Rando Rambles

  Route / Event:   Niagara Ramble 200  / 200km Brevet [  Ride Log  ] Sometimes the bike carries you Sometimes you carry the bike The Niagara Escarpment on a lovely October weekend -- now that is a recipe for a picturesque ride. The weather forecast called for a mere 3 to 5 degrees Celsius; unseasonably cool for this time of year but nothing I wasn't prepared to gear up for. 25 - 30kph winds weren't ideal. The good news is there was no rain. No need to add wet to an already cold and windy day.  But weather wouldn't be the theme of this ride. Neither would the pressure of having to finish the day and get back to London knowing I had company in from out of town for Thanksgiving. No -- this ride would have a new wrinkle.  "You've got to be fucking kidding me" I said. I had just tried to shift down from my highest gear only to feel my shift lever give way to the cable, and go completely limp.  Michel, riding beside me, asked about this sudden change i...

Route / Event:   Sandhills 200  / 200km Brevet [  Ride Log  ] Saying hi to mom on the way through Fergus, ON "You know, I always forget how long it takes me to get all my stuff together." Michel said, as we assembled our bikes in the parking lot of the Waterloo-based Tim Horton's. We'd arrived from London for a 7AM depart, and I always aim to arrive early for exactly this reason.  "See? Not actually too early after all!" I replied, playing down my propensity for being punctual to a fault.  And why not arrive early? Greeting fellow randonneurs at the departure point is part of the draw for me. It's one of the only chances I get to talk to like-minded people; folks who would deign to roll out of bed in the pre-dawn hours and drive to a meeting point before sitting on their bike saddle for anywhere from 8 to 12 hours. These are my people. And yet for many, the departure point  may be the only time I see them all day!  Randonneuring is, after all, an ...

Route / Event:  Guelph to Goderich Rail Trail / 132km [  Ride Log  ] The G2G Crew: Jay, Fred, Pete, Jurjen "Something you must have said to Jay the other night changed his outlook on this whole trip." Barb said. It was Friday night, and we were over at Pete and Steph's place in Guelph, enjoying some greek take-out. Jay and Barb, their neighbours, were there when we arrived.  "I don't recall saying anything to Jay, specifically" I replied, as I considered how this large gyro pita would fit into my mouth.  "Well, he had concerns -- there were possibly detours -- what would you do for food...and then, all of a sudden, he was super excited and couldn't wait to go." she said.  "Oh. That makes sense. Wednesday night I shared a route I had mapped with the guys. I had the trail mapped and all the places we could possibly stop at along the way." I said. I hadn't actually considered the impact of this plan on anyone else -- I just mapped a...

  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 ri...