September 2018

Ralf is working with the French Catholic School Board transporting children from as far away as Cardinal (35 kms) to the school in Brockville. Poor little tykes have to be on the bus at 7:00 in the morning.

Sunday September 9, 2018

We live in a windy area. As most of you know I hate wind more than I hate hills but this is where we live and I have to deal with the wind. We get the wind either on the way out or on the way back, but we get wind.  Sometimes, it is gentle breeze other times it is a wind that stops you in your tracks.

Before our rides I check on the weather forecast to see which way the wind is blowing. I then plan our route accordingly. If it is coming from the west, we head west into the wind first and then get the tail-wind home.

I had planned a new route west out towards the Parkway, north to Mallorytown and then east, home via Lyn (approx. 50 kms). I was expecting to be pedaling into a headwind for the first 20 kms possibly 30 kms, then we should have had the westerly pushing us all the way home.

The forecast said a WNW moving to the N and then ENE by noon. Something went wrong today. We headed out about 9:30 and had an awesome tail-wind going west, something was wrong. We headed north and up hill into the wind and then headed east into the wind all the way home. We were home by noon, the forecasters got it totally the wrong way around.

Although we had the tail-wind to start, the new route was really nice. A few little climbs to get the heart rate up and then rolling hills with views over the farm fields and some lovely stone farm houses.

Autumn (Fall) is definitely upon us, the trees are beginning to change colour and today\’s ride was chilly. At one point Ralf came alongside and informed me that we were only 2 degrees above his cycling threshold. Ralf doesn’t like to cycle if it is below 10 degrees C (50F). It was 12 degrees (53F), I had decided to wear my socks and I am so glad I did as my feet would have frozen. Ralf’s toes were like little ice-cubes when we came home.

I told Ralf that on one of our rides we should really bring the camera and take some photos. However, we forget to stop when we are on our road bikes, it is a different mentality for us than when we are touring and seeing new things every day.

Sunday September 16, 2018

Today’s ride was going to be a short one for me and a longer one for Ralf. We were going to drive the car to Gananoque, I was going to cycle home (about 55 kms) and Ralf was going to cycle along the Parkway with me and then head back to the car (about 90 kms). Then I got an email from an OLD friend and realized that he was cycling further than I was. I had to pick up my “young” socks. I decided that we would both cycle 80 kms. We headed out towards Ivy Lea – 80 kms ride (there and back), but we stopped in at Rockport a small village where boat cruises depart from for the 1000 Islands Cruise and had an ice-cream.

Rockport is a pretty village but gets inundated by buses in the summer there was over a dozen bus tours stopping in the village to go on the boat cruises that take them around or to Boldt Castle and another castle.

The ride was nice, although very hot. I was feeling tired as we were heading along the last stretch of Highway 2 into Brockville. A cold refreshing beer went down very well when we got home.

I am so glad we have air conditioning now.

Weekend in Prince Edward County

On the weekend of September 22, 2018 we headed to Prince Edward County (approx. 170 kms) not to be confused with Prince Edward Island (1352 kms). The ride was for the Kiwanis Club. Ralf did the 100 km ride in record time (3 hrs 31 mins) and I did the 50 km ride in under 2 hours.

I met two women that were wearing Brockville Cycling Club jerseys. We chatted and I discovered there is an active cycling club in Brockville. They asked if I would like to cycle with them on the 50 k route. I hoped that they were strong cyclists, as my goal was to do this ride under 2 hours. Fortunately, they were good riders and we squeaked in just under 2 hours. We exchanged emails and phone numbers, I hope to join some of their rides before the end of the season. Definitely join them for next season.

The ride was lovely, although the trees had not changed colours, another couple of weeks and the area will look beautiful. The temperature was perfect, a little chilly in the shade but the sun was out and it was a great fall day.

September 30, 2018

Our last ride in September, it was rather grey and overcast. The leaves on the trees still haven’t changed to spectacular colours. We decided our last Sunday ride in September would be an easy ride. The Brock Trail has been completely paved (and sections repaved) from where we live, all the way north to the border of Brockville at the Mac Johnson Conservation Area. The route makes for a slow ride, but it is very pretty winding through wooded areas and quiet, away from the roads. At Mac Johnson we headed west towards Lyn. This is the first time I have ridden along Red Road and it was lovely.  Nice houses on a lovely rolling hilly road. Maybe in another couple of weeks the trees will be spectacular, or the leaves will change really quickly and fall of the trees.

Warmshowers Guests

This month we had one group of three people stay with us and a solo cyclist. Brian, Rachel and Leah were all from Washington DC. We usually only have two people staying but as these three were travelling together and offered to cook dinner, we said they could stay. They were a nice group of people with a varied travelling experience under their belts. We thought that this would be the last of the touring cyclists for this season.

I think we will stick with a maximum of two guests in the future, five was a little crowded around the dining table.

David emailed us at the end of September and we hosted him for one night.

David was from California, he said that he discovered he could make as much money renting his house in the Bay area (San Francisco) as he could if he was working. No brainer – rent the house and travel by bike. He arrived around 7:00 p.m. and we chatted for a while before heading to bed for an early night. The next morning it was raining, David and I chatted for a while until the rain eased off and he headed out into the cool fall morning.

 David had these great pair of rain pants.  We had seen them in the Globetrotter store in Germany and laughed at them.  However, they appear to work well.  They look a little like motorcycle chaps, and they are open at the back.  Whenever, I wear rain pants I get as wet from the inside as the outside (unless it is really cool).  David\’s rain-pants allow you to stay dry while you are riding, do not allow you to over heat, and are florescent, so he can be seen.