I swear I'm not dead... in fact contrary to what many of you may believe, I'm not even really relaxing. I've spent the past 3 days trying to re-integrate myself into society and set up my new life in Toronto, which is much harder than I thought it would be.
Even though I lived in Montreal for 8 years, the day I arrived here, I actually found the city to be too much stimulus. After a month and a half out in the woods, with nothing to focus on but left, right, left, there's a bear, right, left... I found that my mind was simply not ready for so much going on. Still, I'm slowly adapting again, and shedding off my animalistic instincts to get back to urban living.
I've got a series of 'wrap-up' posts that I'm hoping to get through over the next week or two. My initial intention was to start doing them immediately after the ride, however life has been so busy since arrival that I haven't had the chance. I actually started waking up at 6am again just so that I could get things done. However, considering that I wasn't even supposed to be arriving until today (Friday) I'm really not behind at all; in fact I'm still ahead.
Today, I thought it could be fun to share some of the statistics and break down some of the numbers for you on this trip. These were things which stuck out in my mind and interesting little points that I thought needed to be aired:
-Days on the road: 30
-Total Distance Covered: 3646.42km
-Total Time Cycling: 162 hours, 8 minutes
-Daily Average: 121.54km
-Longest Day: 210.27km (Moose Jaw -> Grenfell)
-Shortest Day: 64.17km (Virden -> Souris)
-Total Average Speed: 22.81km/h
-Best Daily Average: 29.54km/h (coming into Winnipeg)
-Worst Daily Average: 16.56km/h (headwinds & hills near Marathon)
-Trip Max Speed: 69.05km/h (Airport Rd, just north of Toronto)
-Rainy Days: 5
-Rained Out: 1
-Tailwind Days: 5
-Calm Wind Days: 6
-Headwind Days: 19 (now do you understand what all the complaining was about?)
-Coldest Temperature: 3 C (night near Marathon)
-Hottest Temperature: 35 C (day out of Calgary)
-Chain Repairs: 0
-Wheel Replacements: 1 (rear)
-Spoke Replacements: 7
-Flat Tires: 9
-Nights in a house: 11 (thanks again everyone!!)
-Nights in a hotel: 1
-Nights in a campground: 2
-Nights in the bush: 16
-Bear Sightings: 2
-Bear Attacks: 0
-Hawk Attacks: 1
-Touring Cyclist Sightings: 11
-Times forced to hit the gravel: 4 (1 near Wawa, 1 near Prawda, 2 on Bruce Peninsula)
-Longest stretch of days without showering: 5
-Song most often screamed aloud: Hey Jude: The Beatles
-Layers of sunburn: 4
-Last time since I shaved: August 19
-Songs written on trip: 5
-Amazing people met: countless
I've still got endless stories to tell and so much information to update you on, but only so much time to devote to this campaign now that I'm back to city living. Keep watching the website for the odd periodic wrap-up on the trip and on how the fund raising is going!
Lastly, a big hello to everyone who was able to make it out to Calgary today for the annual Myeloma Canada conference!! I wish I could have joined you, but I'm too exhausted to justify traveling again. At minimum, I'll "see" you tonight at the dinner!
www.prairiepedal.com
Aftermath: Stats
Day 30: Fin.
Ring the alarum bell, murder and treason!!!
No, no, wait... wrong story. Anyhoo, guess where I am??
Throughout my life, I've almost become used to having people tell me to slow down and do things at a better pace so that I get it right. I guess my biggest issue has always been, why can't I do things as fast as I want and still get them right? This entire trip spanned 3646km and while I look back on this adventure with fond memories, I woke up the morning after the ferry and said to myself, I'm ready to get home.
"...330km away in Tobermory, but I told him that if the roads were good, and I got a bit of a tailwind, I might try to do it in 2 days. It was windy. The roads mostly had no shoulder and sometimes had what I refer to as "the chiropractor". And to top it all off, it was the end of a long weekend."
For those of you who know me, and those who have gotten to know me over this trip... give your head a shake. The above was an obvious ploy to draw you in and mislead you to think that life was downtrodden awfulness.
Don't get me wrong, it was one of the worst mornings I'd experienced. The roads were that bad, the wind was horrid and the traffic was awful. However, none of this stopped me from pushing through the pain and fighting my way towards Toronto. I put in 180km, and made it that much closer to home.
