Serge Tessier has been organizing a few rides that have been just awesome. He's great at giving tips on how to ride better and more efficiently, as well as teaching newbies like me on how to ride in a group. He's super encouraging too!
He has a challenging ride set up for this Saturday - it is listed on the site under training rides...

Location: Oka
Meet time: 7:45am Start time: 8:00am Distance: 65-85kms
Please meet in the Civic Centre parking lot in Dollard des Ormeaux (corner Sources & Salaberry).
We are 5 weeks away from "D-day" - if you are looking for a mental endurance workout, this ride is for you. We'll be riding about 55kms on a flat surface, however, we will add about 10-30kms on the hills of Oka. The goal of this ride is to develop a bit of endurance just in case the rain or Easterly winds decide to ruin our trek to Quebec city on July 11-12th. In oka, there quite a few hills but you'll always find a plateau to recuperate. We'll leave together but once we reach Oka, there are strategic points along the route that will allow those wanting to leave at 10, 12, 20 and 30kms in. There will also be a line management captain that will assist each one of these groups, so you'll never be left alone. PS. Please prong provisions with you for the whole ride. We will stop for 5 minutes every hour but we won't stop to eat lunch. Riding speed is 25-28kms. Please bring 2 x $1.25 with you to cross Ile Bizard. Please RSVP to Serge Tessier at serge.tessier@bell.ca or by phone at 514-624-3067.

Thing is he knows that I'm not good enough to keep up with these guys - but would still like to organize something for people who are closer to my level... (averaging closer to 20 km an hour). We're trying to see if there is any interest here for that.  Please let me know if you're looking for people to train/practice with - and at what level you are... We are looking at possibly an evening/after work practice ride followed by weekends from now until July 11th...

Also - on June 27th - there is another metropolitain challenge organized by Velo Quebec...
http://www.velo.qc.ca/english/index.php?page=challenge
Might be a good training run 2 weeks before the big day... anyone signed up for it? I'm sure the weather will be better this time!??!