Emily Batty previews the Ontario Place course of the 2015 Red Bull Race the Place in Toronto

Resting on Toronto’s Lake Ontario waterfront, the grounds of Ontario Place can be a picture of serenity. On Saturday, though, when Red Bull Race the Place hits the asphalt, it’s likely to be anything but.

As Canadian Cycling Magazine previously reported, the October 3 event is the second of its kind, after the success of 2014’s first roll through the facility’s waterfront paths. Fast-paced with plenty of elevation change, especially in the run-up to a bridge spanning the harbour waters, the course changes wildly and technically through a 3.4 km series of narrow passes, hairpin turns and saddle-exiting climbs. For the event’s two competing categories — track/fixed gear and road/cross — 2015’s Red Bull Race the Place, in terms of races, is going to be a challenging one.

Canadian cycling star Emily Batty had a chance to explore the course herself and the preview ride was filmed, which Red Bull then posted to its website ahead of this weekend’s event. As soon as the 27-year-old rider kicked off, she semed to be visibly impressed.

“Wide open road to start,” she said, rolling through the course’s opening stretches. “Lots of time to get yourself sorted out, feel the position.” As Batty’s ride progressed, she started encountering some of those tight, hairpin turns, something she noted shook up the course unexpectedly. “The course has a lot of corners on it, so it’s super interesting,” she said. “Always something going on.” One of those hairpin turns came with the harbour steadily approaching. If a rider weren’t prepared for it, she noted, they could go right into the water.

The view, though, was something else entirely. “It’s not every day you get to race downtown Toronto,” she said, watching the skyline slide past.

Check the video out on Red Bull’s website and get a sense of what riders can expect this weekend.

The 2015 edition of Red Bull Race the Place gets underway on Saturday, October 3.