We're coming home

...Continued from below.

After a nice rest in the sun we decided it was time to press on.
No bus was coming to pick us up, no helicopter ride back was organised, it was pedal power all the way.

As we descended down the riverside and approached the falls we again came under the direction of marshalls, who laughed when we told them we had just come from and were riding back to Toronto. It took some convincing to let them pass us straight through.

We went through some very nice little towns as the clouds cleared and my speedo indicated that I had reached the longest ride of my life. Only 130 more km to go...

We were joined by a couple of other hairshirt participants and for a while our group numbered seven. Shortly after we struck a steepish hill, and in a fit of power Jake managed to burst a spoke out of his back wheel. Given that his bike only has 16 spokes in each wheel this effectively ended his ride and the car was called in.

Our group split up, and I rode on with Greg and Adam as we approached 'death valley' or Fly road - a 30km stretch of relatively flat, straight blacktop which radiates the sun's heat back up at you. It's a long boring piece, and the mind wanders as you have little visual stimulation.
After over an hour of slogging along Fly road we began looking for our turn on Eleventh line. We had passed 14th, 12th, and then 34th. Certain we had missed it, a quick phone call revealed the others to be waiting for us just around the bend and we gladly stopped and re-filled water bottles.

Jake and Adam swapped places so that Jake who had been training for this ride was able to finish on Adam's bike.

We continued on further and the closer we got, the more comfortable I became that I was going to finish. With only 50km to go, we started passing through towns and the scenery and town names became more familiar to me.

We crossed the bridge at Burlington which was rather interesting. The main highway goes over a high bridge not unlike the Auckland harbour bridge.
We went over a much lower bridge, with a surface of sharp metal laid out like chicken wire and I felt very uneasy riding on it. I could have slipped or punctured at any second.
We were fortunate that there were no boats trying to get through either, as the whole bridge lifts up twenty metres or so and could have delayed us half an hour at worst. But the bridge was down so we rode on over into Burlington - Oakville and finally into Mississauga.
With the towers fast approaching Rob and I took off with whatever energy we had left, just to be done with this ride. The final 10km disappeared and suddenly there was our welcoming party waiting with big smiles of congratulations.

We had done it. 330km from Toronto to Niagara and back in only 14 hours total time.
Max speed 70kph, Average 27kph.

Where am I?

So it's been a while since the last post. The snow is long gone, as are any memories of winter. The summer has brought Toronto out of hibernation.

There are festivals, barbecue smells everywhere you go and lots of cyclists on the road.
That's where I fit in.
Yesterday was Sunday the 22nd of June; the day of the TNT Hairshirt.

The Hairshirt, a personal cycling challenge whose name comes from a medieval form of monasterial punishment and penance, in which monks wore shirts woven of very coarse horse hair, causing them to experience extreme discomfort. Founded in 1978 the Hairshirt pits the lonely rider and his/her bicycle against the road and the elements, and for this reason the organizers provide no support other than a map and encouragement.

We began at 6am from Square One Mall in Mississauga (Mississauga is to Toronto as the Hutt Valley is to Wellington).
If truth be told, we began by driving the 30km to the start line, so the day really started with breakfast at 4:30am to allow digestion time for preventing cramps.

Anyway, at about 18 degrees and cloudy, today wasn't going to be too hot so was shaping up to be a good ride. Aimee had jumped into a car, so she and Suzy (Wife, Mum and Aunt to my fellow riders to Rob, Jake, Greg and Adam) provided support by way of food, water and most importantly directions.



We headed off in search of some smooth roads, and were rewarded with some relatively quiet and smooth roads for the first 60km or so. It was overcast, so cooler temperatures meant hydration wasn't too much of a problem.
As I was the only rookie in our group, the boys replayed memories "remember that's where I punctured in '06"; "this is where I hit the wall last year" etc.
Since my preparation hadn't been exactly full of endurance efforts, I spent the first half of the race wondering if I was going to make it.
The longest ride I've done before coming to Canada was 160km around Taupo.
The longest distance I've ever covered was last weekend with a 180km effort out into the countryside and I arrived home in pretty bad shape, so setting out today in search of 320km would be really pushing it.

As we moved further west we also inched south. Due to the idea of the ride being a 'double century' or 200 miles, we weren't taking a direct route to Niagara. The wind was kind, and the pavement just seemed to melt away behind us.
The first missed turn happened as we pulled into a nice village, and we'd fished in our pockets for sustenance. I had to make a U-turn with a banana in my hand, while Greg did it holding his delicious strawberry granola bars, of their taste he reminded us of throughout the ride.

At one point after telling me all about how he had avoided the thin tyres this year and going for the cheaper thicker ones, Rob had a puncture.

Still we continued and passed through a 'tunnel' which the guys kept talking about and were excited by the descent into it. It turned out to be merely an underpass under a river, with 300m of a nice steady slope, not much to write home about since I come from Wellington! We know tunnels and hills.

Shortly after we were joining up with the cancer riders.
This same weekend as the hairshirt was the Princess Margaret ride to conquer cancer;
A 2 day ride from Toronto to Niagara with an overnight stop half way.
Still no mean feat and well done to the 2000 or so people who completed it, and each raised the minimum $2000 for charity.
The marshalls for that ride got rather concerned when we ignored their signals and shouted after us "NO, LEFT TURN - LEFT TURN!!!".
Before actually arriving at the falls, we stopped in a grassy area for a break and some lunch.
A few seconds later the car with Aimee and Suzy showed up with sandwiches, more water and even a picnic blanket.

We had an enjoyable rest in the sun while we mentally prepared for the ride home.