The CGB Book - PART 6 of 12 - Ontario (Ottawa to Toronto)

7/25/2019 The CGB Book - PART 6 of 12 - Ontario (Ottawa to Toronto)

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If it was easy, anyone could do it!The story of the 2013 Craig Gives Back-2-Back

Cross-Canada Bicycle Tour


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QUEBEC > ONTARIO

DAY #26 Thursday, August 29, 2013 Hands Free Bob!

Day#26:165kmsOka National Park, QC to Ottawa, ON

According to our schedule it was to take two days to get from Oka National Park to Ottawa whichwould have us arrive on Friday and then Saturday was scheduled as a day off kind of. We wereto visit the one and only location of one of our charities, Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind. Boband I had discussed this in advance and as it had been two weeks since our last day off, wedecided to do the distance of almost 170kms in one day and then we could enjoy two days offinstead of just the one. The upcoming terrain would continue to be relatively easy and fast withno serious climbs, and with mostly a level route, so we were confident we could pull it off.

We would have crossed over the Ottawa River into the Province of Ontario only a short distancefrom Oka National Park, however a reception was scheduled at the Home Hardware inPapineauville, QC, so we would stay on the Quebec side of the river until the town of Masson-

Angers where we would travel via ferry to Ontario. We had been in communication with mysister Jennie who lived in Ottawa and she was planning to meet us at the ferry terminal on theOntario side. She had friends in Ottawa who were avid cyclists and had provided her asuggested route that would take us from the ferry terminal, into the city and ultimately toJennies residence on McQuaig Street, where we would stay the next three nights.

For now we had a long distance to travel and once again the sun was shining, so after eachstuffing a couple granola bars into our mouths we packed up and hit the road to find a place to


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have breakfast. By now I had a knack for picking out good spots to get a good, but inexpensivebreakfast and not that we had many options to choose from, but we did find a little restaurantout in the middle of farming country. At first it did not look promising as there were only acouple of cars parked out front so we passed it by, but then we realized that a couple cars waslikely half the population out here in rural Quebec so we turned the bike around and headedinside to get some nice running fried eggs and bacon. Yummy!

With our stomachs full, we now headed to the reception at the Home Hardware in Papineauvilleand we were making good time and staying ahead of schedule. I do not like to be late!

Bob had garnered himself a number of nicknames over the course of the ride. Of course theeasy one was Backup Bob when he first filled in for Craig in North Sydney, but there weremany others. It was fun thinking up new nicknames to suit different situations, but today hewould be called Hands Free Bob. As we pedaled along following the Ottawa River towardsPapineauville, Bob received a phone call on his iPhone. As both our iPhones are mounted on ourhandlebars, it was easy for him to answer and it turned out to be Sueann Musick, a reporter forthe New Glasgow News back in Pictou County. She happens to be a cousin of Bobs as she isone of the many MacDonads who live in Pictou County and she wanted to get an update on howwe were making out so she could do a story for the next issue of the newspaper. Bobs

handlebars serve not much more of a purpose than to help him on the seat so he does notbounce off if we hit a pothole, so it is not a problem if he uses one or both hands to take a phonecall. The interview took almost twenty minutes and we covered almost 10kms in the process. Itwas a great example of how to multi task on a bicycle.

We reached Papineauville, but we were well ahead of schedule so we stopped to grab somelunch so after that the reception, we would be able to head off to catch the ferry in the townMasson-Angers without any additional stops. We ate our lunch outside on picnic tables and ayoung boy came over to inspect our very different looking bicycle and I explained that we weretravelling across the country. He was genuinely interested and it was enjoyable to talk with himeven though it was a bit of a struggle as he spoke virtually no English and I spoke limited French.I thought I would take the opportunity to confirm the location of the Home Hardware we neededto find. Google Maps showed me we were close, but we failed to see a sign along the road andthought who better to ask than someone who lived here. Likely due to the language barrier hedid not understand what we were asking, as he had no idea where it was. Bob and I wouldlaugh when the young fellow had left as when we headed back out on the road we found out theHome Hardware was virtually next door to where we just had lunch!

To say the reception at the Home Hardware was low key, would be an understatement. Forwhatever reason they were expecting us to have made all the arrangements, so definitely nocake! The owner was very friendly and we talked for a while and then after he filled our waterbottles, we were off. We travelled for almost half an hour and we were in dire need of a peebreak, so we stopped at a day park. We searched, but could not find an outdoor toilet, but noworries we were used to peeing in ditches after over 2,700kms on a bicycle, so into the busheswe went. Of course just at that instant a car pulled into the park so we pretended to be simply

enjoying the scenery. It turned out not to be a random visit, but actually a reporter for a localpaper who had just missed us at the Home Hardware. He had driven almost 10kms hoping tocatch us along the road and to do an interview.

With the interview complete, we were to enjoy more fast cycling on the gently rolling terrain untilwe reached our exit and we headed down to the ferry launch to cross over to the Province ofOntario. The crossing was so busy they actually had five small ferries running back and forthcontinuously to prevent a backup of traffic on either side of the river. If you missed one, thenext one would be there to pick you up in fifteen minutes! Having a bicycle we passed the cars


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waiting in the line-up and we boarded the first ferry. As we neared the other side we could seemy sister Jennie waiting for us. We were happy to be back with our most awesome supportvehicle and crew and again she was ready for us with coolers full of drinks and food. We headedup to a gas station parking lot to eat, drink and review the route she had mapped out for us toget from the country into the city of Ottawa safely. To add a bit of excitement, it was now rushhour, but most of that traffic would be heading out of the city while we headed in! In theory at

least!

We first had to travel uphill from the river valley and Jennie would lead us up, stopping now andagain to wait as we took our time up the climb as we had already covered almost 150kms today!We also had taken the opportunity to unload all our extra baggage into Jennies vehicle so wecould travel fast and as soon we reached the top of the hill and turned right we would be flying.Turning right, the road had a slight downward slope and we were travelling at over 40kms/hrwith Jennie staying behind us with her four way flashers on. There was a section of the roadwith no paved shoulder and she planned to stay behind us to hold back traffic, but as soon as wewere through that more dangerous section she would pass us and would go ahead a fewkilometers and stop to wait for us to catch up. I was also running my Google Maps software andit indicated that we should take an exit off this four lane highway onto a quieter street that ranparallel and then came back out on the same highway.

Meanwhile Jennie was waiting for us to catch up out on the main highway that we had just leftand was wondering where we had gone to, so she texted Bob. That was another great thingabout iPhone Bob was that he was free to take phone calls or text and if someone needed toget in touch with us, they quickly learned to do it through Bob as I concentrated on the road andwould never respond until we stopped for either a break or at the end of the day. Even my wifewould go through Bob! Bob texted Jennie our route and the next time she saw us we poppedback out on the highway ahead of her. It was at that time that I saw the overpass ahead. Itwas two lanes of traffic travelling both ways, at speeds of 100kms/hr and the paved shoulder wewere on disappeared as soon as it reached the overpass. Bob and I had experienced a few semidangerous situations on the bike during this trip, but this one looked just too risky. I sloweddown to assess our options as the rush hour traffic raced past just a metre away from us andthen decided to take the off ramp even though I had no idea where we were now headed!

In Ontario, bicycles are not permitted on 400 series highways. If there is an alternate parallelroute that bicycles can travel it is not an issue, however Ontario is expanding the number ofthese highways and impacting cyclists, but that is a whole other discussion. The issue on handwas that Bob and I were now on a 400 series divided highway knowing we were not supposed tobe there and not sure where we were currently headed. The was a paved shoulder so we didhave space between us and the vehicles racing past, however we did get honked at a couple oftimes and not in a nice way as we had mistakenly trespassed on a non bicycle route and we werefeeling some bad karma coming from some of the vehicles. We went only far enough to take thefirst off ramp to get away from the madness. We stopped at the top of the off ramp to enter ourcurrent location into Google Maps and see where it would tell us to go.

Google Maps told us to turn left. We had gotten away from the highways, but were still on amajor thoroughfare and it was four lanes of traffic each way, but traffic was travelling slower andmost of the traffic was coming from the opposite direction. Meanwhile Jennie was frantic andBob gave her an update to calm her fears. She knew I had been in Ottawa before and wouldeventually find my way to her house. It would be a fruitless and frustrating task for her to tryand chase us down through all the traffic, so she would head home to wait for us. There wasreally nothing she could do for us anyways all we needed to do was get our lost selves to herhouse.


