Ride report from Terry Payne:

Last week we rode the Much Ado About … brevet starting in London. Nine riders started out at 7:00 for a nice ride on a beautiful morning. Carey Chappelle and I had tickets in hand for The Shakespeare Festival’s production of The Taming of the Shrew in Stratford at 2:00. On the way out of town Carey had a flat tire which put us a little behind since we had to cover the first 140 km to Stratford in 7 hrs. Easily enough done but the intention was to do it at a leisurely pace and not be any more sweaty and smelly than we had to be when arriving in our finest theatre going apparel.  i.e., cycling clothes. We rode at a steady pace and eventually caught up to Cori Dean who was riding comfortably along and enjoying the day outside of Sebringville. I later found out that she broke a spoke and wobbled into Stratford and had it repaired for free along with topping up the air and some minor adjustments at Totally Spoke’d bike shop in Stratford.

Carey and I stopped in Milverton to pick up a sandwich to eat along the way but the restaurant was too busy. We knew that Annie May’s bakery which is the first control in Milbank would be crazy busy so we wanted to save time. A Mexican Mennonite grocery in Newton didn’t pan out either. Annie May’s was busy with a busload of seniors so we each picked up some cookies and date squares to go. Outside waiting were John Cumming, Michel Hebert, Fred Krawiecki,  first timer Dave Mott and Steve Wright. Fred plodded on ahead. Carey, Steve, John and I headed to Stratford where we settled into the Boars Head Pub control with 48 minutes before showtime. This gave us enough time to get a hot meal and two pints of beer before riding back to the theatre where we entered in all our glory with a minute to spare. The beer in my water bottle was a classy touch I thought. Had to drink it quickly since it foamed up when I pored it in and my camelback bottle was making farting noises as it released the pressure. Can dress him up …   Just before we left the pub Dave Pearson checked in and continued on ahead.

The play was excellent. It took about ten minutes to get attuned to the olde English and be able to follow along easily. We had joked about possibly cramping up during the play and sure enough my left hamstring went nuts during the second act and all I could do was straighten it out and do a silent scream. After a minute or two of heavy breathing it settled down. It was good thing that there were four empty seats around us so it enabled us to spread out and get comfortable. No armrest wrestling required. Even our musk was covered up by all of the perfume around us. At the intermission we had a glass of red wine with cheese and crackers while having our picture taken posing by the grand piano in the lobby. The play was well done and provided lots of laughs while probably making any feminists in the crowd seethe over the breaking of Katherina  (the shrew) to her new husbands demands. Enough said about that. In whole it was a great experience and our seats were excellent. Actually there’s not a bad seat in the house.

We left the theatre after another picture, made our way to Tim’s to fill up our bottles and left town at 5:15. The last 65 km went by easily and we arrived at the Tim’s to finish in 12:51. Fred Krawiecki was driving by after returning from dinner and stopped in for a coffee and a chat about the ride. All in all it was a great day. Everyone finished and enjoyed the day.

From Luc Fournier:

This brevet has been on my calendar for a few months, I rode it last year and I though it was a good course, in particular for a velomobile with only 2000m of climbing.

Start is at the other end of the city so I had to get up early to get to the start on time.  The air is cold, 9C but comfortable and the sky is clear.  When I arrived at destination, the wind has picked-up, I need to put on my jacket, I wish I had my sleeves but at least I have my warm-up legs.

My friend Alain from Montreal Randonneurs, the one from the Sunshine 1200, came with his Quest to ride the brevet.   Alain came with his camper the night before and parked at our point of departure, he probably had the best sleep and looked refreshed.  Maybe this is Glamdonneuring!  Participants are getting ready, I think we are 7 and noticed that many of them spoke French, we all say hello to one another.  I introduce Alain to the ride Vytas the organizer of the brevet; he said it was nice to meet you because I will not see you again, commenting on the speed of our velomobiles.  I told him well you never know, we may have issues and you will pass us.

I loaded the course on my but my GPS was not showing me the route. At 5AM Vytas gave the start signal but my route did not appear, ah, I forgot to change the colour of the trace so I did change it quickly and I can now see the route.  After the first few turns, I realize that the GPS appears to be giving the wrong directions and realized that while I downloaded the route to my computer last week, I loaded last years route on the GPS; I guess I was not thinking too much, they have two different names!  I figure that I’m still OK, the route is mostly the same but the beginning of the first section and the last segment are different and I let Alain lead as he had the right course on his GPS.  At least I had the right cue sheet so I reverted to the cues to start.  After a few minutes we joined the old route and everything was fine.

Alain and I were riding in front of the group and now that I had the right course, Alain let me lead and he would follow, as I knew the route.  It was the first time that I would ride in a brevet with another velomobile.   After a few minutes, I found myself way ahead, and while he is a stronger and more seasoned rider, he could not keep up with the speed of the DF and I waited for him.  The difference in speed is so noticeable, it is in the order of 5 to 7km/h on the flat.  Since he came from Montreal to ride with me, I wanted to remain with him so I would stop and let him catch-up.  Before we got to Lanark, we encountered a 5km long section of gravel as the road is undergoing repairs.  Riding on gravel is not much of an issue with a velomobile but it tends to dance on the road and going up hill may create traction issues.

