Aug 12 - forgotten things

... well, nothing that I know of yet, other than some things that I forgot to mention in my last blog ...

The residence here at Durham is quite new, crisp and clean. A large spacious lobby & lounge downstairs with a 24x7 receptionist ... elevators to the dorm floors so that we don't have to carry bikes ... rock hard furniture so that it survives the battles with college students. The rooms / suites have a small living & kitchen area perhaps 10x15 in size. The bathroom is almost half that size and then there are two bedrooms with double beds & large wrap-around desk. It's spartan but very clean and in excellent shape. It's not "hospital clean" -- that would imply tile floors and painted walls ... it's more like ... I'm trying to think of the appropriate hotel chain with which to compare ... sorry, can't come up with one.

We just got back from breakfast. Continental breakfast is included in the price ($75 per two-bedroom suite) -- cereal, fruit, toast & bagels -- the usual. For an extra $3 you can have, and we did, the hot breakfast which adds eggs, bacon & sausage, fruit salad and "home fries". The so-called home fries are like little cylindrical fritters. Well, 'nuff said ... you get a full $3 worth and no more :).

Geoff is still working on his bike. That's no surprise. It's mostly together at this point without lights and other rando-type things like bags etc. Those, and a round of adjustments and a test ride and he's probably ready to go. I'm as ready as I'll ever be. Other than attaching my rack bag to the rack, it didn't take much.

I just heard back from Terry Shuya this morning (Saskatoon rider who is in Jacksonville FL) that he won't be here. That is not a surprise at this point. I may see him in September when I'm in FL. It sounds like he's pretty wrapped up in the project that he's managing and due to the loss of two co-workers he could not get away.

What else ... cannot think of anything.

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After breakfast we went for a test ride, to ensure that Geoff had assembled his bike correctly and everything was ship-shape. It was hot ... hot until it rained. Where did the rain come from ? It surely didn't come from the forecast but we were dumped upon. Our 25 mile round trip ride got us back here soaking wet. It just goes to show you ... don't count your chickens !

Changed and dried, we went grocery shopping. Geoff is partial to Ensure, a meal replacement, as a recovery drink. He carries some of it with him (as opposed to Perpetuem) and packs some in his drop bags. What the heck ... I bought a six-pack and split it three ways into my drop bags. I can consume them when I get to each overnight stop. I also picked up some granola type bars and trail mix, split three ways into my drop bags.

After the grocery store, we stopped at the Subway across from the college and had lunch. After that (it was by then after 2pm) we checked in, had the obligatory pictures taken and bike check. I say obligatory -- this is new to me -- they seem to be very well organized. We each collected our already-packed bags with our names on them, our jersey (if purchased) etc. etc. The bags have the name of the local MPP (member provincial parliament) ... hmmm. We even got a map of Ontario in case we truly get lost !

The bike check was pretty thorough -- check lights, reflective gear and brakes. What ? We're supposed to stop ? Ok ... that's enough bad humour.

It's now 3:25 and I'm pretty well organized for the a.m. departure. Continental breakfast is served from 3am to 5am and departure is 5am. I'll be down there early and will also make coffee in the room.

Any gear that we're not taking with us stays in our rooms. We are only charged for the actual nights that we sleep in the room, not for occupancy days. That's a good deal. I have a car here, so it would be easy to keep stuff in a car. Some do not ... decidedly awkward.

We'll eat early, although I must say that after two dinners last night, a big breakfast, a foot-long sub ... I'm not hungry. I won't be saying the same thing tomorrow night though.

We don't have a plan yet as far as sleep time goes. That will depend on arrival time and how the day goes.

The ride unfolds as follows:

Day 1 -- Oshawa, Hockley Valley, Eugenia, Victoria Harbour overnight @ 366km -- 366km on the day
Day 2 -- Victoria Harbour, Big Chute / Severn Falls, Fenelon Falls, Bancroft overnight @ 672km -- 306km on the day
Day 3 -- Bancroft, Foymount, Plevna, Sharbot Lake, Tyendinaga overnight @ 1008km -- 336km on the day
Day 4 -- Tyendinaga, Colborne, Oshawa ... complete @ 1205km -- 197km on the day

That's it for now ...

