Ride Report: Stormdodging from St. Thomas to Paris (or how I learned to love 38 cats)

 Route / Event: St. Thomas-Paris 200 / 200km Permanent [ Ride Log ]

"Hey Google, what will the weather be like in St. Thomas on Monday?"

"Monday in St. Thomas there will rain from 4a.m. until 11pm, and a high of 25 degrees. There is a severe thunderstorm warning in effect."

Shit. 

"Hey Google, what will the weather be like in Paris Ontario on Monday?"

"Monday in Paris there will be scattered thunderstorms with a high of 27 and a low of 19."

Sigh. 

I did not want to cancel this ride. Nevermind the fact that both Michel and I had taken the day off work -- we needed this ride completed for a specific designation we were working toward called the O-12. 

The O-12 is an Ontario-specific version what our American counterparts call the R-12. Like the R-12, it requires a rider to complete a club-sanctioned 200km (or more) ride in twelve consecutive months. Sanctioned rides include either a brevet on the club's calendar, or an individual ride (a permanent) that the rider schedules themselves. Since neither of us could make any of the club's brevets in August we agreed to schedule our own permanents for the same day in order to keep our four-month running streak alive. So the stakes here were high -- miss this ride, and our O-12 counter would reset.  

"There won't actually be much thunder." said my wife, Kim, assuredly, while I was texting back and forth with Michel about whether or not we would call off our voluntary event. "Google uses data from Environment Canada, and The Weather Network, which is much more accurate -- says it will only rain a little bit, and you won't have storms until mid-afternoon."

So, with my wingman content to ride for the story, and my wife comforted by the good folks at the weathernetwork.com, it appeared the ride was still on. 

Start: St. Thomas Tim Horton's

An optimistic morning (St. Thomas to Norwich - 59km)

The morning was humid - the kind that is just begging for rain to break up the thickness of the air. As the sun rose we could see the heavier clouds off to the west, but it was looking bright and positive for us. After our bikes were prepared at the start control, I went into the Tim Horton's for a pre-ride washroom break while Michel flagged down a stranger to sign our brevet cards. 

I never know what to expect when I ask someone to sign a brevet card. There's always some awkwardness involved -- "Hi, I know I'm dressed like a clown, but I'm planning on riding an insane amount of distance today on this bicycle. Could you please initial here as proof that I am still alive?" (I'm still working on my pitch). Upon my return this gentleman was particularly interested in what we were doing, but also expressed apology at the fact that he couldn't fit his entire name in the tiny little signature box we'd provided him with on the card. "As long as it's not my signature, anything you put in there is appreciated" was all I said. 

First Control: Norwich Tim Horton's (59km)

It only took us 90 minutes to reach the first control at around the 60km mark. We'd hit some construction along the way that made we long for gravel tires. We were trailing another cyclist as we pulled into the Norwich Tim Horton's, and I was hoping they'd make a pit stop because I always prefer to get other cyclists to sign brevet cards, but sadly, she continued on her journey.

We had no need to stop really, and the storm continued to loom, so once our brevet cards were signed we set off. 

Norwich to St. Thomas (59 - 100km)

We weren't gone five minutes before the rain hit us. Michel stopped to put on his jacket. I, on the other hand, had no packed one. It was still hot, so the rain wasn't cold. But it was only about ten minutes later that the rain had completely stopped and we found ourselves rolling on dry roads that hadn't even seen the precipitation. Eventually Michel stopped again to remove his jacket, acknowledging he hadn't needed it after all. Behind us the skies were dark, but ahead of us they were bright and sunny -- it looked as though we had just narrowly evaded the rain here. 

For me, another highlight on this route was to pass the point at which I'd broken down the last time I rode this course the year previous. I wanted to stare the tire killing pothole in the face and tell it that, despite it's attempt to break my resolve, that I was BACK! (Really, I just wanted to show Michel where, exactly, my debacle had happened). But as we approached the town of Paris we hit more road construction, and wouldn't you know it, the road that had previously torn me asunder was now freshly repaved! But I did acknowledge that everything from this point forward was brave new ground. 

The climb into Paris was the first climb that was significant enough to activate the ClimbPro feature on the Garmin 530 device I'd picked up a few months ago (I get it, it's flat where I live!). This climb was followed by a steep winding descent into the downtown core, where we came upon our second control, the Cobblestone Pub. Had I not been here before I might have missed the fact that the pub has a huge patio out back which is not only more scenic, but offers much better bicycle parking than the downtown strip. With the storm still seemingly far off, we knew we could afford to have a proper sit-down meal. 