At the Lanark control, I was half way through my cup of coffee when Alain showed-up.  I was at the Lanark control a couple of minutes after the opening but I was tracking to arrive before the opening of the first two controls.  At the Desert Lake control, I have time to refill my Camelback, and have my lunch before Alain shows up some 30 minutes behind me.  He had problems with the drivetrain and spent quite a few minutes looking for the source without much success.  I asked me to try his Quest to see if I could figure the issues but in the little parking lot, I could not push his velomobile to see the symptoms.  One thing I did notice was that even though I used to have the same Quest, compared to the DF, the Quest is huge!   By then, Gordon (I think) shows up 45 minutes after my arrival. Alain gives me the keys to his vehicle and said I don’t think I will make it back (we are the furthest part of the ride.  Now we are about to hit the hilly part and his Quest makes a terrible noise.

Alain leaves the control and I climbed on board.  As we started my GPS complained it was low on power so I plugged it into the DF USB port but it did not like it and after a couple of minutes, I connected it on my trusted USB battery and the GPS was happy.  I soon catch-up with him and I follow him on the short but twisty and steep hills up and down.  I can hear the thonk-thonk coming from the Quest drivetrain.

A couple of minutes later, all of a sudden I come around a very tight turn and my chain started making a terrible noise.  I quickly came to the conclusion that the chain had skipped the idler by the jumpy side motion.  Recumbents have idlers to guide the long chain from the crank to the cassette and back.  While it was making a lot of noise from the chain rubbing on the carbon fibre, I caught up to him and told him to stop, maybe I was in major trouble too and would not be able to rescue him.  I looked at the idler but everything is hidden behind carbon fibre, I have seen no instruction on how to remove the rear idler except for a comment that it can be done and it comes out the back.  Now I’m swearing because I can’t believe that such info is not published.  So I try my luck and remove the two blots holding the idler and I play with the chain, maybe I can back pedal and it will move itself out.  It does not work but the noise appears to be less.  I try to pedal back up the hill and the noise is less.  The idler is floating freely inside the shell or so I think.  It appears that there is less noise so I decide to reinstall the bolts and try my luck.  I’m able to re-align the bolt holes using a small hex key and reinstall the bolts.

I get back in the velomobile, and start pedalling but it still makes noise, maybe not as much so I try shifting gears, back pedalling and finally things start running smoothly again.  Alain had given me the keys to his vehicle so I could come and rescue him, he tell me to ride ahead and finish then come back to pick him up, he would limp to safety.  Another rider catches-up to us and continues on his ride.   I said to Alain that I would get back to him when I reach the next control.  A velomobile can be hard to pedal up the hills, but I find myself right behind the Jean Pierre and I pass him on a descent and soon I put a bit of distance between us.  Soon I find my way to Syndenam and on a main road on my way to Athens (Ontario, not Greece).

There are still numerous hills on the road of Athens and the roads also became very busy in the early afternoon.  This year, the 400km brevet coincides with the Rideau Lakes Tour, probably the largest annual cycling event in Ottawa. The Ottawa Bike Club organizes this supported ride where thousands of cyclists are riding from Ottawa to Kingston and back the next day cyclists use are several different routes based on their category.  At the same time 500 – 800 motorcycles participating in the Motorcycle Ride for Dad out of Kingston were using several of the same roads.

I first encountered the Rideau Lake Tour riders on highway 15 where I passed a few dozen of them before a short climb.  This being average cyclists, I was able to pass a few up the hill, only one strong rider passed me in order to find a spot to take my picture.  I soon turned off that road and for several minutes met cyclists going in the opposite direction towards highway 15.

I soon met motorcycle riders on the road, many of them waving at me.  There were several section of open road with good pavement where I could motor along at 50+km/h.  At one point, I was riding above 55km/h and the lead motorcyclist was following me about 10ft behind and a bit to the side then moved right next to me.  The long bearded guy with a companion on the back of the motorcycle ask me “Hey, how are you doing man?”  I did not want to keep my eye off the road for too long, the road was twisty and there could be potholes, I quickly turned my head, I said fine and I waved then he passed me along with about half of the group but by then the road had a small slope so I was picking up speed riding now at 70km/h right in the middle of the group.  All of a sudden I notice they have patches on their jackets they are members of the Outlaws motorcycle… ahem Club.  This went on for a few km until a small hill slowed me down and the rest passed me.  I don’t know too many Randonneurs or cyclist for that matter who can say they have ridden with the Outlaws!

I was in Athens at 4PM and Alain told me he made it to the next town and his idler was broken, he could not repair it so he would try to find a ride back or I would have to pick him up after the ride.  At the control I ask them to sign my  card and asked if any other rider had stopped, they told me none had so maybe I passed him with the Rideau Lakes crowd or when he stopped somewhere and did not notice.  I had a quick Pizza dinner while entertaining the local people who peppered me with dozens of questions.  It also gave me time to nurse my feet that were getting numb.  When it was time to leave there were probably some 25 people who came out to see me leave.

The ride to Merrickville was uneventful but I was not going as fast as I would have liked, legs tired some wind maybe or the rough roads in places may have contributed to this.  I arrived in Merrickville at the control and immediately, people came to see me.  This being a touristy town, there are many people walking the streets.  I went in to get my card signed, purchase a beverage, the clerk jokingly offered sell me cigarettes. Then I returned to the velomobile.  I answered questions, while I changed socks and the tourists took pictures of the velomobile and then I left.

