Tottenham to Nestleton, 118km: Way to go TDC! You're almost there!

 Today ended up being quite a fun day full of exciting events. First and foremost, it was only 118km! Woo hoo! :D

The route took us through the area where I did stream sampling during university, which was awesome. I was getting excited because I was finally familiar with my surroundings. 

Louise and I headed out together as usual. When we were cycling out of Bradford we noticed Mike stopped next to a van with a man and two boys. The two boys were holding up signs which said, “Way to go TDC! You're almost there!” The man did TDC in 1993 when he was 17 which was pretty amazing. He bought the cyclists timbits which was awesome, it was so nice of him to come out and give us his support and treats :)

The next exciting event of the day was Sharon’s Temple, located in the town of Sharon. The temple was closed to visitors; however, an older woman who was a gardener at the Temple told me a brief history. The temple was inspired by the old testament of the Bible. The sphere at the top represents world peace, the spikes around the sphere represent the 12 apostles, and the windows face the four directions. The temple was built between 1825-1831 by the Children of Peace, who were former Quakers and were the first civilian band in Canada. 

At Sharon’s Temple, Louise, Mike, and I met up with Gee and Larry and the 5 of us ventured to the town of Uxbridge. At Uxbridge we stopped at an amazing gelato shop called The Perfect Scoop. The owner is a pharmacist but had an interest in making gelato and thus opened a gelato shop for fun. He showed us how to make gelato which was super awesome and he gave us a free taste of freshly made lemon sorbet, yum yum!

After that the 5 of us continued on our way to camp. In Port Perry we were stopped by a woman who was curious as to what we were doing as she had seen several cyclists pass her home during the day. We told her we were touring the country and she asked us if we wanted to stop for a break and have some drinks. She offered us juice and she showed us her native wildflower garden. I would have to say that experience topped as one of the odd experiences during the tour. It was such a random experience because this woman had no idea who we were and yet she offered us drinks and a chance to relax and take a break in her backyard. It was odd but really nice :)

After that we moseyed our way to camp. Overall it turned out to be an incredible, beautiful day.

Rest Day: Tottenham

The rest day was quite quiet because several riders left to visit family and friends as a chunk of our group was from this area of Southern Ontario. Although almost half of the riders were gone it turned out to be an incredibly relaxing rest day because less people equated to less hustle and bustle.

An amusing incident happened that day. While I was doing laundry at a laundry mat I met a gentleman named Tony who was an Italian and owned a business putting down concrete. He gave me a rock as a souvenir; it was totally random but also sweet. He just randomly started to talk to me and it was fun, you never know who you’ll meet at the laundry mat :D

Owen Sound to Tottenham, 156km: Tan coloured fields and mountains of blue

Today turned out to be another wonderful day :) It was a bit of a challenging ride because there were a lot of rolling hills but the wind was in our back and the scenery was amazing. The landscape was full of rolling tan coloured farm fields.

Although there were a lot of hills, the vistas were stunning. In one location it was called the “Blue Mountains” because the rolling hills actually looked blue and in the distance I could see Georgian Bay.

Louise and I stopped in the village of Walter Falls where there was a tiny Farmer’s Market. I bought maple walnut butter tarts for the two of us and they were sooooo yummy!!!! :D

We stopped for a snack in the town of Craigleith where we met Jacques and Alain. The four of us cycled together. When we got to Collingwood we made a wrong turn and got lost but we managed to get ourselves back on track by making a few guesses and asking for directions.

Louise and I left Jacques and Alain when we approached Stayner because we were going to visit Becky at her Mom’s house. Becky’s Mom held a BBQ for the riders which was incredibly nice. I did not stay long because I still had 60km to cycle. Louise was staying with Becky at her Mom’s place and so I cycled to camp on my own.

The remainder of the route took me through some lovely county roads. I had a fun time cycling on my own, navigating myself to camp. All in all, it was another awesome day and tomorrow I would be sleeping in as it was a rest day :)

Tobermory to Owen Sound, 133km: What bicycle touring is all about

The ride today was absolutely awesome. I was on galley crew that evening so I had to leave camp at a good time to ensure I was at camp for 4pm to cook. As mentioned, our galley crew in particular was having trouble with timing of meals so tonight we wanted to change our record by being on time and making sure our meal was awesome as well.

I was on the road by 7:30am. I set out on my own because Louise was spending time with her aunt and would meet us in Owen Sound.

Riding by myself in the morning was great. I love riding in the morning. The temperature was not too warm, a slight chill but it was nice. The wind was calm and my surroundings were quiet; everything waking up from their slumber :) The route took us along Lake Huron and it was awesome seeing the lake, it’s gorgeous. I took a break at Lion’s Head where I had a hot chocolate and butter tart at Rachel’s Bakery. 

I had lunch in the town of Wiarton where the groundhog Wiarton Willie originated. Before I reached Wiarton Gee and Larry caught up to me. 

Once we had lunch the three of us cycled together. At this point we were cycling alongside the escarpment, it was amazing. We stopped at Colpoy’s lookout which was beautiful; I could see the other side of the escarpment :)

As we approached Owen Sound the wind was picking up and the clouds were getting darker. The three of us stopped at Kettle Women’s Institute Rest Area and we just missed the storm. It did get significantly windier but we avoided the downpour, which some members who reached camp earlier did not. 

The approaching storm

I left Gee and Larry from the rest area as I wanted to get to camp to begin cooking. I made it to camp by 3:30pm and I was so proud of myself. I had enough time to put up my tent and get dinner going. Dinner was a success, we made good time. Overall it was a fantastic day. It was relaxing, I felt like I was genuinely sightseeing, and it just felt like this day was what cycle touring was all about.

Shequiandah to Tobermory, 60km: Across the big blue wet thing

 Today marked the shortest day of the tour thus far, a big whoopin’ 60km J Essentially the ride involved getting across Manitoulin to reach the ferry which would take us back to the mainland.

The ride was great because Louise and I took a super relaxed approach and there wasn’t a headwind which made it even better.

We had to get to South Bay by 1pm as the ferry would be leaving at 1:30pm. Louise and I reached the village at 11:30am. We stopped at a restaurant where we met Elaine and Neil and I had fish and chips for lunch, yum yum :) After lunch we met up with Becky and got a treat at a coffee shop.

We boarded the ferry to take us across Lake Huron which looked like an ocean, I couldn’t see the mainland. It took us and 1hr 45min to get across, which was crazy; the Great Lakes are so massive! The ride was enjoyable. It was great to sit back and relax and just look at the water.

When we reached the mainland I stayed with Gee and Larry as Louise was going to meet up with her Aunt. The three of us explored the Tobermory Marina which had a boardwalk and several shops; it was a cute little place. After our exploration it took us only 7km to get to camp. It was a great day because I got the opportunity to act like a tourist :) Tomorrow we would be back to cycling 130km, but I had to get across the country somehow :)