July 2009
10 posts
Day 10 June 22nd: Repentigny, Quebec to Place...
On our way to Repentigny, Quebec, we made a quick stop at MacDonald’s, which was definitely not my first choice of places to eat. In fact, I haven`t set foot inside a MacDonald’s in about 10 years. However, I was so hungry that I was willing to forgo the self-imposed boycott in order to prevent my stomach from starting world war three. It needed food and I wasn’t going to stand in its way (I...
Day 9 June 21st: Pickering, ON to Belleville, ON
How our drivers managed it, I’ll never know, but they got lost in the Pickering Town Centre Parking lot, while trying to find where the Sears store was. After a phone call from the other RV driver (who was watching us circle the parking lot), we finally rolled into the place where we would sleep the night. We were once again on our own, the other two teams having gone to their respective start...
Day 8 June 20th: Woodstock, ON to Sick Kids,...
Plink. Plink. Plink. Plink. Wearily I opened an eye and gazed outside the bunk truck door. Great. Rain. And it didn’t look like the kind of rain that would stop anytime soon. The sky was grey and cloudy, and I felt a cool breeze wafting through the screen door. Welcome to Southern Ontario! I hoped the rain wouldn’t discourage people from coming out and riding with us—not everyone...
Day 7 June 19th: Espanola to Owen Sound
We travelled all night, catching the occasional blink of sleep in between the EPS’ annoying voice informing us that she’s “recalculating…recalculating…” and the loud, obnoxious sound of driving over the rumble strip. We got attacked by the late night munchies, so we stopped briefly at Boston Pizza where Drew and Jim ordered pizza and shared a few beers while soliciting $100 worth of...
Day 6, June 18th: Terrace Bay, ON to Wawa, ON
Thick, pea soup. That’s what comes to mind as I climb down from the RV and look around. A heavy, thick fog is drifting off Lake Superior, making it almost impossible to see anything farther than 5 feet in front of me. I make my way to the community centre where Eric and Jamie are serving breakfast and I help myself to a serving of porridge. The fog is on everyone’s mind as we eat, and we...
June 2009
57 posts
Day 5, June 17: Kenora, Ontario to Mine Centre,...
Today we had breakfast in Kenora and were on our bikes by 8 am for another full day of cycling. On our way to Fort Francis, the peloton almost got hit by a deer as it jumped out 6 feet in front us and ran across the road. The wildlife we’ve seen on this adventure is incredible! We’ve seen more wildlife than people I think! The big difference between cycling and driving in the car is that we...
Day 4, June 16th: Carlyle, Saskatchewan to...
We were all in low spirits today. We hadn’t seen anyone for days—no community events, no ride-a-longs, no children—and we were beginning to feel a little cheated and yes, a little sorry for ourselves. We had had three days of difficult riding—albeit beautiful and stimulating— but with no real connection to the cause. Our last event was in Vancouver and it was hard to hear how the...
Day 3, June 15th: Medicine Hat, Alberta to Swift...
Dead prairie dog…dead prairie dog…dead prairie dog…ooh, live prairie dog…oops, dead prairie dog…
For kilometre after kilometre we didn’t see person, house or farm, but we saw hundreds of prairie dogs, some living, but mostly dead, being victims of vehicular collision. Prairie Dogs are burrowing rodents (not actually dogs) native to the grasslands of North America....
Day Two, June 14th: Vernon BC to Glacier Park...
A pancake breakfast was provided in the wee hours of the morning by Goodlife Fitness Club who opened their doors to us so that we could get ourselves ready for a full day of riding. Before we left they gave us a cheque for the cause.
Our first destination was Salmon Arm, BC, but before we arrived we had a small crash in the Peleton which involved, you guessed it, me. The rider in front of me...
Day One, June 13th: Vancouver to Manning Park, BC ...
At 7:30 this morning we left UBC, our home for the past two days, to ride a short distance to Kitslano Beach in Vancouver for the opening ceremony. It was a pleasant ride, with the sun shining and a promise of a warm day ahead of us. As we got closer to the beach we could hear our friends and family cheering us on. A good friend of mine, Marci, who lives in the area, was there to see me off. ...