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Google Maps now told us to make a left turn at the busy intersection ahead , so I said to Bob Doyou trust me? and when he said Sure I said left turn and he stuck out his arm to signal totraffic. I checked for traffic coming from behind and then darted across the four lanes of traffic!We did this again at the next intersection and after working our way from highway to bike pathwe ended up at the Ottawa Transit Terminal near the Rideau River. We were getting closer, butnow the battery on my iPhone was almost dead. The good news was the scenery was getting

more and more familiar as we gradually got closer to Jennies house.

There was a large group of people over by the transit building and they waved us over. Thetransit employees were putting on a barbeque fundraiser and invited us to have something to eatand drink. For a change we were not that hungry as we had eaten food that Jennie had broughtwhen she met us at the ferry terminal and that was not much more than an hour ago. I thoughtwe had lucked out as who would know this city better than bus drivers! I asked if anyone couldtell us the best route to get to McQuaig Street where Jennie lived and they directed us to a manwho they said would know exactly how to get there. He instructed us to go in the oppositedirection of what I thought we needed to go, and my instincts were telling me he was notunderstanding or I was not explaining properly where we were trying to get to. I thanked him,but before I left I asked one more person who told me to go in the direction I thought we shouldgo. So now with two out of three in agreement I decided to go with my intuition.

It was not a year previous that my wife and I had visited Ottawa for my nieces wedding and wetook the opportunity to rent a tandem bicycle and enjoy the beautiful paved bicycle paths. I knewwe were not that far away and we should be biking away from the Parliament buildings and nottowards them. The second opinion had confirmed my sense of direction was correct and weheaded off on the bike path, but not before they had their pictures taken with us and theyinsisted we each take a t-shirt from the barbeque.

Once we had travelled a kilometer or so along the bike path, things started to appear morefamiliar and soon we turned off the path onto the local streets eventually working our way toJennies house where a barbeque awaited. We had worked hard to cover over 170kms today,but could now enjoy the next two days off, kind of.

DAY #27 Friday, August 30, 2013 Bob who???

It is our first full day in the Province of Ontario and to celebrate, we slept in! There was no rushtoday as we had arrived a day early and so nothing official was planned as far as CraigGivesBack,so why not relax. We still had plenty to do, but we now had two days instead of just one to geteverything done.

So after the experience in Newfoundland, I had gone through every piece of equipment, clothingand even personal items. Everything that I took with me had to have a use or be necessary forsafety reasons. I was so determined to minimize all weight I took only a disposal razor and usedhand soap as a lather to shave my face each morning. When I could not find a small bottle of

contact solution, I bought the larger bottle and poured half it out to reduce the weight. Soimagine my surprise when I went to have a shower after Bob had finished in the washroom andthere on the counter he had left behind a can of shaving cream large enough to last five crossCanada bicycle trips! Well I said it was up to him, but if at any point during the trip we failed tosummit a hill without having to get off and push the bike, I was blaming it on his can of shavingcream. Poor pampered Bob would get a lot of teasing over this one!

As part of the planning for the CraigGivesBack trip, we had scheduled a day off in Ottawa not assimply a day to relax, but actually it would be the best opportunity to have a major tune-up for


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Janus. At just under 3,000kms it was not quite halfway, however if we did the maintenance noweverything should be good to go for the remaining 5,400kms.

So during the planning process, my sister Jennie knowing that we would be spending two nightswith her, asked me if there was anything I needed her to do. As Ottawa would be the bestopportunity to have a maintenance check completed on Janus, I asked if she could find a local

bicycle shop that would do the work. There were two challenges, and first the work had to bedone on a Saturday as we originally did not plan on arriving until Friday afternoon and secondlyour bike had two German Rohloff internal hubs both front and rear which would require an oilchange and it not something the average bicycle shop would have the technical skills necessaryto complete. It took a number of phone calls as bicycle shops were eliminated one by one, untilJennie ended up with one bicycle shop and that was Phat Moose Cycles. The only requirementwas that the bike be dropped off no later than 3:00pm on Friday. This was no problem now aswe arrived almost a day ahead of schedule.

Back in Halifax Amelia Schofield had been working hard with press releases to cities and towns inadvance of our arrival and also she coordinated any receptions that were arranged forCraigGivesBack at any CNIB, YMCA or Home Hardware locations across Canada. In Ottawa it justdid not work out in the usual way so with the assistance of my sister, a reception was arranged

in the park just down the street from Phat Moose Cycles. So now we had until 1:00pm to dosome tourist things in the capital city so Bob and I headed downtown on Janus and Jennie wouldmeet us there.

The thrill of getting into the city of Ottawa on a bicycle is definitely more of a challenge thangetting around once inside as there are bike lanes and of course the beautiful paved bike pathsalong the rivers and Rideau Canal. Of course we were traveling without any gear or baggage, soJanus was light and nimble like a race horse and we tried not to exceed the speed limit on thebicycle paths and yes there are speed limits posted! We met Jennie at the Parliament buildingand she had a number of locations selected for some pictures with us, Janus and of courseStanley and Charlie who oddly only show up when they do not have to pedal. Of course we wentacross the street to visit the Terry Fox Memorial as he is the inspiration for our trip and for many,many others who have followed in his footsteps.

While at the Parliament building posing on the front lawn as Jennie took our picture, we wereapproached by two young ladies who introduced themselves as fellow cross Canada cyclists.They were both from the province of Saskatchewan and had biked to Ottawa or I should saybiked most of the way here. Instead of cycling the challenging hills around Lake Superior theytook the bus from Thunder Bay to Sault Ste. Marie. We would see these buses running fromOntario to British Columbia and it was a typical Greyhound bus, but it pulled an enclosed trailerbehind. The two girls were able to stow the bicycles in the trailer and enjoy the view from thewindows of the bus. We were jealous, but we had committed to cycling the entire distance so nobus for us, at least not on this trip. The other thing is you really cannot fully enjoy the changingscenery like you can from the seat of a bicycle. You use all your senses to enjoy the experience,the smell and dampness in the air, the breeze on your face, the sound of the traffic and nature.

Our ride was not expected to be easy, nor would we want that as the harder you have to workthe more you savour the experience.

Now we only had time to treat Jennie to lunch and head off to the park for our reception. Wehad so many people help us before and during the trip and I wish I could do something to repaythem. I hope they do realize how grateful that Craig, Bob and myself are, and we really couldnot have done this without them. It is really the reason we were so darn stubborn and wouldwake up each morning and take it one day, one kilometre and one telephone pole at a time topersevere and not let all those who supported us down. The word quit did not exist in our


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vocabulary and we never for an instant thought of never making it all the way to Victoria. Wewished we could have done more for Jennie for all she had done for us both in New Brunswickand also here in Ottawa, but for now a lunch was all we could offer. I know for myself, but alsofor Bob and Craig the trip brought us closer with our friends and relatives and one of the mostwonderful things that came from this trip is how much more I appreciate my family and networkof friends.

The reception at the park was a casual event, no media and no cake, but it was a greatopportunity to have some one-on-one conversations with friends of Jennies that came by to talkto us and see Janus. We also had the pleasure of being joined by Jennies husband Tim andtheir children Vanessa and Andrew. Their oldest daughter Kristin who was working hard keepingour Facebook page updated lived in Kingston-Waterloo, so she was unable to be in Ottawa forthis visit, but we would get a surprise visit from her later in our tour.

With the reception done we walked Janus less than a block away to Phat Moose Cycles andowner Kent Dougall planned on having all the work completed by noon Saturday. It was not alarge or fancy bicycle shop and was located in a narrow old building in an older area of the city,but they seemed like serious bicycle dudes and we really had no other choice. Now we can gorelax for the evening with my sister and her family.

Bob and I are hanging out with Jennie and relaxing at the kitchen table late Friday afternoon,when my iPhone rings and since I am not riding a bicycle I answer it. We are scheduled for alive interview on CBC Radio tomorrow morning and it was Giacomo Panico, the host of the showcalling to confirm we will be at the studio on time and that we know where it is. He also wantedto confirm a few details on our background. Everything sounds good until the end of the call andhe says I will see you and Craig tomorrow morning. I said, You mean Boband I? to which hesaid after a short uncomfortable pause,Whos Bob? Obviously he did not get an updated pressrelease, as Bob had been Craig for over three weeks now. Giacomo was a little caught off guardand said he did all his background work on Craig and myself, so I passed the phone to Bob so hecould get the information first hand. He seemed fine once we had explained everything and wehoped everything would go ok tomorrow morning.