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7:55 pm -- we just got back from having dinner at East Side Marios. That's the joy (not) of these kinds of rides, fast food ... lots of subs ... junk food ... constant intake. Geoff had lasagne and a salad; I had the portobello pannini with Italian Wedding soup -- no beer tonight.

I'll be booking a teeth cleaning appointment right after the ride, along with a trip to Guelph to install the frame rack mounts.

We both had a snooze before dinner, perhaps a half-hour or so. I may have a shower before turning in for the abbreviated night ... or not.

The weather forecast looks like it's holding at this point so I am not expecting major changes. I do expect that we'll get showered upon at some point -- kind of goes with the territory. In any event, I am prepared for the worst with my long sleeved jersey and rain jacket. Geoff carries a more wind-proof long sleeved non-jersey, not sure how to describe it, and a very lightweight pocket sized rain jacket.

Ok ... running out of things to say tonight. I'll finish this up in the morning and post it then.

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It's 2:50. I slept from a little after 9pm until 1:30. Not as much as I'd hoped (alarm was set for 2:30) but better than not sleeping at all. I know that it will be different tonight ... no trouble sleeping after umpty-ump hours in the saddle.

I just started making coffee -- my last strong cup of coffee for a few days unless we run across a Starbucks or something. More than likely it will be Tim Hortons crummy coffee though. In coffee terms, quantity does not make up for quality other than counting caffeine intake. These little Melitta coffee makers came from Arlene. She gave one to us and one to my Mom & Dad. We ended up with two of them and they have travelled extensively. Motels, hotels, dive boats, people's houses -- the gift that keeps on giving.

My shoes are mostly dry from yesterday's dump. My clothes too, but they don't matter because they were along for yesterday's ride only. I haven't decided yet whether or not I'll bring the small camera. It depends on how my pockets feel once I've loaded up.

It's 62F in Oshawa and 64F in Loring. I guess that proximity to the lake affects the temperature in Oshawa. It will be cooler at dawn, so I'll probably wear my long sleeved jersey, but that's still up for grabs in my mental debate on what to wear. Warm is better than cool so I'll probably wear it although that will depend on my last minute outside assessment. I'll have it with me in any event, so either way I cannot go too far wrong.

I'm rambling. I was just up and repacking some of my pack. There's an amazing array of stuff. I need to find a waterproof container that I can put in the pack rather than have a dozen ziplocs containing cell phone, wallet, mp3 player, first aid stuff, spare cue sheet ... it goes on and on. The spare tire takes up a lot of room. It probably makes more sense to have a standard way of strapping that onto the pack rather than inside but that would be unwieldy.

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I went down the the "party room" where they were doing check-in yesterday and providing breakfast this morning. There was quite a crowd and quite a spread. Obviously others think like I do -- give the food sometime to digest before riding. That's easy to say, but my body doesn't really know what it's in for. Sometime tomorrow it will realize that this is going to be a long haul and not a "short" ride like 600k.

Boy are they ever organized. Volunteers aplenty, flip chart pages all over the walls with notes on food etc. at the checkpoints. Stay on the path at Victoria Harbour, don't go into the grass due to poison ivy. I'm quite allergic to PI so I'll remember that one ! It looks like the checkpoints / controls all have water and fruit with other stuff available for purchase. The overnights have breakfast of some sort. Tyendinaga has running water but no showers -- bring along a facecloth, was Isabelle's advice (she's the RBA from Alliston/Simcoe.

All have checked in but two later arrivals. There was a last minute cancellation, which is different from a DNS (did not start) just in terms of courtesy to the organization and volunteers.

I now feel stuffed. A bagel & cream cheese probably didn't do it ... the babybel cheeses probably did ... why did I eat those ? That of course was in addition to some dry bran buds that I ate here in the room. I have an hour before we roll to let this settle. I'm an early bird but breakfast at 3:30 a.m. is not the norm.

Green / Blue / Red -- what is that ? A new form of traffic light ? No -- it's the order of the drop bags and colored tags. I took my green and blue tagged bags down yesterday; the Red -- Tyendinaga -- will go once I brush my teeth, apply chamois butt'r and suntan lotion, and put my biking clothes on, civvies into the bag. The civvies are for sleeping at that rest stop.

Ok -- time to wrap this up and get my laptop into the car.

Wish us luck, but more than luck ... safe riding.