From that point, I now had to disregard the GPS because of the change in the route.  I was lucky because it was before sunset and I could still read the street signs.  My odometer was a bit off from the cue sheet so I had to be careful.  In a few places, I had to stop to ensure I was going the right way.  I only overshot once because GPS gave me a different name than on the cue sheet but I quickly turned around.

The new route takes you on some pretty damaged roads.  Depending on the pavement, on the same road my speed varied significantly from less than 25 to more than 40 km/h. For close to 8km on Shea Rd, I felt I was riding on a rumble strip and had to slow right down to ensure I would not lose the fillings in my teeth or any part of my velomobile.  Soon I reached the maze of suburbia, it was a real navigation exercise but I make it back. I finished at 8:20PM.

I improved my time over last year but not as much as I could have.   Of course, the time spent waiting for the problems of my friend slowed me down so taking this into account I would certainly have shaved another hour to my time.  The weather conditions were ideal, it was cool sunny but a bit windy.

After I arrived, I called Alain, he could not get a lift on his own so I drove to Syndenam to pick him up.  I arrived after 10:30PM he was in his velomobile shivering in the cold night, I gave him my polar vest and we loaded the Quest for the trip back.  We returned to Stittsville after 12AM.  We packed everything and Xavier from Toronto arrived atfter12:30AM.  I arrived home at 1:45AM, did not unpack and went straight to bed.

From Dave Thompson:

An amazing experience has to have highs and lows, right? This definitely qualifies!

It was epic, an extremely tiring but gratifying ride. How tiring – well, can you imagine a beer in front of her and Liz going to bed instead?

First and foremost, the eight of us started and finished together. That in itself is unusual. Michael, Martin, Arthur, Peter, Dave, Vaune, Kathy, Liz – great riding company.

The route was amazing – I put that in the past tense because it will probably be reconstituted if/when we run this again. The major hang-up is getting from South River to Highway 522 towards Loring. Unless the recent changes to the Highway Traffic Act will let us ride on Highway 11, our only option at this point is Rye Road with its 16km of gravel. I had checked that section out just one week earlier and while rough going in spots, it was do-able. Well, we did it, but in between my checkout drive and our ride, someone had seen fit to do some road maintenance and filled quite a few spots with what we call pit-run gravel aka soft sand. Perhaps it will pack eventually, but that was brutal. Spinning wheels, a couple of tip-overs … you get the idea.

The rest of the route explored as much of cottage country as possible, hitting parallel roads to Highways 11 and 69. Southwood Road delighted everyone, as it had on the 400k the prior week.

The weather could always have been worse but the north wind as we headed north and the very strong south wind as we headed south, then capped off by heavy rain from Orillia almost to the end … well, that just about did us in time-wise as we finished in 39:22.

Other than that wind, we were cold coming into my place close to 1am – yes, that’s 19 hours to do the first 340k. The temperature was in the single digits and we’d had a long day. Everyone enjoyed a hot shower at that point. In Orillia on the return, temperature dropping and in heavy rain, we donned all our clothing for the final stretch. In Vaune’s case, that included a large trash bag, arm-holes cut … yes, we were quite the motley crew!

Nature tried to stop us once more at a road closure. It seems that water had taken out a culvert. Now I think of a culvert as one of those corrugated pipes across the end of my driveway … this one was those large concrete jobs that you can almost walk through, connecting two parts of a lake right on our way east towards Bala. As soon as we topped the hill and saw the huge crane down below and all the trucks, I knew that we were in trouble. There aren’t many east-west routes through this area. This wasn’t going to be eight of us tip-toeing through the water. However … just as Vaune was approaching the workmen to see if they’d let us move our bikes across the piles of gravel that were accumulating on the concrete culvert sections as they repaired the road, someone discovered that there was a walk-around with a little foot-bridge. I’m pretty sure that adding perhaps 40 km to our ride at that point would have sealed the deal, but we lucked out. Back-tracking to 141 then north and east … ugh

The mosquitoes were epic. I’ve never seen them like this. You only had to stop for a second and there were clouds. On Rye Road we couldn’t outrun them, hard as we tried and they bit on exposed skin and through cycling shorts. It was too slow going to stay ahead of the critters. Vaune set a new record for a flat-tire-change in the midst of those Rye Road mosquitoes.

Speaking of flats, the last group rolled into my place and we’d lost Peter. It seems that he’d had a flat 3 km back at the entrance to our cottage road, Osprey. I went out with the car to track him down and he was not too far behind.   Kathy had two flats – one at the house and another early on while on one of our short highway 69 stretches.

We never had much time in the bank on day two. We’d left my place about 1/2 hour negative and were rather pressed to make Parry Sound, 100+ km further on. With only 10 minutes in the bank, we rolled out of Parry Sound and got to Bala with about an hour, used up most of that fortifying ourselves with cappuccino and such (have to have some fun, right?), and used up a bunch more in Orillia as we got reorganized to roll to the finish in the heavy rain. 39:22 is certainly a new 600k record for me. That was one full-value ride!

Special mention must be made of Michael and Martin as they did way more than their fair share of pulling. Michael, in particular, could have finished hours earlier, but elected to stay with the group. At times the group was spread out but we always reconstituted at stops.