My morning was horrid, however before I get to today, let me talk about yesterday. Things were still horrible through Owen Sound. Around 10km past Meaford, a car pulled over and asked me, "why aren't you on the Georgian trail?".
My obvious answer was, "the what trail?". I spent the next few minutes learning about the area and the fact that not 100m south of the highway, there existed a packed limestone trail perfect for cycling which had evaded me thus far.
This trail ended up being the high point of my entire trip, and quite possibly the only thing which got me through the long day. It was isolated, it was close to nature, and it was peaceful. It was everything about cycling that I love, and a reminder of why I was willing to do this ride in the first place. This simple 34km path was enough to make me ignore the dark sides of my trip and even consider doing it ever again.
I reached Collingwood and set my tent up near an abandoned factory. It felt like the start of a bad horror film, but I made it through my last night in the bush and prepared myself for my last day on the road.
I was prepared to go through Barrie, however when I talked to a local in Collingwood, he suggested that going through Barrie could mean certain doom by traffic. He recommended another route which would have decent shoulders, and little traffic. I was immediately in love with this route due to my obsession with numerology and the fact that I would be traveling on highway 42 (the meaning of life).
Highway 42 was everything I had hoped it would be, HOWEVER once I hit Dufferin county, and the highway changed to the 18, the meaning of life turned into an awful, awful joke, with me as the punch line. The hills were enough to rival lake Superior. If you don't believe me, look at the stats to see that I hit my new top speed today. Traveling at nearly 70km/h is all well and good until you realize that you have to climb up the hill that you just rocketed down.
A lot of people ask me what it feels like to be on a fully loaded bike at 69km/h. That's a dead lie, no one's ever asked me that, however I will say this regardless; traveling at that speed, one feels as though if you wink one eye without blinking both, you will offset your balance enough to quickly become a grease stain on the pavement.
After the hills, life became even worse, since I began to pull into the city around 3pm. I thought my timing was perfect to avoid 5pm rush hour, however as my roomates informed me, "rush hour" in Toronto lasts from about 3pm-8pm. I weaved my way in and out of traffic and must have been quite a sight to see with my huge panniers sticking off the back and my slightly crazed temperment from being in the bush for so long.
And then, as though it wasn't real, I was home. Through the traffic, the hills, the lakes, the heat, the wind and the pain, I emerged anew. I'd tell you how I feel right now, but I can't quite make sense of it all. For the time being, I've really just been trying to get myself used to having people around and add to the monumental list of things I have to do now that I'm re-integrating myself into society.
In the coming days, I hope to update the site with all sorts of fun statistics, interesting stories, and new updates on the campaign, so keep your eyes peeled.
If you have enjoyed reading about my adventure and still hope to give to Myeloma Canada, please help me aid the over 6000 Canadians living with this horrid disease and click on the link in the top right corner. If you've already helped me out on my way and contributed, thank you so much for your support.
I have a lot more to say, but for now... I just need to remind myself how to live again.
Day 29: Beaten, bloody, burnt & bruised
I called my roomate Iain last night to let him know I was getting close and to see how he was holding fort in toronto. I was around 330km away in Tobermory, but I told him that if the roads were good, and I got a bit of a tailwind, I might try to do it in 2 days.
I've obviously not been paying very close attention on this trip.
As though the moment those words were uttered from my mouth, the damage was done and no amount of touching wood, taking it back or begging for mercy was going to change anything.
It was windy. The roads mostly had no shoulder and sometimes had what I refer to as "the chiropractor". And to top it all off, it was the end of a long weekend.
Cyclists, if I can give you one piece of advice, it is to NEVER travel on the roads leading back to a city after a long weekend. While I'd lost the semis of the trans-Canada, they were replaced by a continuous line of impatient drivers, begrudgingly hauling their lives back to responsibility. I was run off the road twice; once by an RV who wasn't quite aware how long he was when pulling back in front of me, and once by an oncoming car who figured I didn't count as approaching traffic when overtaking the car in front of him.
Good times. Good times.
The one cool thing I can say about today is that I somehow beat my old speed record coming down a hill into Wiarton. My bike has now traveled over 64km/h while fully loaded. I'll leave it to you to guess where I'm hiding tonight. Think of it like a giant game of where's Waldo. Feel free to comment your entry below and the winner will get a big, sweaty, 5 day unshowered hug... assuming I can muster the strength.