Second Control: Cobblestone Pub,
Paris (100km)

We sat at had a very welcome lunch enjoying the scenery of the Grand River. Our waitress told us this would be the last week the patio was open; that they were set to operate from the inside only in September. Given that the brevet for this route was scheduled for mid-September, I ensured I would share this little tidbit with our club. 

And then there were cats! (St. Thomas to Paris 100 - 200km)

On the route back we passed back through Norwich and the same Tim Horton's that marked the first checkpoint. Though it wasn't a required stop on the way back, we did so anyway, if only to fill our bottles and drain our tanks. Next we passed through Burford and were heading west passed Ottersville, with one eye on the road and another on the sky. It was here we could see the dark grey clouds right in front of us.

"The wind is blowing cross-wise to the north" I said to Michel. "We're basically a straight shot west to our destination -- if we slow down a bit we might actually miss it."

"Great idea! Beats pedaling fast and heading right into it" Michel agreed.  

About ten minutes later it looked as though the plan was working. The skies ahead were clearing up as the storm traveled across the horizon to the north. But just then I spied a farm flying a Canadian flag that signified the wind was actually blowing southbound, across to our left. 

"Did the wind shift in the last ten minutes?" I asked Michel. "Can it do that?" 

"Umm, it did shift so....I think so?" Michel replied. 

And slowly, as we rode, we felt the coming storm coming right for us. The air cooled. The wind picked up. The sunlight turned grey and hazy -- and the wall of rain struck us from the right. This rain was of the sort that makes riding impossible. My glasses were opaque with water droplets and fog, and visibility was scarce as it was. Just then the thunderclaps roared. Michel, riding ahead of me single-file, signaled a turn up a gravel driveway toward an open barn. As we mashed the pedals heading up to the barn's opening, a white-bearded man clad in coveralls and rubber boots emerged, that was every bit the caricature of a farmer you'd imagine. He gestured us in. 

"Hurry up! Come on in before you get wet!" he said, laughing. 

The man's name was Lee. We thanked him as we rode in. We leaned our bikes up against an old Jeep that looked to be one of Lee's abandoned projects. The barn reeked of rich gasoline and an old radio in the corner was tuned to Country 106. While Lee gave us the complete run down of his acreage and how many head of each kind of farm animal he had, I noticed a cat run by my feet. My gaze followed it to another cat. Once I had spotted about five or six I said to Lee "You also seem to have a few cats!".

"Oh yeah, I've got about fourteen over there" he said gesturing to one corner of the barn. 

"Fourteen! Wow" I said. 

"Yeah, and another sixteen or so over there" he continued, pointing to another corner. 

"So how many cats do you have exactly?" asked Michel. 

"Thirty-eight, last I counted. Lots of cats, but not a single mouse or chipmunk!" he replied, laughing.  One of the cats ran out into the storm and took shelter underneath a parked trailer.

"Well, that one's the bravest" I said. 

"Nah, she's just trying to get back to her kittens over the other barn." he said. 

Michel's text to his wife

The storm raged for about twenty more minutes. Once the thunder was clear we thanked Lee for his hospitality, and set off again. Though it was still raining hard, we resolved to hunker down and finish the ride. 

The stop delayed us both more than we'd hoped. I cursed myself for, once again, making post-brevet commitments, assuming I'd have this ride wrapped and be home by 6PM. On his part, Michel had been brokering a real estate transaction throughout the day, and needed to get back to London to close the deal. Still, we'd only been slightly delayed -- it could have been worse. 

Though we were soaked and tired, we kept a quick pace all the way back to St. Thomas. I brought the brevet cards into the Tim Horton's for the final signature while Michel stowed our gear in the vehicle. 

And so our August O-12 chapter was wrapped up, and thus the streak was kept alive, at least until next month. 

Lessons learned  from this ride: 

• The fact that a permanent must be booked 10 days in advance should be treated as part of the sport. Either ride it or don't -- but don't expect every ride to be perfect weather. 
• Stop making plans that assume you will finish before the alloted time. 200km leaves room for a lot of chaos. You just never know. 
• I started randonneuring during the pandemic when brevet cards were encouraged to be self-signed. Asking others to sign the card forces human interaction into the event. This can usually be a highlight of the day. It's actually too bad I couldn't have farmer Lee's autograph.