Last but not least, thanks to my wife Sandy who organized food and drink for dinner and breakfast and sleeping arrangements. Our washer & dryer have been going full time today as all those towels and bedding are washed.   For me it was a two-snooze drive home. Usually I’m so wired that I don’t need to stop on a 2.5 hour drive, even after a big ride … but not this time!

From Kathy Brouse:

OK, time to add my two cents. There are a few details Dave did not mention. Aside from the fact that it was a long, hard and challenging ride (but no one expects these 600 to be a breeze) it was a huge adventure. We were riding in cottage country, remote cottage country – granite shield and Algonquin Park, that type of cottage country. Riding to Dave’s house along this deserted rode close to midnight the sky was bright and full of stars. In the morning as we headed out along the road towards the highway I was upfront with Peter and we came across a moose on the road and further on Michael, Marty, Peter and I spotted a bear on the side of the road!! At the end of the second day, as we rode along Ridge Rd. in the dark towards Barrie the side of the fields were lit up by fireflies, it was magic.

Thank you to Dave for organizing this adventure and to Sandy for staying up after midnight to dish out lasagna to a motley group of cold and hungry randonneurs. How often on one of these long challenging rides do you get to sleep in a comfy bed and eat yummy food without handing over a credit card:-) A heartfelt thanks to the both of you for such a pleasant stopover.

Other memories – strawberry ice cream in Bala, coming off my bike (again) on a cushion of sand, drafting behind Michael T who pulled us north and then south, watching Dave take off into the distance cause I didn’t know he could rock the bike like that, Vaune all agitated and dressed in a garbage bag, Peter Grant and such chivalry as he took charge of the changing of the flats (got to be some perks in this sport for us ladies:-)

A great time, thank you Dave and Liz, Vaune, Arthur, Peter, Michael and Marty for sharing it with me. Now all my qualifying rides are done for PBP, yippee!!

From Liz Overduin:

Thanks Dave and Kathy for taking the time to write reports – I love reading ride reports – even when I was on the ride.

I have decided that I love the 600 km distance – but I would rather do it in 72 hours as opposed to 40 hours! Today I did not go to work – it was unthinkable to even try to weld something! So I had 3 days off anyway!

Dave, it was a great route – the gravel was crazy, but for me, it was the mosquitoes! When we had to walk up those hills in the soft gravel, rather than spin out, the mosquitoes were in heaven! Eight cyclists in spandex! What were they doing before we came along? Within seconds I was surrounded by at least 200 mosquitoes – no exaggeration! I looked over at Peter Grant walking beside me and he also had a swarm around him. It was truly insane! And then Vaune gets a flat! And Peter stayed with her – is there a medal for that?

And, yes, I have let down the Huron Chapter by turning down a beer and lasagna – which was truly regrettable the 2nd day – consider it a lesson learned. All I could think about in that last hour up to your cabin was – I have got to close my eyes and stop moving any of my aching body parts! Nothing else mattered!   Huge thanks to Dave and Sandy for such a great welcome and comfortable place to stay. If we had 72 hours for a 600 we could have enjoyed it so much more!

We all finished – and together – what a great experience – thanks to everyone! Although I had my bear spray at the ready……I never had to use it (does bear spray repel mosquitoes?) If I had a repellent for headwind, that would have been supremely handy!

Congrats to everyone who is now qualified for PBP – you are going to Love it!

From Peter Grant:

Cottage 600 – a very enjoyable bike ride. Great scenery, quiet roads and most important – good company. Thank you Marty, Michael, Dave Kathy Arthur, Vaune and Liz. The 500km of headwinds were a bit of bad luck but overall we had had good weather and that 100km+ without headwinds. And such hospitality at Port Loring. A very special thank you to Sandy Thompson for being up at 1:00 AM with cold beer and hot lasagna for us.

Mosquitoes scare me and my weapon of choice in the spray category was a 37ml bottle of Natrepel which I got at MEC. When Vaune announced she had a flat on Rye Road I reached for it first and sprayed our helmets and probably a lot more. I just checked my helmet and the Natrepel did not melt anything or even make it sticky, maybe just a hint of lemon smell.

Until next time, thank you all for a great weekend!

From Terry Payne:

From Peter Grant:

From Dave Thompson:

Having just read Kathy’s ride report on the Oak Ridges Morraine, I’m spurred on to write mine.

Five brave souls headed out on the inaugural Parry Sound 400k on Saturday.  A new route, largely un-scouted, what would we encounter !?!  An ugly weather forecast faced us as well – warm and dry to start with a tail-wind, lots of rain, dropping temperatures and a head-wind for the trip back.  Remembering what the first day of the Rocky Mountain 1200k was like a couple of years ago, I warned everyone what to expect and told them what I’d be wearing.  They listened.  We were all heavily loaded down to start … we were wearing it all at the end.  Heavy jackets and rain pants were ready to shut out the elements.

Albert Koke, Henk Bouhuyzen, David Pearce, Martin Cooper and I were the brave souls.  We all finished although I’m sure that Albert was using a substitute bike with a motor for part of the ride as he finished about six hours ahead of the rest of us, who rolled in at 5:17 a.m., just beating the dawn and just shy of 24 hours.

