Second Last Day

We’re holed up in a Comfort Inn again tonight. While it’s not raining now, the forecast says it will be by morning. Packing up a wet tent and equipment just doesn’t feel like fun. Heading out in the rain will be bad enough.

This detour cost us over a kilometer for a 50 meter break in the trail for a huge construction site.

This morning, we did head out in the rain. It rained on us for the first 25 or 39 km, never really hard, but hard enough that we wore rain jackets and ran our flashing lights. We’re off main roads so when the Mallorytown restaurant showed up at about the 40 km mark it was very welcome. Coffee, tea,, and homemade butter tarts really gave life a new feeling. The lady that owns the place was so excited about our trip that she had to have pictures (just to show her grand children).

One thing that we have noticed, is that our method of riding hard for most of the day leaves little energy, or time, to explore the places we end up in. We get to know a motel or campground, grocery stores, and various restaurants, but the things that make these places unique are often closed when we arrive, or look like they would take too much time if we come across them on the way. As we plan future trips, I think we will add rest days to allow our wounds, abrasions, sore muscles, and worn patches to heal, as well as providing some time to act like tourists.

We have just less than 100km left to cover tomorrow. The forecast says we will have rain all day tomorrow.

Its a Century

A Century, in cycling terms, is a 100 mile ride. We did one, our first one, today.

Last night, we stopped a little before our intended destination. J had today’s ride calculated at a little over 100 km. We started, from St Zotique, Quebec,  in good time. since the weather forecast for Brockville was for rain later in the afternoon and we hoped to miss it. Tomorrow is supposed to rain as well.

After 15 k or so we passed back into Ontario and on to  the Waterfront Trail. The wind is almost always from the west, so, in normal circumstances, we would be facing the wind. Today was not normal and the wind was on our backs. With the possibility of rain tomorrow, it seemed to make sense to go as far as possible today, maybe even 100 miles, the century.

Just before Prescott it started to spit rain, and then it came harder. We sat some of it out over hot chocolate, lemon meringue pie and chocolate cake in a restaurant. The rain did not stop, so we got back on the bike and rode the last 25 km splashing through puddles. It wasn’t pouring, but by the time we were done, we were good and wet.

Tonight we will stay in a Comfort Inn. We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Stats: Distance: 162km

Average Moving Speed: 22.7km/hr

A Year Ago Today

A year ago today, we had just finished our walk on the Camino de Santiago. The night before we had celebrated M’s birthday and in the morning we went to the Pilgrim’s Mass and joined with hundreds of other pilgrims in  the end of something and the beginning of something else. As I have written before, that journey has had a profound, and yet, unclear effect on both of our lives. We keep coming back to it, studying it, reliving the experience.

We are doing some of that now. One of the reasons that Montreal (or actually Brossard) is on the bike trip that we are now on, is that we have the opportunity to visit with some of the good friends that we made on that journey. Last night, we celebrated M’s birthday with supper at an Indian restaurant. We are staying at C’s house and enjoying her wonderful hospitality and her cats. In the past year M and C have become a couple, another product of the Camino experience.

We talked together about journeys last night and recognized again that the thing that makes a trip, for us anyway, are the people you meet along the way. Not a day has gone by in which we have not had a meaningful conversation with at least one person, shared some help along the way (yesterday I did some bike maintenance for a woman who just could not figure out how to pump up her tire)

We have other contacts as well. You really should read J’s post about our experience at Oka.

We’re on Day 3 Already

A while ago, I wrote about a trip we were planning on our tandem bicycle. Well, we’re on it! We’ve been our three days, covered almost 300 km, and, believe it or not, J and I are still liking each other.

We used Google Maps to set up the trip. They’ve got a beta program there that will set up bicycle routes. We used that, transferred the route to Mapmyride.com and from there to the Garmin. The first line of the Google map warns users that this is a beta program and should not necessarily be trusted. In most cases it has done a good job. This morning, it took us off of a busy paved road (Highway 7) where we were motoring along at 27-28 km/hour on to a gravel road; very scenic, very slow. In the past three days more than half of our pedaling has been on gravel roads, rail trails and cycle paths. Google has mostly done its job, however, at one point it had us looking a very large pond where it thought there was a road.

These guys were working on the Cataraqui Trail and gave us lots of directions and advice. They were passionate about their trail.

We are having a great trip. You can see more details at the route journal that we are keeping on Crazyguyonabike.com. The best part of theses trips is always the people that we meet on the way. Our mode of transport  gets lots of comments from both cyclists and noncyclists. Lots of folks stop to talk, to give advice, to tease J about being a hanger-on. They want to know where we came from, where we are going, and how sore we are now (we are a bit sore)

So far, the weather has been great, on the hot side. Tomorrow there is talk of rain. That could make things a little more uncomfortable.

