A Breath of Fresh Air - Day Two

A seagull landing on a mini iceberg. He kept going from one to another.
Click to enlarge.

An escort from my best friend Bob. Notice the lightly loaded touring bicycle.
Click to enlarge.

Day Two - Sarnia to London, Some Country roads, a sore butt and a meal fit for a cyclist!

Update received: Mon, 11 Apr 2005 00:31:08 -040

I woke up after a very sound sleep last night. I think I fell asleep before 10:00 at night and I slept until 8:00 this morning. A full day of bicycle touring certainly grants you the peace of a great night's sleep.

I hung out with Bob until after 12:30. We went out for a great breakfast at a family restaurant in Sarnia and then spent some time visiting the river and lake fronts. It was interesting to see how much ice was floating down the river and piled up along the shore of the lake. I considered riding home via the lakefront for a short period of time until I noticied the cooling effect that the cold water was having close to the lake.

Around 12:30 Bob and I started on the road to London. Bob escorted me for 15 km before turning around and heading for home. While he was riding with me the wind was either a cross wind or a quarter-cross wind that was actually helping to move us along. Five kilometers after he turned back for home the wind shifted to become a headwind most of the way back to London.

I took a different route home from the one I took yesterday on my approach to Sarnia. This road was bumpier and less busy then Highway 22. It seemed to have a few more hills as well. My legs just didn't seem to have the usual energy today, a fact that was annoying me until I realized how long ago breakfast was.

One last look north at Lake Huron. I have many fond memories from this lake.
Click to enlarge.

The Sarnia/Port Huron bridge. Notice the ice floes in the river.
Click to enlarge.

Looking at the map I noticied that the next town of any size was Watford so I decided that I would look for a place to eat when I reached it. Upon arrival in Watford a nice little old lady who I met on the street recommended one of the three local restaurants so that's where I went.

I ordered a power meal. This meal had two of my favourite cycling foods, mashed potatoes and a vanilla milk shake. It also included a turkey sandwich smothered with gravy, lots of ice water, some carrots and a healthy helping of apple pie with nice cold ice cream! After spending some time allowing the food to get started on the trip to my legs I paid my bill, climbed back on the bike and kept heading for home.

The bike and the equipment on the bike held up remarkably well to the bumpy road but unfortunately my tender butt was taking it a bit harder! I made the mistake of compounding the problem by choosing this moment to do my annual Brook's saddle retightening. Big mistake since the mild ache became a pain and then since I was too stubborn to correct the mistake it build up into a need to stand and pedal for awhile until I did correct the bad adjustment. Lesson relearned, never adjust the brooks on tour if at all possible!

One nice event that happened during this time period was the ability to remove my cycling jacket and ride for a long period of time wearing a cycling t-shirt. It would have also been great to wear some cycling shorts too but I neglected to bring any with me on this tour.

A view of Watford's downtown. Small but with at least one great place to eat!
Click to enlarge.

A picture of my super meal! Notice that the milkshake is already half gone! Mmmmm!
Click to enlarge.

Eventually I reached Strathroy and headed North to rejoin Highway 22 for the last stretch back to London. Highway 22 featured a small paved shoulder that was buttery smooth compared to the jarring roads I had been on most of the day. Normally these kinds of roads don't bother me but this is my first tour of the season and perhaps a little retraining was needed.

The only downside of the last stretch home are the hills that rose to meet me. By northern Ontario standards they are flat but at the end of two days on the road especially following a lack of sleep prior to the tour I really felt them more then normal. It was with a sense of achievement and some relief that I finally summited the last hill into London.

Returning home was a bittersweet moment. Once again another tour has ended and with it another set of adventures. Still it was very nice to visit one of my best friends, see Lake Huron again and enjoy two days of riding on the open world.

Tomorrow I will copy these journal entries to new pages on Bicycle Touring 101 and add some pictures to go along with the words. I will also add a summary page with a few additional thoughts on things I've learned or re-learned for my next tour as well as my packing list and also a few comparison remarks about light touring versus loaded touring based on my experiences on this tour.

~Jamie N

Stats:

Distance	95.00 km
Average Speed	19 km/hour
Pedaling Time	4 hours, 56 minutes
Elapsed Time	Approximately 7 hours
Climbing	235 metres up, 149 metres down
Power	64 average, 255 max
Heart Rate	130 average
Min Temperature	17 degrees celsius

Tell A Friend about this page!