The Route

First off, the route is fabulous.  I’d originally called it “cottage 400k” because that’s what it is, a sight-seeing tour through cottage country.  We saw more granite that day than we did on the entire Granite Anvil.    Cottages perched high above the water to deep cuts for the roadways to steep drops from roadside to water’s edge to expanses of flat, bare granite in the Torrance Barrens as we headed north towards Bala on Southwood Road  / District Road 13, 33.5 km of nature designed roller coaster.

From Barrie through Orillia to Bala we lucked out and stayed dry but we could feel the temperature dropping.  Three of us had a hot breakfast; Dave Pearson joined us having coffee; Albert was out there ahead.  North on 169 and Lake Joseph Road to Clear Lake Road was good riding, traffic somewhat busy at times.  It was shortly after Bala that Henk’s wheel problems started … more on that later.

Clear Lake Road … ahem … gravel … remember that none of this route had been pre-scouted.  I was by myself at that point, trailing the others.   It had rained but wasn’t raining at the time.  Thank goodness for fenders, which kept my drivetrain mostly clean. It was slow going and seemed to go on and on, mostly because I had no idea how much more gravel there would be before Parry Sound.   Hitting 141, which is paved, was heaven, but, we only ride 141 for a km or so.  I prayed that the next road would be paved … and it was … that made my day !

It was along Tally-Ho Swords Road that I caught up to Henk, now walking.

518, Hunter Drive and Oastler Park then take us into Parry Sound for lunch, not half the kilometres completed, but taking into account the gravel, probably half the riding.

The route back to Barrie shares some of the same roads except that we turn East on 141 after Tally-Ho Swords through Rosseau.  That too is worth the price of admission !  South on what becomes Manitoba St and to Gravenhurst, we run parallel to Highway 11, cycle restricted at that point because it is 4-lanes.  We then loop back towards Bala on 169 and take Southwood Road’s roller coaster, now back on familiar territory but not really, since it’s dark.  We bypass Orillia on the way south – that’s a part of the route that I will examine as it meant that we had 130kms from the Gravenhurst Control to the end.  Having now ridden the route, I can also pinpoint Controls.

The Weather

I do have to say that we lucked out with the weather.  It wasn’t as bad as predicted.  How’s that for Randonneur Logic ??

We got a fair amount of rain, but never torrential.  It didn’t rain while we were on the gravel road.  We had a SW cross tail-wind as we headed north, which had gradually turned into a NW wind by the time we hit Parry Sound which then helped us for the ride back.  Having the wind partly at our back also meant that we were a little warmer than we would have been with  a headwind.

That said, we were cold but functional.  Dave, Martin and I stopped at a restaurant about half-way between the Parry Sound and Gravenhurst Controls, an oasis of hot coffee.  It didn’t help physically for long, but did help mentally.  We were looking forward to something in the Orillia area but didn’t want to go off-route to find it.  By the end we were cold.  My hands weren’t working very well and it took a long time to get packed up and on the road.

Dave had checked the weather forecast when we were in Parry Sound and reported the wind prediction, which was accurate, and 30% chance of rain.  Well, that cloud followed us, lost us for a while when we stopped for coffee, picked us up again later but allowed us to roll back into Barrie and pack our cars being dry.

Henk

Randonneurs Ontario needs a new medal for sheer determination.  Henk would win it hands-down.  Having had a ride-busting problem with his rear hub the prior week, I think that he would have walked the entire route to finish if he’d had the time.  It started off easy … ping … a spoke gone on the front wheel.  Being a low spoke count wheel, it had too much of a side-to-side wobble to turn.  His torx spoke wrench turned out to be the wrong size.  I pulled out my little pliers but there’s so little leverage and so little grip, that I could barely turn the spoke nipples to make a correction.  Henk, however, is a better man than me, or at least has a better grip J.  He managed to loosen the two opposing spokes and slightly tightened others so that the wheel would turn with a slight wobble and a hop.  No one would notice the hop on these roads anyway !

Shortly afterwards, he noticed his rear hub occasionally not engaging.  Yes, that’s the hub that was repaired two days before.  It started out slow then he would have to stop and bang the wheel and finally, 20+ kms from Parry Sound, utter failure.  I’d been dawdling and caught up to him walking towards Parry Sound.  In actual fact he’d only have to walk half the distance because the other half would be downhill and he could ride.  I called my wife Sandy as we have a Parry Sound phone book and she found that there were two bike shops in PS.  Walking, however, would get him there after they closed.  I suggested that he hitch-hike or stop at a house and ask for a ride; he did the latter and passed me sometime as I rode to Parry Sound, trailing the others by a fair bit.  Albert also passed me at this point, but he was already on his way back to Barrie.

While I was helping Henk, all of a sudden my cranks wouldn’t turn.  What ?!?  I figured out that my cassette had loosened and was binding, clearly I need to keep on top of bike maintenance, not having checked that in months.  I tightened the lock-ring by hand, getting quite greasy and dirty in the process, but was rolling again.  Once into Parry Sound, I visited one of those bike shops and they graciously let me use their Shimano lock-ring tool.  I’d pictured myself re-tightening it in the dark and thought that this was the better approach.