My knees are starting to grind when they move. The pins in my ankle creak with each big push and I've started to feel a nice soreness in a bad place. The right shoulder which was giving me problems long ago can no longer be stretched without sharp, shooting pain. I can never sit quite right, regardless of what I'm sitting on and I don't think I've had a 'proper' bowel movement in weeks. I have 3 or 4 layers of sunburns, and I look like a superhero without his mask because of my glasses tan. When I lean in close on the road, I can feel my thigh muscles gurgle... I don't really know what that means.
Mentally, I likely make my body look pristine. I miss my friends. I miss my family. I miss people. I freak the hell out of restaurant employees by trying to have in depth conversations with them and likely being a bit too eager to talk. I scream at the wind sometimes, louder than I've ever yelled in my life. I laugh uncontrolably when I finish climbing a hill, only to see an even larger one on the horizon. I stopped saying my mantras, and now sometimes I just make ogre-like noises when I'm having a tough go.
I'm done, but I'm not quite done.
Day 28: I'M ON A BOAT!!
Well I should like to think todays title is pretty self-explanatory, and you can likely also guess how far I made it today.
A hefty headwind blew up from lake Huron today. The roads looked as though Manitoulin island had recently experienced some seismic activity. The hills were even back in moderate force. However none of this mattered for a few reasons. First, it was a gorgeous, sunny day yet again. Second, I got to ride a boat for the first time in likely years. And lastly, I'm now so close to Toronto that I can smell it (on that note, is the garbage collection strike over yet?).
Operation kill the kilometers continued today. I likely would have tried to go further but by the time the ferry let off at Tobermory, it was almost dark and I struggled to find a "campsite". However, I'm now settled in with the bugs, slugs and bear cubs where I belong. I can't tell if I'm going to miss living out in the woods in this state of peaceful wilderness.
No, wait... check that. I won't miss this at all. I'm cold, wet, my back aches and I think I'd consider having one of my kidneys harvested to get a bed.
Ok, maybe I'll miss the slugs a little. ;-)
Day 27: Listen to my own words
Something hit me last night, and it wasn't a truck. When I go on vacation, the first few days are always difficult since I'm still stuck in my obsessive, tunnel-vision-focus work mode. It isn't until I have a couple days off that I remember how to relax and start enjoying myself.
Now granted, this isn't really a vacation (read: one of the most difficult things I've ever done) but it is still an adventure and I feel as though I've allowed the same plague to infect this trip, but on a much larger level. Through this entire journey, I had been so focused on my schedule, or my biking statistics, or every little press release, or making sure that everything was supposed to be perfect, that I neglected to let myself relax and enjoy the trip much. Yes, this may be in part why the campaign has gone so well (nearly $30,000 raised!! We're almost there!) but I want to make sure I'm doing things my way too.
I'll get there when I get there
if I even get there at all
I think I wrote these words somewhere back in Saskatchewan, but I don't think I've been living by them. I rushed through the cold and rain to make sure I was in the Soo when I said I would. I pushed myself through the prairies and barely noticed the few fields beside me. Even just two days ago, I nearly had a hissy fit when I had to re-plan my route and miss out on Subury.
But no more. From here on, the only place I need to be is finished and the best time to do that is when I finish. That said, my current situation is likely a bit counter intuitive. My body feels great, but my mind is exhausted, lonely, and wants to be with friends. As such, my days are getting longer and my distances more aggressive. The 10th is well in hand as a finish date and the 9th is starting to look more and more appetizing. If it's all got to be done anyway, I'd rather make hay while the sun is shining.
So, I'm a bit past Espanola today. It was another sunny day, with a small, unfortunate headwind, but that didn't stop me from marching over 130kms. Only an hour ago, I bid adieu to the trans-Canada for good. I'm now on the #6 to Manitoulin island and will later be on smaller roads in southern Ontario. It was a good road for over 3200km, but like all things good and bad, it must come to an end. I can't say I'll miss all the heavy transport traffic, or the horrible road conditions, but we'll see what the road ahead holds.
I'll likely be catching the ferry tomorrow and from there... only time will tell.
