I made it home to my parents' house in Dunnville Ontario yesterday afternoon and have been enjoying the best sunsets of my ride. I was greeted in Cayuga by my Aunt's parents, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, and by my Aunt Lois and Uncle Ward and cousins Brandon and Justine. Then when I rolled up to my parents' house my mom, dad and dog K2 were sitting on the front yard to greet me. Thanks for cheering me on everyone!
The night before last I arrived in Guelph and stayed with my sister Laura who took me out for dinner and made sure I was looked after in royal fashion.
Yesterday morning I woke to thunderstorms and rain and decided to push back a meeting with the Huntington's people in Kitchener until lunch time when I could use Laura's car to drive the 30 km to Kitchener instead of taking my bike. It was a great meeting. The Kitchener news paper came out to do a story and then the Huntington's group took me out for lunch at an all you can eat sushi restaurant.... we definitely got our money's worth with my appetite! :)
By 4pm the weather was looking better and I was all packed up and on the road to Dunnville. It was a pretty quick 100 km from Guelph to Dunnville. I was anticipating the "hills" between Caledonia, Cayuga, and Dunnville that I have driven so often, but after all of the riding I've done this summer those "hills" are pretty much non-existent.
Today we cleaned up the barn in preparation for the Rotary meeting that will be held here on Thursday. We're anticipating a pretty big turn out and hopefully some good donations for the Huntington's cause.
It's funny how the most dangerous moments of my trip have been in my most familiar settings. I had a run in with the weed whip at my house in Minneapolis and today while cleaning up the barn, the ladder slipped and I felt about 10 feet mashing up my hand and my hip.... glad I've got a week to recover now :)
Tonight my dad and I cleaned up my bike and got her ready for the next leg of the trip. She's happy when she's clean and shiny.... oh, and I named her Betsy.
Here's a recap of the ride from Webbwood to Guelph.
From Webbwood where I made my last update, I continued my ride with Meaghan and Toby and we stopped in Espanola to have breakfast at Roger Rabbit's which was really good! The Espanola paper came out and took my picture for a story and the owner of the restaurant gave me 20 bucks for my ride. Then we stopped at Giant Tiger to get some minor supplies. I found a $2 kite that I thought would be fun to attach to my bike. It worked pretty good until I got up to speed with a big cross-wind - then the kite was all over the place and I decided to retire the kite. Fun while it lasted. We also stopped to pick raspberries and then found a place with infinitely customizable banana splits - mmmm good!
The trip down across Manitoulin Island was really great too. While waiting at the rotating bridge on to Manitoulin Island we met Rachel who was on her way home and, curious about our ride, offered us a place to stay with her family at their home about 40km down the road. It was a very generous offer and we were excited to accept. During the ride to our newly discovered destination, we stopped for some fun pictures at the "Ten Mile Point".
Arriving about 5km from Rachel's place we were greeted by her and her husband, Todd, who had come out to see if we were still on our way. They directed us to their place and looked right after us with a swim off the dock on the bay where they live, dinner, laundry, and comfy digs for the night. They live on the only unceded indian reserve in Canada. Todd is a negotiator with the government for several of the bands on Manitoulin Island. He gave us a tour of their reservation and had lots of interesting information to share with us about their culture.
The next day we were off to Owen Sound by 7:15 in order to catch the Chi-cheemaun ferry at 9:10 over to Tobermory. On the ferry we met a guy who called himself Koubec and said that he was the cycling champion of the '60s from Yugoslavia. We took a funny picture with him showing off our leg muscles. Then, through a friend of a friend of a friend of my dad's, we were afforded another place to stay. Andrea and Matt and their three kids looked after us very well with a BBQ in their back yard, comfy beds to sleep in, and fun kids to play with. We've been really looked after for the past week! Prior to arriving in Owen Sound we took a little detour along the coast of Georgian to find a place to swim. During the swim I built an inukshuk which is an Inuit symbol indicating that the way is safe.
After Owen Sound Meaghan and Toby split off toward Toronto and I headed toward my sister's house in Guelph. It was a long day of narrow roads and CRAZY drivers. If someone knows anyone at the Ontario Ministry of Transport - please tell them their roads are not bike friendly and their drivers need some safety training - primarily on #6 from Tobermory to Owen Sound. I decided to take some country roads from Owen Sound to Guelph and found them to be just as bad - I think I will actually write a letter.