Everyone pitched in to prepare food for a meal together at the Smith residence and Bob and Iwere definitely looking forward to a home cooked meal for change! The barbeque was wonderfuland we had more than enough to eat, but my sister also knows I enjoy a beer and not just anybeer, but a beer with personality and taste, like Guinness for example. Bob does not like toexperiment with his food, nor does he experiment with his beer, so it is more of a traditional Budfor Bob. My niece Vanessa, likes to experiment with food and would bring over he ownwonderful healthy creations, but she also taught me something very cool to do with a Guinnessand a Strongbow Apple Cider. It is called a Black Velvet is created by first pouring the glasshalf full with the cider then using a spoon to carefully pour the Guinness over, it allows theGuinness to stay on top while the cider remains on the bottom. When you take a drink, you getof mix of both and I must say it was refreshing.

I do not want to give the impression that this was a drinking tour of Canada, as it was far fromthat! Bob and I enjoy the odd beer, but the only time we would enjoy one was the odd timewhen someone wanted to spoil us! Alcohol was not conducive to a daily endurance ride on abike and we stuck to water and pop. We greatly appreciated the attention we were getting athere in Ottawa and we did not want to be rude to our hosts!


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DAY #28 Saturday, August 31, 2013 Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind

It is hard to believe that it was not until 1984 that Canada had its very first school for guide dogsfor the blind. There are now four separate schools, but Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind wasthe original school, started by Jane and Bill Thornton. Today Bob and I had an invitation to visitthe school and we were happy that Jennie and her family wanted to go with us.

First thing this morning we had to be at our radio interview with Giacomo Panico at CBC radio indowntown Ottawa. The show is called In Town and Out and runs from 6:00am to 9:00am.Our time slot was shortly after 8:00am and we wanted to be early as I hate to be late. Jenniedropped us off at the front door and the security guard let us in. We were then taken upstairsand Giacomo came out to meet us before we went into the sound studio with him. I was notsure what to expect in regards to questions, so had brought my entire schedule with me. I hadprinted our schedule before we started the trip and it had every single bit of information neededto complete the trip on schedule. I had used it as my only reference since we had started inNewfoundland and it had addresses and phone numbers for every destination as well asapproximate kilometer distances and where we were to be on each day. I spread it out on thetable in front of me and Bob and I waited for Giacomo to ask the first question. The show waslive so there was a bit of pressure to ensure we did not stumble or ramble on with questions.

Within fifteen minutes we were done and out of the building to meet up with Jennie so we couldget back to her house and gather everyone for our visit to Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind.

A couple of interesting things about our radio interview that morning was that Giacomo is an avidcyclist and triathlete. He had his triathlon bike at the radio station and was wearing his triathlonoutfit under his t-shirt and shorts as when he finished his show at 9:00am he was off to race in alocal triathlon. The other thing was I forgot my schedule on the desk in the sound studio! I didnot realize it until we were back at Jennies house and I almost had a panic attack. LuckilyAmelia has a copy so I had her email me the spreadsheet and I printed a new copy off onJennies computer. I would have been lost without it!

At 11:00am we all arrived at Canadian Guide Dogs for the Blind and were met by Steve Doucette,who I had been communicating with since we started planning the CraigGivesBack tour nearlythree years ago. It was great to finally meet him and we were also joined by one of the foundersof the school, Jane Thornton. As I mentioned, Canada did not have a guide dog school until1984 and before that time anyone requiring a guide dog would have to obtain one from theUnited States. Also amazing is that this school operates solely on the donations from individuals,service clubs and fundraising events such as ours. They have never received governmentfunding and had preferred to keep it that way as a change in government or the economy canaffect availability of grants which can seriously impact the financial health of a small school suchas this. Although the annual donations they do receive can fluctuate from year to year, it isreliable and one of their best forms of fundraising are the guide dog piggy bank statues you seein your local grocery store or elsewhere.

The facility itself is modern and well laid out as it should be with clients that are visually

impaired. The main building has a shared kitchen and eating area, but also individual rooms forthe clients. When a client is matched with a dog, they must first stay at the school to not onlybond with the dog, but also to train along with the dog. The dog must learn to care for theirnew owner and the owner must learn to properly care for their new dog. As soon as the client ismatched with a dog they are together twenty-four hours a day and the dog stays in the clientsroom through the night. Days are spent training with and learning to care for the dog andeventually clients are taken with their dog to areas of Ottawa to train on actual streets. Stevesaid that one of the unique things of the Ottawa area is they are able to find a neighborhood to


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match the clients home neighborhood somewhere inside or on the outskirts of the city. Theyattempt to make the training as true to normal daily life as possible.

The cost to the client for a guide dog is $1.00, and that is only to create a contract as the clientis not actually purchasing the dog. They are paying for the service and the dog remains theproperty of the school which is important to ensure the well being of the animal. Should a client

fail to provide proper care or if the dog should outlive the client, then the dog would return to theschool. There are a few dog breeds that can be used for guide dogs, but this school prefersLabrador Retrievers due to their reliable good nature, loyalty and intelligence.

After the tour we were all invited into the kitchen for lunch and we just sat down when there wasa very tall man with a young girl knocking at the sliding glass door that lead out to the frontlawn. They had listened to our interview on CBC radio this morning, on which we had mentionedwe would be touring the guide dog school this morning and so he and his daughter had come outto meet us. He was also originally from Holland so an avid cyclist and very interested in ourback-to-back tandem recumbent that was imported from his home country. Unfortunately forhim and his daughter we did not have Janus with us, but Jennie invited him back to her houselater that evening as they were having a reception and fundraiser so friends and neighbors couldmeet us before we left the next morning. We thanked Steve and Jane for the tour of the school,

and we now had to quickly get back to Ottawa to not only pickup Janus, but get back to Jennieshouse with Janus before everyone arrived for the reception.

Everyone got dropped off at Jennies house except Jennie, Bob and I and we headed off to thebike shop. When we arrived at the bike shop, we promised Jennie we would be back to herhouse in time for the reception as she was expecting people to start arriving around 4:00pm.Jennie had to head home to setup and we had to check on Janus and make sure it was going tolast for 5,400kms.

The owner Kent of Phat Moose Cycles had done most of the work himself and Janus lookedgreat. The remains of the broken bike stand had been removed, new and improved brake padsfront and rear and new chains had been installed. He suggested we take it for a test drivearound the block before we settled the bill, so we did just that and five minutes later Janus wasback in the bike shop for more work!

I know from experience that bike chains last not much more than 3,000kms before they stretchand wear, and as they wear they also wear the sprocket on the wheel. When you put on a newchain it no longer meshes perfectly with the teeth of the worn sprocket and in extreme cases thenew chain simply slips over top of the chainring teeth. When you pedal the bike stays put even ifyou pedal like a mad man. That is what happened almost immediately with the sprocket on thefront wheel, the one I had been pedaling for 2,800kms. The good news is the sprocket on theRohloff internal hub was reversible, so it has a second life. The bad news it is took a special toolto remove it so it could be flipped around and the bike shop did not have this tool. The goodnews is Kent was committed to ensuring we were able to leave Ottawa on schedule tomorrowmorning, so he manufactured the tool and fixed the sprocket while we waited. The bad news is

a local customer stopped by the bike shop who considered himself an authority on everything,especially anything involving bicycles. Bob and I were waiting for Kent to finish on our bike sowe were a captive audience, however it did pass the time even if it felt like an eternity beforeKent brought out Janus and we were able to head out for test drive number two.

At first everything was fine and we quickly pedaled down the street, but I suspected if there wasan issue with my sprocket then there could very likely be the same issue with Bobs sprocket. Iheld on the brakes to slow us down and had Bob pedal as hard as he could and yes, his chainskipped over the teeth of the sprocket so back to the bike shop we had to go. We headed back,


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but this time the repair was done quickly and Kent even gave us the tool he manufactured incase we ever needed it again. We paid our bill, thanked Kent and the staff at Phat Moose Cyclesand raced off to Jennies house as we were now behind schedule. Jennie was texting Bob to findout when we expected to arrive as guests were starting to arrive.