Coming out of the bike shop, there was Henk at the convenience store across the street.  He had visited the other bike shop and not only fixed the rear wheel, they lent him a new Mavic Kysrium front wheel, which is what he was riding.  No charge.  He has to go back to Parry Sound to retrieve his wheel, of course, but that’s a small price to pay.  Determined to finish this ride, he set out back down the course to where he picked up the hitchhike ride, then rode to back Parry Sound, then back down the course.  40 kms behind us at that point if you count the back-and-forth, 20 if you only count the route, he would catch up to us before the end.  We saw him shortly after his turnaround point, heading back to Parry Sound.  Me ?  Bail ?  Not Henk !

Summary

A great route that I will put on the schedule again.  I will tweak it to break up that long stretch between Controls and see if there is something that can be done about the gravel section, but I doubt it.  There are very few roads in that area that actually go anywhere.  7.3 km of gravel is not too bad, considering the area, especially if you know that’s all the gravel and you won’t be hitting it again on the way south.

I rode my own pace, as usual, and my riding partners waited for me which wasn’t necessary but was much appreciated.

Thanks to Henk, Martin, Albert and Dave for a memorable ride.

From Kathy Brouse:

It is a given that all randonneurs laugh and joke and tease one another about our participation in this extreme sport. The distances are so excruciatingly long, the discomfort so intense, why oh why when we could be socializing, shopping, gardening, spending time with family, do we turn away from simple pleasures and sign up for a 400 km challenge, one of the hardest club rides. Why do we take off at 6am prepared to be in the saddle all day and most of the night? Is it normal, is this sane behaviour or does the obsessive pursuit of the series, the medal, the qualifying rides make us lose perspective sometimes?

You see I am pondering these philosophical questions this morning because yesterday I crossed a line, from the wacky to just plain nuts, yup I went there yesterday, to the dark side. I have officially  joined the group who cycle 200km brevets in the winter, in the snow, yes they have also crossed this line. My line was the Oak Ridges Moraine 400. I headed out with a group of 10 randonneurs yesterday morning, the forecast was not good, rain beginning at around 11am and settling in. I told myself I would enjoy a fast hard run to Orangeville, some good hill training and then I would head home as the rain set in. Which meant I would have to do the other 400 km in a few weeks in order to get my PBP qualifying rides done, something I did not want to do as I have other plans that weekend. But, as it turned out, the weather was great for cycling, a little cloud, a little sun, nothing unpleasant. So I kept going, despite the fact that I had ditched my warmer gear in my car- because I was coming back when the rain started.

But the weather was nice to Orangeville and then to Sharon. It did torrential rain for about 4 or 5 minutes in Sharon while we were snacking, but then it cleared and it was nice again. As I carried on I was even wishing I had purchased sunscreen at the Sharon control. And it stayed nice until 5:30 when it started to rain, but not heavily, while enroute to the control in Stouffville at 7:30. When Arthur and I left the Mr. Sub in Stouffville wearing all the layers we had, even a garbage bag cut out for my head and arms and newspaper stuffed down my front, it started to pour. It wasn’t pretty, it was horrible, it was that type of rain and wind that hits you in the face like a hundred little painful needles. And it poured like that for the rest of the ride. At the last control in Oak Ridges we purchased yoga towels ($30. plus tax) a piece to wrap around our core and more garbage bags to keep us warm and this did provide some relief. My feet and my hands were so cold throughout the night I couldn’t feel them and by the time we got to the home stretch, the only relief was climbing those hills on Old Base Line because the effort brought some warmth.

Arthur and I pulled into the Tim Horton’s at 4:40 am. We couldn’t talk, my mouth would no longer move to form words and my voice was just a raspy whisper at that point, too hard to talk. The relief of sitting in the warm car was intense but the short drive back to my place in Oakville was challenging, kept falling asleep and driving on the wrong side of the road. Fortunately, these are country roads and it was quiet, but I was driving like a very drunk person. I don’t know how Arthur managed to drive back to the city, I hope he rested and set out when he was ready to drive safely. I don’t know about the other people on the ride. Michael T and Smiling were ahead of us and must of made it back as, we did not see any bodies on the road in the last 100 km stretch. I hope the others made it back safely and that they will contact me because I am concerned, especially Charles because he was riding on his own most of the day, last seen at the Sharon control.

Thank you Arthur for sharing the suffering yesterday and for letting me wear your leg  warmers. He was sensible enough to pack boots and rain pants but would have been warmer if he had not handed over his leg warmers to me. You are a true friend, many thanks. The silver lining to all this is the completion of the 400km qualifying ride, all done now, yippee! The dark side is the positive proof that I crossed a line yesterday and this sport has made me lose perspective on decisions that affect my health and safety. A more sensible person (not a randonneur:-) would have turned back at Sharon (but, it was the second control, almost half the ride done) or phoned a friend to bring them home.

Now I have the Simcoe Cottage 600 to look forward to next weekend, the big ride in black bear country but we will all be safe because Liz is bringing her super duper bear spray. She says she will fend off the bear while we take off and wait for her down the road. Clearly nothing nuts about Lizzie, just a normal girl who enjoys to wrestle with black bears on a group ride!

I decided to ride the Huron Chapter’s Frosty 200 as a permanent this past Saturday. The one and only previous time this one ran was in late January 2011. I remember driving down the 401 in the dark, towards Tillsonburg, hardly being able to see out the windshield due to blowing snow. Combined with a temperature of minus 10, I couldn’t help but start laughing and almost questioning my sanity. Since I’d already ridden with Carey Chappelle and Dick Felton, I knew that I was in good company and we would be forming a happy band of idiots. Also joining in was Brian Brideau (early preparation for the snows of the Great Divide), Dave “Hammy” Pearson (riding with full gearing in the days before indexed shifting became incomprehensible to him) and Jacob Ner (on a bike Friday).

