June 6 - Simcoe 400k ... check

Just a brief recap because I have to leave for Mass shortly:

I left Stef's at 4am and got to Alliston at 5:15. We started riding at 6 ... all four of us. Glen, from Tillsonburg, Fred, from Holland Landing (very close), me and Arthur who none of us knew. Arthur dropped off the back after about 20k. The three of us rode together for about the first 150 miles and then after we left Lindsay I headed off on my own. At the next-to-last Control in Uxbridge I was just about ready to roll out again, having donned my jacket, put on my reflective gear, installed my extra tail-lights -- Glen and Fred rolled in and I hung with them for a bit but they were getting something to eat so I headed off.

I finished up at 12:26 -- 18:26 total time. Glen and Fred shouldn't have been too far behind me but they had not arrived by the time that I left the parking lot about 1/2 hour later. I got a sub from Tim Hortons, figuring that the Subway was probably closed .. and it was. I stopped at the first service center along the 400 and snoozed for an hour, getting back to Stef's sometime after 3 am, just short of 24 hours after leaving.

It was a good ride. I saw more of southern Ontario that I'd not seen before. We got sprinkled on at the beginning, but not enough to break out the rain jackets. We had sun most of the day, but it was still cool and I had my long sleeves on all day. As a result everything was damp when I put the blue jacket back on and I was fairly chilled arriving at the end. I did have my leg warmers with me, having worn them early in the day, and my yellow jacket, so if the temp had dropped further I could have added more layers.

We had wind with us on and off and it looked like we were in for it for the trip west, but, predictably, the wind died down in the evening and it was a very pleasant ride back west. Riding in the dark is very peaceful, except for the occasional jerk coming at you who puts on his high beams to see what's in front of him. My halogen light works quite well in these circumstances -- I switch it on and off a couple of times and they get the message.

Today ... off shortly for Mass, then back here, then Lauren's baptism at 1pm, then we leave for the cottage again, getting up there in time for dinner.

That's it ... oh, it sounds like Sandy had a good day yesterday with Joyce but we've not fully debriefed.