We rolled into the driveway just in time as a small crowd had begun to gather. It was a beautiful

evening and Jennie, Tim, Vanessa and Andrew and his girlfriend Rachael had been hard at worksetting up tables with food and were also taking donations that would go to Canadian GuideDogs for the Blind. Bob and I did our usual speeches explaining why we were doing this andsharing stories from our trip. We also had a surprise visit again from the tall man who haddriven out to the Guide Dogs School with his daughter to meet us earlier today. He had reallywanted to see the bike and now he not only got to see it, but was able to give it a closeinspection as we explained all the technical aspects. Later we would be told that he had alsomade a very generous donation to the Guide Dogs. We definitely enjoyed meeting him andgreatly appreciated his interest and support.

So with the reception winding down, Bob and I had to make preparations for an early start in themorning. Bob was leaving behind items for Jennie to mail back home to his wife Laureen. Hehad extra clothes that he now knew he would never wear and so I added to the pile of items. I

emptied all the receipts I had collected to date and I also added my portable TENS unit asmiraculously through repeated treatments and ice from Pictou to Ottawa, my right Achillestendon now felt nearly healed. No need for any extra weight if it had little chance of being used,so the TENS unit was headed home. Secretly Bob also left his can of shaving cream behind,but never shared that with me so I would continue to tease him and threaten to leave it at ournext stop!

We were now well rested and sad that we would be leaving Jennie and her family behind wherewe had been pampered for the past two days, but we had a tour to finish and had to head outearly in the morning so we could stay on our tight schedule.


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DAY #29 Sunday, September 1, 2013 Bob yes, Craig no.

Day#29:130kmsOttawa, ON to Sharbot Lake, ON

So while Bob and I had toiled on Janus day after day as we moved further and further west,

Craig was back in Pictou training and healing, healing and training and getting ready to rejoin thetour and allow Bob to return back to his job at H&R Block. When Craig had fallen and injured hiswrist, it was too swollen to take an x-ray to determine if it was a torn ligament or a bonefracture. He would have a cast on for two weeks and once it was removed if it was a muscleinjury he might be able to rejoin the tour, but if it was a fracture his wrist would be in anothercast for four more weeks. We had been hoping that he would be able to rejoin in Ottawa, butthings do not always work out like you plan and when it was determined it was indeed a bonefracture that meant he would now not be able to rejoin the tour until Calgary at the earliest.

I had also been texting Craig updates of our progress almost daily and he was keeping busydoing media interviews, promoting CraigGivesBack and passing along my updates. He was doingeverything he could and we really were a team of three now. Bob was not planning on leavingme alone, so looks like we would be together now until at least Calgary.

It was now Sunday and time to leave Ottawa. Thankfully we had chosen a much more relaxedexit from the city than the chaotic trip into the city two days prior. We had fully enjoyed our stayin Ottawa and so happy we were able to share our visit to Canadian Guide Dogs with Jennie andher family, but now it was time to continue west.

We exited the city on paved bicycle paths and then on streets in the marked bike lanes until weturned onto a trail that had once been a railway as so many trails had once been. The trail was


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in excellent condition and as it was a Sunday morning, it was quite busy with walkers, runnersand other cyclists. We would stay on this trail for over 30kms until we arrived at Carleton Place.A year after our cross Canada trip, I would read an article that a woman cyclist was attacked onthis same trail by not a dog, but by a Canada Goose as she had ridden too close and the goosefelt she was a threat and reacted. She would be fine, but did suffer some bruises and lacerationswhen she was knocked from her bike. They are large birds so must have been a scary situation

to have a large goose hissing and snapping while flapping its large wings around her head.

We did not have any issues with any wildlife, however it appears we may have trust issues sinceI dumped Bob into the chain-link fence in Montreal. Today at one particular road crossing thetrail had a gate made of chain link fence and it was quite a tight fit to get our ten foot long Janusthrough, and when travelling at very low speeds Janus becomes somewhat unstable. Bob feltJanus tilt towards the fence and immediately unclipped his feet and put them on the ground justin case, but I told him I meant to do that and I was leaning the bike as we took the corner! Itwas a good test to make sure he was paying attention and not getting too complacent withlooking after safety on his end of the bicycle too!

Arriving at Carleton Place we came to the end of the trail so checked Google Maps to see whatroute was recommended. We still had almost 100kms to cover before we would reach our

destination, Sharbot Lake Provincial Park. Google Maps took us into a residential area off themain route and then indicated a bike path that would connect us to a municipal road. Well thebike path started ok, but soon became a narrow and muddy single track. Previous experiencehad taught us how little traction our tire have in mud so I was forced to keep my feet downready to steady Janus and left Bob to pedal on his own. There were some very challengingsections of the trail which was more suited to teenager on a full suspension mountain bike thantwo middle aged men on a fully loaded tandem recumbent, but fortunately the path was lessthan a kilometer in length and we were soon safely back on pavement and travelling at a goodpace.

Next Google Maps took us down to a private road, but indicated we could pass and wouldeventually connect back with the route that we would be on for the balance of the day when wewould reach our destination. The private road surprisingly came to an end, and where GoogleMaps showed a connecting route it went through someones driveway and property. I couldactually see the road we needed to get to as it was no more than 500metres past the propertywe had stopped at. I dismounted leaving Bob on his own while I walked up the driveway toinquire if the residents could give me some route advice. I hoped we would not have tobacktrack. Well I had hardly gotten up the driveway when a lady came out from the backyard toannounce that this was private property and I was trespassing. She was not open to discussionand her only goal was that I was shooed off her property and out of her driveway. I got thedistinct impression that I was not the first cyclist that Google Maps had taken on this detour andshe was at her limit with spandex clad trespassers. Cant say I blame her. Bob and Ibacktracked nearly 5kms, but we were soon back on our intended route and this time passed bythe same property, but on the other side as we headed south west.

Recumbent bikes are popular in countries such as Holland and Denmark for good reason. Thecountries are flat. Well there would be challenging rides with steep climbs ahead, but today wehad a breeze on our back and the road was very gently rolling which was perfect as we couldgain good speed and maintain it with minimal effort. By the time we had arrived at ourdestination we had averaged our fastest speed for a day so far at well over 25kms/hr.

We did not go directly into the campground, but stopped just before at a small take-outrestaurant-convenience store and had some excellent poutine! If being able to eat a steady dietof poutine is not enough reason to bike every day, then I dont know what is!


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We headed off to the campground and our campsite. This was the last time we stayed at acampground when it was busy with other campers. For most it was the end of August and theend of the camping season, and the kids were heading back to school. For all campgrounds afterthis it would be just Bob, myself and the wildlife.

DAY #30 Monday, September 2, 2013 Tornado, really?

Day#30:121kmsSharbot Lake, ON to Campbellford, ON

Today was relatively straight forward, bike just over 120kms from Sharbot Lake Provincial Park toFerris Provincial Park. We start early with a couple granola bars, shower, pack up the camp andwe are on the road early and hoping not have to go too far before we find some place to eatsomething a bit more substantial.

We travelled almost two hours before we finally arrived at a service station with a Subway, so we

were fairly famished by the time we arrived. We ate quickly and were back on the road withminimal delay, but this time we needed to find a grocery store to restock our supply of granolabars and jujubes. When I saw the sign for Madoc, it looked like it just might be a large enoughtown that it would have such a service, so we took a detour from our route and it was not longand we were fully restocked and each enjoying an ice cream sandwich in the parking lot.

The sky had been gradually darkening all day since we had first left Sharbot Lake and finally theskies opened and we stopped and on the side of the road to put on our rain gear. It issomething you put off until you absolutely have to as you still get soaked under the rain gear,


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but from your sweat which is trapped inside with you. The only good thing is you stay warm,wet, but warm.

The rain was intense, then we could hear thunder rolling towards us and the wind had picked up.Bob then received a text from Laureen that there were tornado warnings for PeterboroughCounty today. Hmmm, thats where we were!

We survived the lightning and tornado warning and would need to turn off the highway we hadtravelled all day and travel a little out of the way. Campgrounds are not always convenientlylocated based on the route you have chosen to bicycle, so sometimes you have to travel a littlefurther. We biked through the town of Campbellford and a few kilometers on the other side wasFerris Provincial Park.

It was now September and with camping season winding down, campgrounds were reducingservices. We arrived at the campground and to our surprise a vehicle had followed us in andpulled up beside us. The driver was a reporter for the local newspaper and asked if we could doan interview. We were happy to of course, but good thing it was not a long interview as we hadnot realized the campground office was closing at 5:00pm and it was well after 4:00pm when wearrived in the parking lot.

