Training Run July 26th

Total Distance 162.97 Km.
Time in the saddle: 6 hr 54mi 11 sec
Total time of trip: 7 hr 45 min
Avg Speed: 23.6 Km/Hr


On Saturday July 26th, the alarm woke me up with a start at 5 a.m. as we had agreed to meet at Tim Horton's at Sherwood Forest Mall at 6 a.m. to start our ride. Albert de Vries, Scott Fletcher and I had previously decided that we would bike to Grand Bend and visit Ken Faber at his cottage, a distance of approximately 80 km. Albert had mapped out the route and we made a few detours as some roads were gravel. In the end we did travel on one gravel road. We arrived at the cottage at 9:45 which we all agreed was good time. My average speed on the ride to the cottage was 25 km per hour.
Ken was not home so we spent approximately 1/2 hour on the beach eating some lunch and relaxing. Soon it was time to head back home. The ride home was expected to be a little harder as we had to face a little head wind. Albert and Scott both have a quicker pace than I and I suggested to them that if they wished to ride on, that was fine with me, since I knew the way home anyway. That day the MS Society was also sponsoring a ride from Grand Bend to London, so we decided to follow their posted route home. We experienced some rain, but did not really get that wet. By the time we got home we could see that it had rained, but we missed most of it.
I arrived home at 1:45. The total time away on the this trip was 7 hours and 45 minutes.
I felt good knowing that I had just completed a trip of 163 km. The longest distance for me on the C2C tour will be 153 km. I did have some discomfort in my knee after about 115 km. It would pain for a while and then would be ok. This was off and on after the 115 km mark. I believe it is from an accident that I had in 1975. I guess once I break that 100 km barrier to be careful for my knee.

July 24

Thought I better get in the habit of "blogging". Last Monday I took my bike into Reynolds Bike Shop for a fitting as I was experiencing some discomfort from my seat. They were very helpful and made some minor adjustments. I needed to return the following day as they suggested a different post for the handle bar that would elevate me up a little higher. While there we talked about C2C and was informed that Jason new quite a bit about the tour. I mentioned to him that Peter VanNoord of St. Thomas was posting a Reynolds ad on his blog. I also found out that I needed to replace my chain as it was 50% worn. I have had my bike for a year and was not aware that the chain needed service regularly.
On Saturday (July 26) Scott Fletcher, Albert de Vries and myself are planning a bike tour to Bayfield. It just so happens that Ken Faber has a cottage there, and this will be a good rest place for us. When we complete our ride that day it will be over 160 km. I am hoping for a pleasant day. The other night as I went on my nightly ride I left with a beautiful blue sky. Before I got home the dark clouds had formed and it started to rain. I did not really like this, but I thought that during our ride the last 2 weeks of the tour, we may have days of some rain.
I spend a fair bit of time each day trying to keep updated on all the blogs that are posted by the C2C riders, and hear about the difficulties that each is experiencing; the heat, the flat tires, the elevation and I pray that all may be granted cycling mercies. I sense that there is a great community spirit there. I pray that when I and others join the tour in Grand Rapids that we may also experience that same community spirit.

My First Attempt at "Blogging"

Since the start of the Sea to Sea 2008 began on June 30th, I have tried to read as many of the cyclists blogs to see how the tour was doing. This is of particular interest to me since I also will be taking part in the last segment of the tour which begins for me and 5 other cyclists from London on August 17th. I started training earlier this spring when the temperature in the early mornings was at least above freezing. I at least had good intentions. My place of work is 26.2 km from my home. I started to bike to and from work. The very first time it took me 1 hour and 45 minutes and I was wondering what in the world I had committed to do. How could I have been so foolish as to cycle from Grand Rapids, Michigan to Jersey City. Since there are 11 cyclist from First CRC and Connections Community Church in London on the tour, plans were made to do the occasional group ride. This was the case on Monday May 19th (Victoria Day Holiday) when the call went. I knew that I was in trouble when it was announced that a ride of 100 km was planned. I had just started my training and the most I had biked up to this point for 2008 was 3 trips to work and back with a day of work in between. This was also not a pleasant day to bike; rain was in the forecast, it was COLD and it was very windy. Prior to the ride we took a picture of dipping our tires in "Hermans Lake" in the parking lot at First CRC. The decision was made to bike from the church (downtown) to Lucan. Once in Lucan we all stopped at the local "Tim's" for hot chocolate and the like. A few of us thought this would be the turn around point of our day's run. WRONG! We were going to go to Exeter before we could go home. Not wanting to be a quitter, I again took the position of last cyclist and managed to get to Exeter. We were all excited about going home as the wind was to be on our backs. This did not happen as the wind tended to hit us from the side. Fortunately for me I had Gayle looking after me that day and while I did not want to stop, she finally convinced me to call home and have Jean pick me up in Lucan. While I did not do the 100 Km that day, I did manage to get in 76 km.

John Vandersteen, Gayle Harrison and Ralph Fledderus are now cycling every day. The rest of the London crew try each weekend to bike a 100 km. On Canada Day we biked to Glencoe and back and on July 5th we put in another century mark biking from my place through Thorndale, Wellburn, Uniondale put to the Embro Road and back again from Brooksdale to Belton and back to London. We are able to do these runs in about 4 1/2 hours.
In between group rides I try each night after supper to put in at least 50 km.