We all met in the lobby of Tillsonburg Arena and pretended that this was a great idea. I started the 2015 version by myself in bright sunshine and cool but not glacial temps. But not white. It was interesting actually seeing the sights once I got out of town. If there were 5 other riders with me I would have been able to see them as well. With a fairly strong SW wind it was work starting out riding both west and south towards the lake. Really? I probably wasn’t moving a whole lot faster than the first time. But not white. There are surprisingly a lot of hills in this flat part of the country. Not long but short steep kickers. I passed the spot where Dick (who was riding a fixie) had to convert his bike to a single speed with a free wheel after doing his impression of a gerbil while slipping and sliding down the hills. Further on I remembered the hill where I realized that having fenders on wasn’t such a great idea since they kept getting jammed up with ice. Felt like pedalling with the brakes on all day. I had to kick out the ice every 10 or 20 km at times. The spot where Carey ran into someone and bent the forks of his mountain bike straight back. He fell down since his seat was so high he couldn’t get off easily. He forgot his seat and post so had to borrow one that didn’t quite fit properly and had to be hammered down not nearly far enough. The joke all day was whether we would need a surgeon or the Jaws of Life to remove the seat from his ass at the end of the ride. I’ve seen the same bike still unused in his garage with the indentation from his prostate still evident on the seat. This was all on the way to the first control in Port Burwell. Glen Steen met us there and exchanged all of our frozen water bottles with bottles with flowable liquid. He did this at every control. It was hard to drink anyway since I was afraid to take one hand of the handlebar due to the ice. I started this ride thinking that maybe I’d put in a good time under 9 hours but quickly threw that idea away in the wind. Since it was time to relax, I decided to go down to the dock to have a look at the old submarine Port Burwell is so proud of. While walking around and checking it out I was joined by an old guy who became my guide. While admiring it I asked him if they planned on painting it soon since it showed a lot of rust to which he replied that they want to keep it authentic. I said that authenticity still rusts out and eventually sinks. He didn’t seem too interested in talking anymore. Another great friendship aborted I guess. After having a quick bite to eat at the control restaurant it was time to ride again. Quick turnaround time of 55 min. Pretty much set the tone for the rest of the day. Still not white.

I thought that I might have a nice tailwind along the lake to the next two control stops of Port Rowan and Port Dover. Nope. Swirling at best. Get up to a decent speed and up comes a 2 or 3 minute gust to put me back into my place. Rode down the road which had a foot or two of snow last time. Took a half hour last time but 5 or 10 minutes this time. Not white. Last time we arrived in Port Dover looking forward to a steak and a beet in the Norfolk Tavern but we only had about 5 or 10 minutes before the control closed. Bag of chips and a swig of unfrozen water delivered by Glen. This time though I asked myself what would Carey do now with time to spare? Time for a pint. The tavern was full of leather clad bikers so I fit right in. The bartender asked me if I was with the band (free beer?). I must have had that ruffled just got out of bed at three o’clock look about me. I walked up to the bar, squeezed in and ordered a pint of Keith’s and a veggie wrap. How’s that for blending in? Thought about another but remembered the headwind all the way back to Tillsonburg. While I was getting my bike, near the patio, a bikerish waitress asked me what I was doing and was clearly awestruck and mesmerized by such a specimen as myself. The guy beside her wasn’t. He mumbled something about him being able to do it to which I said “not in a million” judging by the humongous gut hanging over his Harley belt. I rode away pretty quick. Still not white.

The ride west was taxing but it was still good to be able to see the sights. Not white. Or dark. I even took a wrong turn and had to backtrack at the same corner we screwed up at last time. The Tim Hortons, in Delhi, control brought back memories of being tired and not a lot of talking going on due to frozen lips. Even sat in the same seat. The nostalgia was carrying me away. The last control was in Brown’s Restaurant on the way back to T-Burg and was open this time. Glen signed the cards in the dark beside the road last time. This was after having us turn east when all we wanted to do is ride west and finish. I remember last time having to take my tinted ski goggles off to see at night and feeling my eyeballs start to freeze or the eyelids freeze shut. After arriving back at the arena in Tillsonburg, I was able to find an arena guy who opened up a hockey dressing room so I could have a shower. So what if it was the women’s. I’ve been there before. Ask Liz. Last time we did the same thing. Dick even took his bike in the shower with him. I showered quickly to give them the privacy they needed. All in all it’s a great route and thanks to Glen Steen for putting it together. Still not sure I’d want to do it again in January though.

Terry

For anyone who was out on a bicycle this past weekend…..they would know what a great couple of days for cycling it was!

Simcoe Chapter routes are definitely ones to rave about – thanks to those who came out to enjoy the back to back 200 and 300. Going around Lake Simcoe on Sunday made it feel like we were in the heart of summer – the beaches we cycled along were packed with swimmers, sunbathers and families enjoying beach activities. Linda and I can also happily report that there were opportunities for ice cream (although maybe not as soon as we would have liked), and even a Dairy Queen in Keswick! The folks from Windsor area said it was definitely worth the drive. Randy Akins is a Barrie local and has been enjoying these routes as training rides – lucky guy!