Tandem or Not, Controversy Solved

A week or so ago, I wrote about an upcoming cycling trip we are planning for the end of May. The post ended with some indecision. Do we ride our tandem bike and pull a trailer or do we ride our touring bikes as we did in 2010 and carry pannier bags?

The decision has been made. We are going with the tandem. Part of the answer came on a ride last week with friends who are serious riders. We rode the tandem into town (18km) had coffee with them, and joined them on the first half of their ride which went past our door (29 km). These folks like to ride hard and we were able to keep up quite nicely. Normally, J, who is a smaller person, would be found far in the rear and I would be somewhere behind the leaders and on the edge of cardiac arrest. This time, we spent a considerable part of the ride leading, and never were very far from the rest of the pack. Two can be better than one. (in more things than biking…our wedding text).

Suggestions for a name for this bike would be appreciated

So, this past weekend we went shopping on cyberspace for a trailer and ended up buying one from our local bike shop. It had been in inventory for long enough that they were willing to part with it at a lower price than any we found on the web.  We’re going to be long and corners will be wide. We will be a little more vulnerable. If a bike fails when there are two, the other can ride for help or parts. If a pannier breaks, contents can be spread between the other seven. Now all of our eggs are in one basket. Hopefully the entire route has good cell phone coverage!

Tandem Bike Compatibility Test

This test comes courtesy of Santana Cycles Inc, a company that specializes in building tandem bikes so the results may be a little skewed.

Will you like it? Can you even do it? By taking this test, you can discover all this and more in the privacy of your own home.

Answer each question individually to obtain your 0 – 50 solo score. Then, total both of your scores to determine your combined 0 – 100 point tandem quotient. Finally, compare your TQ to the scale to find out if a tandem is in your future.

Question #1.

Would you enjoy spending more time together?

Give yourself two points if you share at least one meal a day at the same table. Add another two points if you are often in the same room during leisure hours, and an additional point if you spend your leisure time sharing the same activity.

Question #2.

Do you value fitness?

Give yourself a point if you think your level of fitness is more important than your weight. Add another point if you are currently in good health, and a point if you’d like to be in better shape a year from now. You gain another point if you participate in an aerobic activity at least once a week, and yet another if you use stairs instead of an elevator.

Question #3.

Do you need to control stress?

Give yourself two points if you have a full-time job. Another point if you commute more than 15 minutes to get there. Add a point if you have children at home, and another if you don’t eat three square meals each day.

Question #4.

Do you enjoy the outdoors?

Courtesy Santana Cycles

Give yourself a point if you get the winter blues. Add another if you enjoy walking in your neighborhood. A big point if you enjoy gardening. Another point if you are a hiker or camper. And a final point if you participate in an outdoor sport, like playing tennis or golf, or coaching soccer or softball.

Question #5.

Do you have children?

Give yourself one point for each child, and an additional point if they live at home. Sorry, no points for dogs, cats, or tropical fish. Five points maximum.

Question #6.

Do you enjoy travel?

Give yourself a point if you go on an annual vacation. Another point if you don’t visit the same place year after year. A point if you’ve ever vacationed on an island. A point if you read travel magazines or the travel section of your Sunday paper. A final point if you enjoyed the local cuisine on your last vacation.

Question #7.

Do you value teamwork?

Give yourself a point if you wished the two of you looked good on a dance floor. Another point if you work on your taxes together without arguing. Another point if you share access to a joint checking account. Another point if the two of you share a favorite movie or song. And a final point for sharing a hobby or sport.

Question #8.

Do you like to socialize with compatible couples?

Give yourselves a point if you’ve invited friends over for dinner in the past six months. Another point if it was a full-blown dinner party. Add a third point if you’ve recently accompanied another couple to a movie, ball game, concert, or play. Two more points if you’ve ever shared a vacation with another couple.

Question #9.

Can you cycle near home?

Give yourself a point if you don’t live in the city. Another point if there’s a bike path within ten miles of home. Add a point if you live on a rural road, or are within five miles of a rideable dirt road. And two more points if you are willing to drive thirty minutes to reach a place that’s fun to ride.

Question #10.

Are you already a cyclist?

Captain give yourself five points if you already understand shifting, braking, pedal cadence, and flat tire repair. If not, give yourself four points just for being willing to learn.

Stoker give yourself one point if you are already a cyclist or a point even if you haven’t yet learned the ropes (cycling experience is not a prerequisite). Add two more points if you can appreciate the extra freedom of riding in the passenger seat of a car (instead of driving). Give yourself another point if you’re not a backseat driver, and a fifth if you have faith in your potential captain.