Arriving in Guelph was a welcoming feeling as I was in familiar territory and staying with my sister, which brings me back to the beginning of my update.
Sleep well and don't fall off any ladders!
The night before last I arrived in Guelph and stayed with my sister Laura who took me out for dinner and made sure I was looked after in royal fashion.
Yesterday morning I woke to thunderstorms and rain and decided to push back a meeting with the Huntington's people in Kitchener until lunch time when I could use Laura's car to drive the 30 km to Kitchener instead of taking my bike. It was a great meeting. The Kitchener news paper came out to do a story and then the Huntington's group took me out for lunch at an all you can eat sushi restaurant.... we definitely got our money's worth with my appetite! :)
By 4pm the weather was looking better and I was all packed up and on the road to Dunnville. It was a pretty quick 100 km from Guelph to Dunnville. I was anticipating the "hills" between Caledonia, Cayuga, and Dunnville that I have driven so often, but after all of the riding I've done this summer those "hills" are pretty much non-existent.
Today we cleaned up the barn in preparation for the Rotary meeting that will be held here on Thursday. We're anticipating a pretty big turn out and hopefully some good donations for the Huntington's cause.
It's funny how the most dangerous moments of my trip have been in my most familiar settings. I had a run in with the weed whip at my house in Minneapolis and today while cleaning up the barn, the ladder slipped and I felt about 10 feet mashing up my hand and my hip.... glad I've got a week to recover now :)
Tonight my dad and I cleaned up my bike and got her ready for the next leg of the trip. She's happy when she's clean and shiny.... oh, and I named her Betsy.
Here's a recap of the ride from Webbwood to Guelph.
From Webbwood where I made my last update, I continued my ride with Meaghan and Toby and we stopped in Espanola to have breakfast at Roger Rabbit's which was really good! The Espanola paper came out and took my picture for a story and the owner of the restaurant gave me 20 bucks for my ride. Then we stopped at Giant Tiger to get some minor supplies. I found a $2 kite that I thought would be fun to attach to my bike. It worked pretty good until I got up to speed with a big cross-wind - then the kite was all over the place and I decided to retire the kite. Fun while it lasted. We also stopped to pick raspberries and then found a place with infinitely customizable banana splits - mmmm good!
The trip down across Manitoulin Island was really great too. While waiting at the rotating bridge on to Manitoulin Island we met Rachel who was on her way home and, curious about our ride, offered us a place to stay with her family at their home about 40km down the road. It was a very generous offer and we were excited to accept. During the ride to our newly discovered destination, we stopped for some fun pictures at the "Ten Mile Point".
Arriving about 5km from Rachel's place we were greeted by her and her husband, Todd, who had come out to see if we were still on our way. They directed us to their place and looked right after us with a swim off the dock on the bay where they live, dinner, laundry, and comfy digs for the night. They live on the only unceded indian reserve in Canada. Todd is a negotiator with the government for several of the bands on Manitoulin Island. He gave us a tour of their reservation and had lots of interesting information to share with us about their culture.
The next day we were off to Owen Sound by 7:15 in order to catch the Chi-cheemaun ferry at 9:10 over to Tobermory. On the ferry we met a guy who called himself Koubec and said that he was the cycling champion of the '60s from Yugoslavia. We took a funny picture with him showing off our leg muscles. Then, through a friend of a friend of a friend of my dad's, we were afforded another place to stay. Andrea and Matt and their three kids looked after us very well with a BBQ in their back yard, comfy beds to sleep in, and fun kids to play with. We've been really looked after for the past week! Prior to arriving in Owen Sound we took a little detour along the coast of Georgian to find a place to swim. During the swim I built an inukshuk which is an Inuit symbol indicating that the way is safe.
After Owen Sound Meaghan and Toby split off toward Toronto and I headed toward my sister's house in Guelph. It was a long day of narrow roads and CRAZY drivers. If someone knows anyone at the Ontario Ministry of Transport - please tell them their roads are not bike friendly and their drivers need some safety training - primarily on #6 from Tobermory to Owen Sound. I decided to take some country roads from Owen Sound to Guelph and found them to be just as bad - I think I will actually write a letter.
Arriving in Guelph was a welcoming feeling as I was in familiar territory and staying with my sister, which brings me back to the beginning of my update.
Sleep well and don't fall off any ladders!
RSS Feed