The campground was mostly deserted except for a handful of determined campers. The gravelroad up to the campsite was long and in rough condition, so much so that one of my waterbottles fell out of the holder from under my seat. I had no idea it had fallen due to the noise ofthe bike bouncing over the rough road, and I would have to walk back down the road later onceI had realized I had lost it.

At our campsite we found a clothesline that the previous campers had left behind and we hungour damp clothing out hoping it would dry. It was not a warm evening, but there was a goodbreeze blowing so even if they did not completely dry, they would be drier than they were whenwe hung them.

So here we were on a Monday evening, hungry with a steep rough gravel road to get to andfrom our campsite, and another five kilometers to reach the small town of Campbellford, andthen no guarantee what was open. We could not even get advice from staff at the entrance ofthe campground as they gone and would not be back until the next morning. We considered theoption of biking to town, but decided to fill up on granola bars and get an early start in themorning. We would stop and get a good breakfast in town before we set out for the day.

One thing of concern was the level of security with the steel garbage containers with locking lidsto keep bears from accessing the contents. One other favour my sister Jennie did for us was shepurchased a can of bear spray from a local outdoor shop in Ottawa. I knew we would not need itbefore Ontario, but now I was glad I had it. Thats right I had it, not Bob! As I had explainedto Bob the day Jennie gave it to us, it was not for the bear it was to use on Bob! I just neededto stop Bob from running away so that I could! We took good care to ensure all empty granola

wrappers were picked up off the picnic table and from our tents and placed inside the securegarbage receptacle!

We even took the extra step of taking the bag in which we kept all our food on the bike and hidit inside the camp building containing showers and washrooms. I did not want a bear to comesniffing around my tent and cannot imagine Bob would welcome that visit either! Regardless,bear visit or not we were both so tired we were asleep quickly.


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DAY #31 Tuesday, September 3, 2013 More tandem bicycles!

Day#31:134kmsCampbellford, ON to Bowmanville, ON

We wasted no time getting ready in the morning and were on our way even before the morningshift had arrived at the campground office. We made our way back to Campbellford and stopped

at the Tim Hortons for food and coffee and by this time we were pretty hungry. While there weattracted attention with our strange bicycle which we had leaned outside the front windows, andsoon had a small fan club inside the restaurant. There was a table of older men and womenseated at a table near ours and they had many questions and also jokes about the oddorientation of the two riders. Before we had left they had taken up a collection at their table anddonated it all towards our next meal. That was the good news, but the bad news is we wouldnot have another real meal until almost twelve hours from now.

We were looking forward to today, not only were we about to ride an abandoned railway linethat had been converted to a trail, but we were also to meet up with other tandem bicycles inPeterborough and then travel together to a reception at the Home Hardware. We had less thana kilometer to go from the Tim Hortons and then we would turn onto the start of the trail whichwould take us most of the nearly 60km distance to Peterborough.

Every trail is unique in some way and this one had a multiple personality disorder as we wouldunfortunately soon learn. It started off nice enough as we left the residential area and lookedfairly well travelled and then it deteriorated from there to a deeply rutted, rocky and overgrownpath more suited to a motocross bike than what we were riding. We were soon soaked from thebranches that rubbed and slapped against us and then to our surprise in the middle of the trailwere cows, yes cows! The trail actually ran through the middle of a fenced field of cattle, exceptrather than a gate there was a Texas Cattle Guard which is simply multiple rows of pipes with


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spaces between them lying over a ditch. Hoofed animals would not cross them and Bob and Idid not like them too much either, but tractors could travel back and forth easily. The herdreluctantly parted to let us pass through and we crossed the other Texas Cattle Guard on theopposite side of the field.

Every time the trail crossed a road, we were tempted to divert our route to a surface more

suitable to the vehicle we were riding, but we persevered as the cyclist who had suggested theroute to us, had planned on cycling out towards us so we could ride back to Peterboroughtogether. We would soon arrive at the town of Hastings and cross over the river and rejoin thetrail on the other side. When we did rejoin the trail it was like the country mouse had just metthe city mouse as the condition of the trail was completely the opposite of what we had justridden through. The next portion of the trail would be a much faster ride and before we know itwe met a friendly face sitting on a bicycle waiting for us near Peterborough. Now we had aguide and our only job was to follow him! First stop was on the outskirts of Peterborough andwe met up with three tandem bicycles, each with a guide and sight impaired co-pilot. We werethrilled to meet them and have the opportunity to ride through the streets of Peterborough withthem.

One of the great things about having the Home Hardware stores help with receptions and

fundraisers along the way is each store is owned by a franchisee that lives in the area. Theyhave a great passion and really make every effort to make this a success and this HomeHardware was no exception with a barbeque, media for interviews, representatives from CNIBand the YMCA and also even the mayor was there. Unfortunately it had started to rain just aswe arrived, but it did not dampen anyones spirit and we posed for pictures with our fellow ridersand it was Bob not me who was surrounded by the reporters. I finally had a chance to eatsomething at a reception!

We still had over 70kms to go to reach Bowmanville and Google Maps was giving us three routeoptions. Although Bob and I were not so trusting of our new friend in picking out trails to bicycleon, he was the best we had and an experienced road cyclist so we did ask for his suggestion.We were very thankful for a great time in Peterborough, but it was time to say goodbye andhead west again.

We were actually travelling south-west as we were heading a little out of the way to go down toToronto rather than simply cross from Ottawa almost due west to North Bay. We started out onthe heavily travelled highway, but would soon turn off and follow a series of country roads.Luckily the roads were all paved and also had very little traffic, but we were always wary to keepan eye out for any farm dogs that might be loose and not particularly fond of bicycles.

The terrain between Peterborough and Bowmanville covers some fairly rolling countryside and iftodays distance was not enough, we had covered some pretty decent climbs so we were startingto get tired. When we turned left onto a nice flat country road, we did so with a sigh of relief.We were now moving again at a decent pace and enjoying the country scenery when we passeda long straight driveway on our left that was lined on both sides with mature shade trees. It was

an impressive entrance and with such a long driveway we did not even worry when we heard adog bark as it came from far away near the house. The dog barking had continued even thoughwe were well past the driveway entrance, but imagine my surprise when in my mirror I caughtthe image a large dog suddenly come out of the driveway and round the corner onto the road ata full gallop. Bob and I picked up the pace and on this flat and now starting to slope downslightly road we would normally leave the large animal panting behind us, but not this dog. Thisdog was actually gaining on us and when I say us I mean Bob, as he is at the wrong end of thebike with the dog! Again Bob was forced to use his water bottle to spray the dog in the face to


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fend it off and thankfully it worked again! Even though the dog stopped and turned back we didnot slow down as the adrenaline had us highly motivated to leave the area as quickly as possible!

By the time we reached Bowmanville it was early evening and we were tired and starving so westopped at the Fifth Wheel Tuck Stop Restaurant and Motel to eat and hang out with the truckdrivers. The restaurant had an all-you-can-eat buffet and it turned out to be the best food value

of our entire trip! Now we were stuffed and we did not feel much like biking the extra kilometersto the campground where we had originally planned to spend this night. We had a big daytomorrow with receptions in both Oshawa and Toronto, so staying here would allow us an earlierstart and we would have breakfast before we left so we would not have to stop along the waysaving even more time. I never have to convince Bob that sleeping in a bed is better thansleeping on the ground, so we booked our room and although we were not able to bring Janusinside we locked it up outside where they suggested. We figured if someone did take it wewould just have to take the bus the rest of the way across Canada!

DAY #32 Wednesday, September 4, 2013 Even more tandem bicycles!

Day#32:99kmsBowmanville, ON to Toronto, ON

We were up early and eating breakfast when the sun was rising in the east. It was going to be a

beautiful day and we had a lot of ground to cover including getting into the city of Toronto. Wehad not one, but two receptions today! One at the Home Hardware in Oshawa not more than15kms from our current location, but then off to the CNIB office in Toronto for 3:00pm and wehad better not be late for that one as there was at least one television crew waiting.

From Bowmanville to Oshawa there is a waterfront trail and although more winding than direct, itwas a beautiful route. It is a beautiful paved path with cyclists, runners and walkers and wefollowed along Lake Ontario until we turned north and followed along a stream through the


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Oshawa Valleylands Conservation Area. We arrived at the Oshawa Home Hardware and were toreceive a nice surprise as soon as we pulled into the parking lot.