Check your Test Results

Cycling Trip 2012

We’ve been planning another long distance bike trip for this spring. Those who follow this blog will remember that in 2010 we did a couple of trips, one to Pelee Island and one around Lake Ontario. Last year, our cycling took a hit from walking, both on the Camino and on the Bruce Trail, so apart from a number of shorter local trips, the bikes did not get much of a workout.

This spring, in fact, about a month from now, we hope to spend most of two weeks in eastern Ontario and Quebec. We’ve mapped our tentative route which includes stops in Ottawa and a visit with friends in Montreal. This trip also includes the piece of the waterfront trail that we did not do two years ago when we turned right and followed Lake Ontario at Kingston.

There is a small debate that needs to be cleared yet. Two years ago, in the spring, we bought a pair of Opus Legato touring bikes which we used for the previous long treks. Later that year we bought a Miyata tandem which we have put a few hundred kilometers on. The debate is: do we take the touring bikes with pannier bags or pull a trailer with the tandem? We know that we can move faster with the tandem, but it is less maneuverable in urban areas. J and I do like each other, but can we stand being so close together for 950 km? The tandem does mean that no one gets left behind, and we can talk to eachother more easily. Going with the tandem also means buying more stuff, we don’t currently own the trailer, so this is a concern as well.

The debate continues, but one way or the other, we will ride.

Stay tuned for the  end of the story……

First Bike Ride of the Season

Looking back over posts from the past years, it looks like I failed to note the date of our first ride in 2011. I’ve got 2010: March 18, and I’m pretty sure that we were no earlier last year. The weather has sort of tricked us, it came on nice a little to quickly, so the road bikes are at the shop for their annual tune up.

It’s almost 6 in the evening and the temperature is still over 20 degrees Celsius. According to the forecast we have more warm days like this one coming.

We rode 20 km on the touring bikes today. It felt good.

I Think the Season Passed

It looks like biking is over for this year.

Today, while hammering away at Hebrew Exegesis and Hermeneutics (I’m using those words just because I can) it seemed that the sun outside was beckoning me to ride. I checked the thermometer, 10 degrees Celsius. I look outside my window again. It doesn’t look too windy. I really do want to go!

So, I put on the spandex (try not to let your imagination run too much here) and another layer, thinking that maybe 10 degrees is not really so warm, and head out.

My first realization that this was not a good idea was when the wind hit me. My east facing window did not give me much indication of the west wind. It was blowing and it was making a wind chill that likely pushed my balmy 10 degrees down to two or three. I went anyway and after a kilometer and a half turned directly into the wind. I lasted another kilometer or so, put my back to the wind and pedaled for home.

By the time I got there, it felt like I might need to spit up a lung. Fingers needed to be pried off of the handlebars.

The bike is inside now, on the trainer, where I guess it will likely stay till next March or April. For the next couple of months the scenery I see biking will be the basement and my computer screen.

So, the end of season number is 1338 km counting all three bikes. Nowhere near last year’s record, but considering all the other things we did this summer, I’m satisfied.

 

2011 MS Ride is Ridden

1852 riders, riding all sorts of bikes 89 km from Grand bend to London Ontario on Saturday and then back by a slightly different route, 85 km on Sunday.  1852 riders raising $1.125 million to defeat Multiple Sclerosis.

J and I were the 2 on the end of 1852. Some folks wondered, as we rode by, how we were counted, did we pay two registration fees, since we were on one bike.  We took our tandem out for the longest run that we have done with it so far and it was a success. Last week I put new tires on the bike, so that should not have been an issue, but it was.  This morning the front tire was flat. We borrowed a pump, rode 15 km, had it pumped again, rode another 30 km and decided to have a new tube installed. There are bike mechanics at all the rest stops (about  15km apart). Our local guy was at stop 3 and was happy to pop in a new tube and have us on our way.

With the two of us pedaling we were able to make excellent time both days and got a lot of comments along the way.  Some of them, like “You know she’s not doing anything at the back”  were not appreciated by my stoker.  She was pedaling hard.

It is all about beating MS though.  We were able to raise more than we ever have before, allowing J to get one of the coveted $1000 jerseys. We were just short for me to get one too.  We certainly appreciate the support we got from our various communities.

Riding with the CRC Loose Spokes, a team of 25 riders all coming from Christian Reformed Churches throughout Ontario allowed us to meet some new people.  Even though we did not always ride together, we did get to know some of the other team members and look forward to riding with them again next year.

It was blazing hot, but it did not rain on us.

A good weekend