International Bridge at 12:27pm, June 28th, with a total elapsed time of 28:23:16 over 830.36km.

I was very happy with the performance of the ride, being able to hold onto my goal pace for majority of it. Finishing the ride with an average speed of 31.1km/hr with an average HR of 135bpm.

Equipment Used

  • 2020 Giant TCR
  • Specialized Pro Expert Mirror Saddle
  • Bontrager Aeolus 50 Elite Wheels
  • Continental GP5000 STR Tires
  • Profile Design Legacy II Aero Bars
  • Favero Assioma Pedals
  • Coros Dura Head Unit
  • Fenix front and rear lights

Nutrition Consumed

  • 20x 1L bottles with 90g carbs
  • 17x Fruit 2 Go bars
  • 3x Uncrustables
  • 5x Rice Krispie Squares
  • 2x Poptarts
  • 2x Ensure Drink
  • 1x Bag of Sour Patches
  • 1x Bag of Sour Keys
  • 1x McDonalds Junior Chicken
  • 1x Tim Hortons Sausage Farmers Wrap
  • 1x Tim Hortons Espresso
  • 2x Green Apple Rockstar’s 
  • 4x 100mg Caffeine Tablets

Acknowledgements

Ultra-distance records are never accomplished alone.

Thank you to the support crew, officials, family members, sponsors, and everyone who contributed to making this attempt possible. Their commitment, expertise, and encouragement were essential to the successful completion of this record attempt.

Thank you to everyone who has supported and stood behind me in this journey raising awareness and funds towards mental health with my Ride Beyond Limits campaign.