Early on day three of our trip back in Newfoundland we had stopped in Terra Nova National Parkto pickup our gear that Bob and Laureen had dropped off at the campsite we never made it to.When we were in the parking lot loading all our gear onto Janus, an RV pulled up beside us and

a family emerged and began to ask us about our bicycle and our trip. Before they had left theypromised to follow our journey on Facebook and they would look for us in Oshawa. True to theirword here they were in the parking lot of the Home Hardware and it was so good to see them!We had our pictures taken together with their young son and daughter, we did a newspaperinterview and then we were on our way again. We should have plenty of time to get to ourdestination in Toronto, but things do not always go as planned and I do hate to be late.

Our friend Warren Spires with the CNIB office in Halifax was very concerned we make it to thisreception on time! It was the CNIB national office and there would be television crews waitingfor our arrival. He was so concerned that he asked if he could work out our route into the city,which of course I had no problem with as I love it when someone else is our guide. Regardless,we would use Google Maps on my iPhone to help assist navigate and I hoped the battery wouldlast long enough. It only had to last until we reached the CNIB office at 3:00pm as after that we

would have an escort to my sister Andreas house were we would be staying the night.

We headed from the Home Hardware back down to the waterfront trail, which offered a safer ifnot faster route. The challenge with paved multi use trails are that they are rarely straight, butwind back and forth and some turns can be sharp which reduces the safe speed at which you cantravel. Also you must be wary of other users and travel at a speed to ensure safety of all. Theother challenge with this trail is it was not continuous, so we would have to change direction tohead north and travel away from the waterfront and then take a street that ran west and then atthe next opportunity turn and head back down to the waterfront and rejoin the start of the trail.It was a bit of a pain as it was just not possible to get into a rhythm as we were so often startingand stopping, and I had to keep turning on Google Maps to ensure we did not miss our turn andthis was quickly depleting the battery.

We eventually made our way to the Nuclear Generating Plants in Pickering and the trail wascongested with plant employees out for their lunch break. Our rate of speed was now greatlyreduced and my stress level was starting to climb as we had consumed almost the entire reservetime I had built in to get to the CNIB office. We stopped at a day park and quickly ate a couplegranola bars and used the facilities and then were on our way. This would be our last and onlystop before we arrived at the CNIB office.

We continued to follow the paved trail, and the route was very scenic along Lake Ontario andthen it turned right and would head up through the Highland Creek River Valley and then weheaded north, and then we headed west and then we headed south. We needed to get back onschedule as we were now running behind so when the trail returned to Lawrence Avenue, Idecided to stay on this very busy and not so bike friendly route as at least it was taking us

straight towards our destination. There were three lanes of traffic going in each direction,however the right lane was restricted to buses only so it left it open for us most of the time untilwe started playing leapfrog with a bus. The bus would pass us and then stop to pick uppassengers and we would then have to pass the bus by moving over into the busy lane of traffic.Then the bus would leave the stop, catch up with us and pass us and then stop ahead of us.This would go on for a few kilometers until we finally and thankfully reached the point where wehad to turn left and head south to our destination.


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We had made up some time, but still we were running behind schedule so my stress levelremained high. When Google Maps told us to turn onto another paved trail which would take usdown into a valley, I was reluctant, however I followed direction. Again it was scenic, but slowgoing with tight corners and many other trail users to navigate past. We had lost more time andwhen we did eventually come to our exit from the trail we had to dismount to push Janus up thesteep climb out of the valley. We were back on the bike, the battery of my iPhone was almost

exhausted and then Bob got a text from Amelia wondering where we were and how long beforewe would arrive as television crews were now onsite and a crowd was gathered for our reception.

I actually was not sure how close we were and was worried we were still at least thirty minutesaway, but when I saw a street sign and Bob explained our current location to Amelia, she wasquite relieved as we were literally just around the corner and would be there and not more thanfifteen to twenty minutes behind schedule. Not too bad for being on a bicycle. We knew wewere close when we turned right and a television cameraman was standing on the sidewalk toour right and then we soon arrived to cheers and clapping we drove into the front parking lot ofthe office tower!

It was the largest crowd we had seen yet and both Bob and I had relatives waiting for us. Bobhad his relatives who had come all the way from St. Catherines and my sister Andrea had biked

there and would bike with us back to her house. It was also great to finally meet face to facewith Diana Deakin-Thomas from YMCA Canada who I had worked with for almost two years toplan the trip through emails.

There was a microphone with backdrop and camera crews were setup in front. First the NationalDirectors for the CNIB and YMCA Canada would speak and then myself and finally Bob wouldwrap things up. We finished with one on one interviews with the media and then it was time tohit the road, but again of course the television crew wanted us to do a couple laps of the parkinglot so they could get more footage of Janus in motion.

We were also lucky as we would now have a bicycle escort the remainder of the distance todayas two tandem bikes from the Trailblazers were here to bike with us and had already worked outthe route. I love it when I do not have to navigate other than to follow the bicycle in front ofme. The Trailblazers is an organization with a focus getting anyone with a seeing disability outon a tandem bicycle, same as we had seen in Montreal and Peterborough. They were a largeorganization with over thirty bikes and we were lucky to have two of them here with us today,both with a pilot and sight impaired co-pilot. We also had my sister Andrea along for the rideand it turned out to be a good thing we did as she knew a couple of shortcuts near theneighborhood of her house which got us there safe and quickly.

When we arrived at Andreas house her dog Jake and her better half, Daves dog Luke wereexcited to have visitors and joined us on the deck. In fact Jake who is a very, very large dog wasso excited to see us he jumped up to lick me as I had bent over to pat him and accidentallydrove his teeth into my forehead right between my eyes. Andrea had already made preparationsfor our visit so we all including our entire bicycle escort enjoyed slices of oranges along with

lemonade while blood slowly trickled down the front of my face. It was a beautiful warm eveningand what greater way to finish than with a cold lemonade under the shade of a massive oak tree.We chatted on the front deck enjoying each otherscompany while at the same time I marveledat the fact we were now a full month into the trip and had covered over 3,600kms.

Bob and I had not much more time than to unpack the bike and shower as we were beingtreated at a local Polish restaurant, a favourite of Andreas and Dave. They live near High Parkand close to Roncesvalle Avenue which is the shopping and eating location for the local area. Itis an older area of Toronto with large brick homes and mature trees towering overhead. It is a


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quiet, beautiful area of the city and boasts a healthy Polish population. There were a fewrestaurants to choose from, but this one was one of the best. It was like a family restaurantserving favourite Polish traditional recipes and I looked forward to my large plate of goulash!

We shared the evening with Bobs relatives from St. Catherines who had also met us at the CNIBoffice earlier in the day. They would have to leave shortly after the meal as they had a long and

complicated journey back on buses, subway and trains. It was not a small effort for them to getto Toronto to meet us and we definitely appreciated them being there. Bobs brother was alsothere and like Bob he has Retinitis Pigmentosa, however his had started and progressed muchmore rapidly than Bobs so he was now completely blind and walked with either a cane or aguide. Retinitis Pigmentosa just like red-green colour blindness that I have are both carried bythe female members of the family. In order for a female to contract the disease they would needto receive an X chromosome from both their mother and father and this was very rare, so farfewer females compared to males have the condition. For a male they only need receive onechromosome as there was no matching gene on the Y chromosome, so by default they wouldhave the disease if it was on their X chromosome. So here we had Bob who was legally blinddue to the progression of Retinitis Pigmentosa and me who was discovered to be red-greencolourblind when I was eight years old. I joked that the CraigGivesBack tour was the colourblindleading the blind!

The big surprise of the evening was the arrival of my niece Kristin and her husband Stephen!Kristin had created our Facebook page back in January and was still looking after it, postingregular updates from pictures Bob and I would send her, but also posting upcoming events orreceptions that Amelia from the CNIB would forward to her. It was wonderful that they hadmade the trip from Kitchener-Waterloo to spend the evening with us and she was excited thatour Facebook page had reached the milestone of 1,000 followers! We were amazed how manypeople were now following us and viewing and liking our posts and pictures!

The meal was great, but Bob and I were very tired so although we did enjoy spending as muchtime as possible with our relatives, it was time for us to get back to Andreas and Daves and getsome much needed sleep as we would be leaving Toronto early in the morning.


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DAY #33 Thursday, September 5, 2013 You want how much?

Day#33:102kmsToronto, ON to New Tecumseth, ON

We awoke before everyone else and showered and came downstairs to the wonderful smell offreshly brewed coffee and bacon frying on the stove as Andrea catered to the soon to bedeparting cyclists. She was planning on cycling out with us and knew of a paved bike trail thatwould ultimately take us out and clear of the city limits as we headed north to the town ofAlliston today.

