cruisin' in the country
Back from the bike ride! It was fantastic, challenging and felt great all in one! Total distance 282(.6) km in 3 days. Here's the low-down (pictures on facebook):
Day 1: Toronto to Guelph
97 km in a ~35km/h headwind the whole way. Pretty intense, and there was about a half hour of torrential rain we got caught in just outside of Milton. Of course it stopped just as we found a restaurant to have lunch and wait it out in. And then we spent the rest of the day wet (bike shoes are waterproof except for where your foot goes in... mine were buckets of water for the rest of the day). Lots of hills, we had to get out of the depression Toronto is in, and then climb the escarpment. Also, there's a lot more glacial terrain out there than I had expected (read rolling hills). Due to bad weather we didn't stop as much as we should have, and as a result I bonked somewhere between 70 and 75 km. What a terrible feeling, I barely unclipped, and then basically collapsed on the side of the road. Country people are wonderful: the 4 or 5 people that drove past us all pulled over and offered help. The Twix bar I had in my pack, some gatorade, rest and walking up the next couple hills got me in good enough shape to finish the ride without calling a cab! I would have walked the whole way rather than do that though.
We got into Guelph, and walked around a bit. The campus is beautiful, and there are some lovely old buildings downtown. It was very dead though, I guess most people were somewhere else for the long weekend. Fueled up on pub food and a few pints, and then fell asleep pretty early! Muscles in repair mode from the intense ride.
Day 2: Guelph to Brantford (via Cambridge and Paris)
68 km. A bit of a headwind in a few places, and we came around one corner to discover a gravel road and steep uphill. I walked that one, since the gravel was very loose and I am still getting used to the new bike (not yet confident enough to stand up and pump for instance). From Cambridge onward we had a pretty good tail wind and were really cooking! A really wonderful day over all. Quick stop in Cambridge for coffee and cookies, and a few extra km to allow sight-seeing and lunch in a pub in Paris (the only open restaurant on the holiday weekend). A few big hills, but mostly going down! We got into Brantford early, and took a cab downtown. Big mistake, there's nothing there. We were too embarrassed to get the same cabbie on the way back (who asked us why exactly we wanted to go there but took us anyway) so we walked back. It was a nice stretch of the non-biking muscles!
Day 3: Brantford to Toronto
117 km. Calm! We were hoping the westerly wind would keep up since we spent the whole day going east. Oh well. You win some and lose some. Some great downhills and good timing all day long. A few extra km on the waterfront trail in Mississauga put us over 100 km, which is great because I've wanted to see if I could handle it for a while. The hill in High Park was murder, seeing as it was at km 115, but a lot easier than I expected too. Happy to be home, we have dinner at our local pub and pass out (I slept for 12 h solid, and was very groggy at work today).
Awesome! I'd do it again without the bonking any day!
Day 1: Toronto to Guelph
97 km in a ~35km/h headwind the whole way. Pretty intense, and there was about a half hour of torrential rain we got caught in just outside of Milton. Of course it stopped just as we found a restaurant to have lunch and wait it out in. And then we spent the rest of the day wet (bike shoes are waterproof except for where your foot goes in... mine were buckets of water for the rest of the day). Lots of hills, we had to get out of the depression Toronto is in, and then climb the escarpment. Also, there's a lot more glacial terrain out there than I had expected (read rolling hills). Due to bad weather we didn't stop as much as we should have, and as a result I bonked somewhere between 70 and 75 km. What a terrible feeling, I barely unclipped, and then basically collapsed on the side of the road. Country people are wonderful: the 4 or 5 people that drove past us all pulled over and offered help. The Twix bar I had in my pack, some gatorade, rest and walking up the next couple hills got me in good enough shape to finish the ride without calling a cab! I would have walked the whole way rather than do that though.
We got into Guelph, and walked around a bit. The campus is beautiful, and there are some lovely old buildings downtown. It was very dead though, I guess most people were somewhere else for the long weekend. Fueled up on pub food and a few pints, and then fell asleep pretty early! Muscles in repair mode from the intense ride.
Day 2: Guelph to Brantford (via Cambridge and Paris)
68 km. A bit of a headwind in a few places, and we came around one corner to discover a gravel road and steep uphill. I walked that one, since the gravel was very loose and I am still getting used to the new bike (not yet confident enough to stand up and pump for instance). From Cambridge onward we had a pretty good tail wind and were really cooking! A really wonderful day over all. Quick stop in Cambridge for coffee and cookies, and a few extra km to allow sight-seeing and lunch in a pub in Paris (the only open restaurant on the holiday weekend). A few big hills, but mostly going down! We got into Brantford early, and took a cab downtown. Big mistake, there's nothing there. We were too embarrassed to get the same cabbie on the way back (who asked us why exactly we wanted to go there but took us anyway) so we walked back. It was a nice stretch of the non-biking muscles!
Day 3: Brantford to Toronto
117 km. Calm! We were hoping the westerly wind would keep up since we spent the whole day going east. Oh well. You win some and lose some. Some great downhills and good timing all day long. A few extra km on the waterfront trail in Mississauga put us over 100 km, which is great because I've wanted to see if I could handle it for a while. The hill in High Park was murder, seeing as it was at km 115, but a lot easier than I expected too. Happy to be home, we have dinner at our local pub and pass out (I slept for 12 h solid, and was very groggy at work today).
Awesome! I'd do it again without the bonking any day!