The View from the Rear–Reflections

We’ve been home from our tandem ride for a few days now; it’s time to reflect on this trip, before important details are forgotten.

Are we finished with long distance cycling?  Nope!  There’s something to be said about the independance, the challenge, the joy of pedalling, even the physical discomfort, that speaks to us.  In fact, we continue to dream about a cross country trip.

What would we do differently?  Rest days!  Not only to give our bodies a rest, but to give us a chance to explore some of the interesting places we just rolled through.  With our longer days of cycling we weren’t much interested in anything more than a bed, whether it was a rather boring campsite or a chain hotel and food, most often at a familiar chain.  The trip would have had more “flavour” if we had the time to find the out-of the-way inn or B & B, if we could have tried foods made by independent chefs, if we could have just been tourists for a day or two.

And what about the tandem?  I won’t be giving up my single bike any time soon. Sometimes space is good!  But for long distance touring the tandem worked well.  Communication was so much easier, packing was easier, the physical challenge was shared, neither of us got left behind or found ourselves way ahead.

Our tandem will be put up for sale and we’ll be looking to upgrade.  Important things to look for include a shock absorbing seat for the stoker (it can be very painful when you don’t see the bumps ahead of time and the captain doesn’t warn you!) and an extra brake for the rear (one set of brakes on a steep hill is not enough to stop the bike!),  higher quality components, especially to make shifting easier, possibly a lighter bike.  We’ll have fun in the next few months looking!

Ready to Ride

The View from the Rear–Hospitality on the Road

One of the things that makes a trip special is the people you meet, both those you already know and those you meet for the first time.

We are grateful for the hospitality of G & M.  They opened their home to us, gave us a bed at the beginning and the end of our trip, fed us more breakfast than we could possibly eat, allowed us to park our truck for the 10 days we were gone and gave us an opportunity to talk about our “shared” children.

The home of G & M. A welcome sight!

In the middle of our trip we stayed with our friend C.  We first met C just over a year ago as part of our Camino group.  Since then, she and M have become an “item”.   We were happy to be able to spend some time with the and it gave us an excuse to cycle through Montreal.  Our timing was great, it was M’s birthday and we got to share a birthday dinner with them.

C & M

Birthday Dinner (M and his daughter G)

 

Thank you to all of you for making our trip more special.

There are also those we meet along the way, who touch our lives for only a moment.  The work crew volunteering their time to make the trail usable.  The two couples who suggested we stop at an art show and have hot dogs for lunch.  The many people who were amazed or horrified at what we consider a holiday, the staff at various places who were extra kind to weary cyclists.

We are grateful.

 

 

The View from the Rear–Triumphant!!!

We’ve finished our ride.  1000 km in 10 days.

The day after our century ride was probably the toughest day for me.  In the fitness world, we talk about “rest days”, the day after a tough workout in which you, well, rest.  It gives your muscles a chance to recover, and is one of the things personal trainers teach their clients from day one.  Well, we broke that very basic rule–no rest day for us…not even an easy day.  The weather again looked rather “iffy” and we actually cycled part of the day in the rain, so again, we chose a hotel rather than a campsite.  This meant staying in Kingston, not quite as far as we had planned.

The last day was much like the day before, muscles were a little more co-operative, but again we spent part of the day cycling in the rain.  We really appreciated our tea and butter tart break in the middle of the morning.

Tea and Buttertarts. How civilized!

We stopped for our last break at a MacDonald’s in a Walmart in Belleville, only 15 km from our final destination.  We overcame the temptation to make a phone call (G, come get us!!) and arrived at our final destination around 4:30.

Tired, dirty, beyond saddle sore, but riding a wave of adrenaline…we did it!

The View from the Rear–A Century!

I was thinking it, he said it!! Maybe we should try for a century!  We’ve never done one, not on our tandem, not on our touring bikes, not even on our road bikes.  Could we do it?

Yes we can and yes we did!

For our non-cycling friends, a century is a 100 mile, or 160 km ride.

We knew this morning the weather was going to turn less than ideal, not camping weather for us and our little tent.  When we started out, the pavement was smooth, the wind at our back; knowing we didn’t have to camp we decided to push on.

We are awesome!

The only downside…I made a mistake with the GPS and missed a few kilometres on our route.  This century turned into a requirement rather than an option.

The View from the Rear–Urban Riding

Bike Path

Bridges, this one got us over a major road.

Detours for bicycles!

and Construction.

We spent two days travelling from Oka to Brossard to St Zotique.  It was the kind of biking which makes the trip interesting.  Bike trails and bridges don’t happen in our part of the world.  But then again, we don’t make very many detours for construction either!

Pictures to follow when a better internet  connection happens!