Before we leave Dave joins us in the kitchen and lets us know that he is optimistic he will have abreak in his employment and if it works out he would be able to join us as our support vehicle forabout a week as we make our way through northern Ontario. We were excited at the prospectas Janus is so much more fun to ride when light and fast and also we enjoy Daves company and

he would bring his dog Luke along for company. Dave is a film editor and works from contract tocontract and when he works he works very long hours to meet the production timelines of thefilm producer, and so he likes to have time off between contracts to pursue all the things hecannot do when he works. We felt very honoured that he would choose to spend this veryvaluable time with us and we hoped we would be seeing him again soon.

With Andrea leading I was again happy to follow another cyclist and not worry about finding ourroute. We made our way out to the region of Toronto where the Humber Valley Trail began.Andrea memory had gotten us close to the start, but as we pedaled through a residential area


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DAY #34 Friday, September 6, 2013 Bob the chicken whisperer.

Day#34:117kmsNew Tecumseth, ON to Gravenhurst, ON

Today was an exciting day for me and it had nothing to do with the CraigGivesBack tour. Mywife and good friend Ed Hawkins would be flying into Toronto and then renting a vehicle for thedrive north to Huntsville where on Sunday they would both be participating in the Subaru HalfIronman. They would also be bringing packages from home which included warmer cyclingclothing which we now needed as the nights and days were getting cooler.

Staying in a motel had the advantage of allowing us to get up early and have a shower and beready to hit the road early. Such was the case this morning and we were well ahead of schedule

as we neared Barrie, so we stopped at Debbs Placewhich turned out to be a great decision. Itwas a local restaurant that not only served us a wonderful breakfast of French toast andpancakes, but even gave us the meal for half the normal price and wanted to get a picture of uson the bike before we left. Again we had people from other tables in the restaurant stop to talkto us about our trip and our bicycle and we made sure to give each of them a CragGivesBackbusiness card.


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When we arrived at the Home Hardware in Barrie they were still setting up as we were early.They were setting up for a barbeque fundraiser and also had arranged for the media to be thereand Bob and I were interviewed on a television camera. A representative from the CNIB arrivedas well. Customers were supporting the barbeque purchasing food and drinks, not that they hadmuch choice as the gentleman doing the cooking was a wonderful salesman and you were hardpressed getting by him without a purchase or a donation or both.

Lucky for us one of the Trailblazers who had ridden in Toronto with us yesterday had to visit theBarrie area today on business, so decided to bring his bike along and spend a few hours with usbetween Barrie and Orillia. We were more than happy to have him along as he was one of thefounding members of the Trailblazers so we had lots of questions, but also he knew the route ashe had travelled it before! From the Home Hardware we travelled along the waterfront in Barriefollowing our escort and soon we were on another abandoned train line that would take usstraight to Orillia and almost directly to the Home Hardware which was our next stop.

It was a beautiful day so the trail was busy with walkers, runners and cyclists. I was excitedwhen another recumbent passed us travelling in the opposite direction and we smiled and wavedat each other. His recumbent was actually a trike with two wheels in the front and one in therear. I had seen them before and had even considered purchasing one a few years ago, but the

drawback is they are very low to the ground and have a wheel base over 30 inches wide. Thismakes them hard to be seen by motor vehicles, but more importantly it was too difficult to get inand out of a doorway so I gave up on the notion.

The trail was in near perfect condition and we were pushing each other. As it was a train line theslope never exceeded 2%, however you could feel it on the gravel surface when you were goingup and when you were going down. On the uphill our escort would begin to pull away and onthe downhill we would pass him. We stopped for lunch and were visited by some very free rangechickens which Bob befriended. I know Bob loves cats and dogs and he and Laureen seem toalways have at least two of each, but I never knew he could talk to chickens. Well he cluckedand garbled and had a couple brave members of the flock were soon eating granola bits from hishand. Who knew?

We only had a short distance remaining and we lost our escort on the outskirts of Orillia as hestill had to get back to his vehicle in Barrie. We soon parked at the front of the Home Hardwareand almost the entire staff came out to welcome us. This was not technically a reception, butthe owner wanted to make a donation to our charities and since it was on our way we had noproblem stopping so they could get a picture with us for the local paper. They even put togethera care basket full of fruit and granola bars. We were unable to take the basket, but happy tohave the contents.

It was now after 3:00pm and we were supposed to camp at Mara Provincial Park, however it wasa beautiful day and we felt it was a good opportunity to make some extra distance so tomorrowwould not be such a long day as we would be meeting up with Andrea and Ed in Huntsville. Wewould like to get there sooner rather than later tomorrow so he have more time to spend with

them.

We headed north on Route 11 and it turned out to be a 50km trip of constant near-deathexperiences as we played chicken with the rush of cottagers leaving Toronto and headed northfor the weekend. Route 11 is a divided highway with two lanes of traffic headed each way at100+kms/hr. It is a main thoroughfare from Toronto up to cottage country. There is virtually nopaved shoulder so we were in the car lane. I kept Bob busy on the back waving over cars to giveus room and warning me when transport trucks were unable to give us clearance and we would


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have to bail over onto the gravel shoulder. One thing about rides like these is you do not have toworry about falling asleep at the wheel!

When you are scared you pedal faster than normal and we had covered the distance toGravenhurst in just over two hours, so we left the highway and went into town to find somethingto eat. We found an awesome place to eat, but almost did not have time to stay and eat our

meal. Rombos Restaurant & Pizza was right on the main street and it looked busy. If it is busy itmust be good so we stopped and found a table. Waitress was by without delay to take orderand brought us a couple Pepsi drinks not too long after that and then she never visited us again.Then we realized everyone else in the restaurant was also waiting for their order. The restaurantwas full, kids were hungry and crying and no food was forthcoming. I believe the issue was itwas Friday evening and the kitchen was trying to look after both the take out and eat in businessand although pizzas were leaving to be delivered no one was eating in the restaurant. It finallycame to the point I walked up to the cash and told our waitress we had to leave. We were goingto stay at the KOA Campground 8kms outside of Gravenhurst and if we did not leave before darkthen we would likely get run over by a motor vehicle. She must have understood ourpredicament and had some empathy for us as she told me to have a seat and our meal would bethere momentarily and she disappeared back into the kitchen. When she reappeared she washolding two large plates of spaghetti and she set them down in front of us. It was one of the

best plates of spaghetti I have ever had. It was not smothered in sauce and the vegetables werecooked perfectly. I was glad we gave Rombos the extra five minutes! I recommend therestaurant, but do not be in a rush if you go there on a Friday evening.

When we exited the restaurant and began to ready ourselves to finish riding the final 8kms of theday, a gentleman and his family who had followed us out came over to ask us questions aboutthe bike and our trip. When they found out we were from Nova Scotia they wanted to know howwe knew to come to Rombos Restaurant as it is well known as one of the better Italianrestaurants in the area. I said it looked busy so we took a chance and got lucky. When we toldthem we were off to the KOA Campground they offered us a cottage for the night so we couldstay indoors. They owned a few cottages that they rent and since one was vacant tonight wewere welcome to stay in it free of charge, however when they told us where it was we reluctantlydeclined as it was in the opposite direction that we needed to be headed. We thanked them andwere off on our way hoping to get to our final destination before dark.

On our way I had my south facing friend Hands Free Bob had contacted the campground onour way to Gravenhurst and confirmed we could put two tents on one campsite! They had neverheard of that practice before and we were welcome to put both tents on the one site, thank youvery much! It was dark by the time we arrived, but the gentleman at the front desk was friendlyand fast and we were in our tents within the hour. Thanks to the extra distance we coveredtoday, tomorrow would be a breeze, or at least that was the plan.


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DAY #35 Saturday, September 7, 2013 Mickey Moose

Day#35:60kmsGravenhurst, ON to Huntsville, ON

I dont know how excited Bob was today, but I looking forward to seeing my wife for the firsttime in nearly three weeks. I suppose that workers that go out west or up north are away fromtheir family longer than that, but they likely did not have to spend 99% of their time with thesame guy! Bob was good company, but every day all day, thats a lot of Bob or Lloyd, dependingon your perspective.

It had rained through the night and there was still a drizzle coming down so we left the KOACampground sporting our raingear which would soon get hot and sweaty inside. Today our planwas to avoid Route 11 if at all possible so we are not placing our safety in jeopardy as we didyesterday. Also we had plenty of time today and only 60kms to go, or at least that was the initial

plan.

