A Breath of Fresh Air - Day One

A farm just outside of London.
Click to enlarge.

Day One: London to Sarnia

Update received: Sat, 9 Apr 2005 21:17:15 -0500

This morning I woke up feeling tired and perhaps a bit grumpy. Recently I've been involved in a project at work that resulted in me sleeping for one hour and five minutes two nights ago. I managed to catch another four hours yesterday afternoon but nevertheless my body is still feeling the effects of a lack of sleep. Definately not the best way to prepare for a tour! (grin)

Some firetrucks putting out a field fire during my snack break.
Click to enlarge.

After having a hot shower and a great pancake breakfast at a nearby family restaurant I decided to give it a shot and I am overjoyed that I did!

Every bicycle tour has it's own unique adventures and this one was certainly no different! In many ways there was as much adventure today as there normally would be during a week of touring.

Since this tour is called a breath of fresh air let's talk about smells first. The first smell I noticied once I left the city was the smell of dirt from all the farm fields that are being readied for crops. Mixed in with this smell was smoke and manure both of which are good for clearing your nose!:}

The smoke came from farmers burning off the remains of last years crop. I actually stopped to take a picture and enjoy a snack near one such field. I took the picture and then started to remove my snack from my rear saddlebag. When I actually started eating the snack I noticied that four fire trucks had arrived to put out the rapidly increasing fire! It was interesting to watch the pump truck spray water on the field!

Fred Coates holding the guestbook with entries in it since 1980.
Click to enlarge.

Visually there was plenty to enjoy today from viewing what could be the last remnant of snow in South Western Ontario to seeing two farm girls riding a six wheel argo as part of their farm chores while wearing bikini tops.

It's still early spring here so although the snow is largely gone, the trees are still without leaves and the colours are not yet as vibrant as they will be in the coming months. The rivers, streams and creeks all have a high volume of water too!

As is typical during a tour I found myself really tuning in to the sky and any clouds playing across it's surface. For most of the day the sky was a beautiful blue with an occasional fluffy cloud. After dinner the sky display became fantastic! It will be interesting to see what that display means to me tomorrow.

Another interesting event happened when I visited the old general store in Warwick. The owner noticied that I was riding a bicycle so he asked me to sign his guestbook. The first entry in the book was from 1980. Quickly glancing through the pages it was easy to see many records of cross continental and round the world tours from previous years! Unfortunately the number of records for recent years have really tailed off from what they were. I suspect that the reduction is directly related to the closing of the bicycle crossing on the Port Huron/Sarnia bridge. My entry is the first one for 2005. It was a very nice visit. Hopefully I will be able to return another time for a more detailed look through the book!

The Warwick General store owned and operated by Fred Coates.
Click to enlarge.

The sounds were interesting too! Once I left behind the traffic infested roads of the city I was able to tune in to the hum of the tires rolling on the pavement and the whistle of the air through the spokes. I also heard dogs barking, kids playing, cows mooing and birds singing.

The bike was lighter feeling then normal which might feel like a significant advantage and in many cases it is but in one case it was indeed a disadvantage. When my Trek 520 is fully loaded it rides with a silky smooth feeling that you never experience in lightly loaded riding. I missed that feeling today and I am looking forward to experiencing it again soon!

The new rims are working well without any performance penalties that I can detect.

Once I arrived in Sarnia my friend Bob and I enjoyed a nice chinese buffet followed by a visit to the shoreline of Lake Huron. It was nice to see the lake again.

Time for bed! Today was a great day to be alive even with my newly acquired sun burn on only one side of my face! Even though I've driven this route many times in a car it continues to amaze me how much more you see while riding a bike and how much more pleasant the experience is!

~Jamie N

Stats:

Distance	95.51 km {two separate cars show the distance as 108 and 111 km respectively so I probably need to remeasure the tire travel with the new rims)
Average Speed	22 km/hour
Pedaling Time	4 hours, 11 minutes
Elapsed Time	Approximately 6 hours
Climbing	141 metres up, 177 metres down
Power	71 average
Heart Rate	137 average, 166 max
Min Temperature	14 degrees celsius

Click here to continue to Day Two of the tour

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