We had eaten our usual intake of granola bars for breakfast, but when we arrived in the town ofBracebridge we passed a coffee shop on the main street. I asked Bob if he would like to stopand he gave me the typical Bob response Whatever you think. This time I took it as a yesand turned into a parking lot so we could turn around and head back to Olivers Coffee whichlooked like a busy spot. As we passed through the parking lot an older gentleman was walkingand yelled something to us and laughed. I was not sure I wanted to stop and talk as he had wildhair and a surplus facial hair so at first glance thought he might be looking for a handout, but he


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just kept walking. We could not have been more wrong the gentleman and it is a good lesson ofnever judging a book by the cover. We secured our bike out front of the coffee shop and headedinside and while in the line-up who walks in and starts asking us questions, but the gentlemanwe had just given the cold shoulder. He was funny and laughing and insisted that he pay for ourmeal. We felt very humbled and grateful, and when he invited us to sit at a table with him weobliged and we had great discussions. He had been a geologist and travelled and explored many

regions of Canada and not only was he entertaining to listen to, but everyone in the townseemed to know him as they would stop at our table to say hello and he would introduce us andexplain the purpose of our trip. It was great experience and I cannot remember what was goingon in the world at this time in 2013, but he became very serious and said he was so inspired byour trip and wondered why cannot humanity at large do the same and stop with the wars andjust love each other and get along on this little planet. Tears formed in his eyes as he spoke ashe shared something very close to his heart with two kindred spirits. We shook hands, thankedeach other for the company this morning, and then Bob and I were gone again.

Meanwhile Andrea and Ed were looking for us and wondering where we were. We let them knowwe were currently headed north on Route 4 and it was not long before they met us on the roadas we were really not that far from Huntsville. It was so great to see them, but we still had morebiking to do today and they wanted us to arrive as soon as possible, so we quickly off loaded all

the extra gear from our bike into the minivan and they were gone and we were eager to finish.

We continued down Route 4, but then missed our turn off. Oops! Thats right I missed anotherturnoff. My iPhone has Google Maps App and I can even use it as a GPS like you have in yourvehicle and it will tell you to turn left or right, but it takes too much battery life so I set our routeand turn it off and just stop to check it occasionally. So I was looking for a fork in the road as Iwanted to take Route 141 East, but the fork was not like I expected and was actually hidden bythe trees so much it looked just like a long driveway, so much like Bobs first day on the bike inSydney we were going to be putting in an extra 20kms today. The good news is Janus was lightand fast and the terrain was gently rolling so no ridiculous hill climbs. We actually had a greattime and occasionally a very fancy sports car would pass and we would try to figure out themake. I imagine there are some very expensive cottages in the woods along the hundreds if notthousands of lakes in the area.

I did say no serious hills, however there were some climbs and also some good slopes downwardon which we would gain some decent speeds of 60-70kms/hr. On one such downhill there wasan unannounced bump in the pavement at the bottom and as we came around the corner anddown the final drop we hit the bump first with the front wheel and then back wheel and thenJanus, Bob and myself were in the air with no more contact with the road. For just a momentJanus, Bob and I were suspended above the pavement and I held the handlebars tight preparingfor the landing. We landed back to earth still upright and the wheels gave a little chirp as rubberhit pavement again and we sped down the road towards Huntsville as if this happened all thetime.

We actually had to go past Huntsville and out towards Deerhurst Resort, so Ed had given us the

heads up to get back on Route 11 and go past Huntsville and then take the exit to the resort.This is more of a direct route to their location and we could avoid the congestion of trafficthrough the town as it was fairly busy being a weekend and all the cottagers were around plus allthe athletes and their families here for the Half Ironman. Finally we arrived at the Fairy Bay Bed& Breakfast which was only 2kms from the Deerhurst Resort where the Half Ironman was beingheld tomorrow.

It was a beautiful spot by the lake and Bob and I had time to take all our gear up to our rooms,store Janus in the shed, have a shower and then we were off to downtown Huntsville. I love to


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visit bike shops and look at all the different bicycles and all the cool gear so I could not resist thetemptation to stop in at the local bike shop in Huntsville. At the bike shop I found a moose thatmounted on your handlebars and when you squeezed it honked. It was in the reduced bin and Iwas immediately taken with it so after browsing the store I took it up to the counter. I alsothought I would take the opportunity to get some feedback on our route around Georgian Bay.The female cyclist I spoke to first was very helpful, but did point out that there is a section north

of Parry Sound that bicycles are prohibited from, but she had cycled it with no issue thatsummer. The owner however was much less positive. He warned us off the entire route that notonly would the police prevent us from passing through, but that it was not safe and we would beharassed by locals passing by in their vehicles. I was not feeling overly confident after thatconversation, but he did donate the moose horn to our trip so I felt it was a small victory and agood omen. Welcome to the tour Mickey Moose.

The last time we had done laundry was the night prior to arriving in Toronto, so it was a greatopportunity to wash everything. Andrea and I would look after the laundry while Ed and Bobheaded off to Deerhurst Resort to setup the bikes and gear for the Ironman that would startearly tomorrow morning. We would all head out together to have supper and then we were backat the Bed & Breakfast and off to bed as we would have an early morning and Andrea and Edneeded to be rested for their race.

DAY #36 Sunday, September 8, 2013 Swim, Bike, Run.

So for one of the first days since this trip had started, it was not about Craig, Bob and myself.Today was all about Andrea and Ed and we were here to cheer them on and enjoy the day withthem.

No sleeping in today and we were up before the sun rose as Andrea and Ed had to be ready togo at the start by 8:00am, but first we all needed to get something to eat. Breakfast was perfectand the owner of the Bed & Breakfast had a full selection of options both hot and cold availablefor all the guests. Andrea and Ed were not the only Ironmen staying for the weekend and wemet the other three athletes during breakfast. Our host was playing the role of taxi driver todayas well and took the athletes first as they needed to be there ahead of us. Even though we saidwe could walk the short distance, he insisted that as soon as he returned from delivering all theathletes he would take Bob and I to the Deerhurst Resort where the event was being held aswell.

We made our way through the resort and down to the lake where all the athletes were in theirwetsuits waiting for their wave to start. There are so many participants that they are divided bysex and by age and a wave starts swimming approximately every fifteen minutes until everyoneis off and swimming. I am terrible at finding people in a crowd, but miraculously we do spotAndrea and she waves back at us. Each time a wave of swimmers starts, there are so many thewater churns like it is filled with fish and all you see are arms rising and falling amongst thebrightly coloured swim caps. With Andrea and Ed off for the swim section of the race, Bob and I

make our way to the water exit area so we can cheer them on as they come out of the water andmake their way up the hill to the transition zone and onto their bicycle.

Andrea and Ed had done this same event a few years ago and on that day it was a beautifulwarm September day, but not today. It was cool and Bob and I had a couple of layers includinga jacket to break the wind as we tried to stay warm as we stood and waited.

In under half an hour both Andrea and Ed were out of the water and off on their bicycles wherethey would be for the next three to four hours. The Half Ironman is technically called Ironman


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70.3 which refers to the total distance the participants will cover in miles. The distances are 1.2mile or 1.9km swim, followed by a 56 mile or 90km bike ride and finish with a 13.1 mile or21.1km run. Total distance is 70.3 miles and is exactly half the distance of a full Ironman.

So with Andrea and Ed gone for a few hours Bob and I had some time to ourselves to explorethe resort, however we chose to go indoors to the all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet. We always

get our moneys worth at a buffet and today we ate until we could eat no more. We never wastea single morsel and each time we went back for more the quantity of food became less and lessas we gradually eliminated any empty spaces in our poor shrunken bellies!

Now we headed back out with the hope of seeing Andrea and Ed come back in from the bikeride. They arrived and put on their running sneakers and they were gone again. This time theywould be gone for over an hour, so we stayed near the finish line to cheer in the runners asthere were elite participants from around the world here to compete and they are amazingathletes both male and female. It is hard to imagine these athletes completing the swim, bikeand then almost at the end running in so fast and looking like they could do it all over again.

Ed was back first and then Andrea. The day had gone by so quickly and it was now after 3:00pmand we were all hungry. We headed back to get ready to enjoy our final meal together and then

off to bed as tomorrow would be an early day again and we would both be going our separateways. We had to continue west and they had to return home to Atlantic Canada.

Documents

The CGB Book - PART 6 of 12 - Ontario (Ottawa to Toronto)