One crazy thing that happened to me was that as I was coming down a “double hill”, just cresting and going into the second descent, there was a racoon making its way across the road. In that split second, (and now I truly understand why they call it a “split” second – it goes so fast), everything happened at once. It would have been best for both of us if the racoon had just let me zoom on by, but…..no, the racoon made a bolt. He ran into my front wheel and down I went, but not before running over him with my rear wheel. With a lot of snarling and hissing (racoon cursing?) he went into the bushes and then went quiet. I did not bother to investigate. Just then Arthur and Jerzey came along and Arthur offered me some antiseptic wipes to clean up the road rash on my knee and leg. Arthur has been carrying this emergency First Aid kit for 3 years and he was happy that finally it proved not to be in vain! As for me, once again I feel very fortunate that the outcome was not worse. I am not sure about the outcome for that racoon.

Liz Overduin

I have never heard a Randonneur say how much they loved a 1200 km brevet from beginning to the end as much as Chris Cossonnet did on the Sunshine 1200. Today he sent me an e-mail saying how excited he is about doing the 600 next week-end! It’s like he was born for this sport! Chris and I got along GREAT during the ride, no problem staying together and taking turns leading. For me it was from 12-4pm and Chris led from 8pm-12am regularly. His GPS was finally working perfectly and he loved having it. Scenery … INCREDIBLE! We went to Jimmy Buffett’s Margaritaville in Key West for a Cheeseburger and a Margarita the day before the event.

Met a number of the Randonneurs from Japan, California, Texas, Florida, Scotland, Australia, Quebec etc., The ride started at 4am, so we got up at 0230 and went for breakfast at a Denny’s. There we met a number of other Randonneurs. After breakfast we headed to the Southernmost Point in the Continental U.S.A. for the Official Start!

The ride up from Key West to Miami was breathtaking! The bike lane was plenty big enough to keep everyone comfortable with traffic. Surrounded by water and watching the Sun come up … Awesome!

Once we were inland, we dropped in on a Randonneur being picked off the road and taken to the hospital after running into the back wheel of another rider and crashing. I called Dick Felton to let him know the story and asked him to send a Volunteer to pick up the Randonneur’s bicycle. Entering Miami, we were on bike lanes until we got downtown, then we joined the regulars on the road to Miami Beach … Awesome!

Today, my goal is to take Donna and Erika to Miami for a week and head to Key West for 2 days … I LOVED IT THAT MUCH! Chris and I met a Randonneur from Quebec who was doing this 1200. He didn’t speak English, so Chris was the one who communicated with him. This individual got lost in Miami, DNF as he missed the closing time for the Control in Northern Miami and found no one who spoke French when he was trying to find his way. He called a Taxi and then unexpectedly a couple of Volunteers found him and offered him a ride to Daytona (next Control). He said No because he had a Taxi on the way to pick him up. $230 US later, he was in Daytona! Chris and I also met a Gentlemen from Australia who was doing this 1200 and told us how much he enjoyed being there. We had dinner with him and the Quebec’or the day before we went from Fort Myers to Key West. The Gentlemen and I discussed the importance of drinking enough water but not too much during an event like this but somehow he disappeared north of Miami and was found on the front lawn of someone’s home …the Lady called police who eventually called an ambulance to come pick this guy up … he didn’t know where he came from or where he was going. Dave Thompson sent an e-mail out letting us know his wife had flown to Florida to join her hubby and wanted anyone who rode with him to provide some answers … All of this happened in the first 430km, the sunshine and heat was having an effect on everyone, 35^oC and higher all the way! Chris and I purchased Arm Protectors (from the sun) and made sure we put on lots of Suntan Lotion where ever our skin was exposed. Everyone knows the infamous Bill Olsen, the Randonneur who completed 8 1200s last year! Chris enjoyed meeting Bill and we stayed together for a few hours before Bill dropped off the back.

How HOT was it? … Bill eventually called it a day and headed back to New Jersey. In the evening and later the first night we were able to find padded chairs and couches along the way to grab the odd 15-30 minute nap. Just to let you know … I am totally a Wool Jersey FAN!!! A number of Randonneurs and Volunteers asked Chris and I, if these were too hot to be wearing and the answer was NO. We each carried an extra water bottle to shower ourselves when we were feeling the heat; the Wool Jerseys maintained the moisture for 1/2hr to 45 minutes, compared to the regular cycling jersey which stayed cool for 10 minutes at the most! Chris only had 3 Wool Jerseys so wore the regular cycling jerseys for the last two days and confirmed how much hotter they were! Of course feeling great in this HEAT had a teasing effect, every time “Larry” a Volunteer drove by us or saw us at a Control he would yell Bha..Bha..Bha..! I had thought the ride from just north of Daytona back to Fort Myers would be boring and not very scenic … I was totally wrong!

Rolling hills, Great little towns to pedal through and friendly people all along the way. Chris and I left the route in one small town to visit a Coffee Shop / Bakery … WOW!

We returned to the route and headed towards Fort Myers. There was a stretch 14miles long through a National Park … no vehicles allowed! Just a warning!!

At the last Hotel before the final day, Chris and I took 4.5hrs to sleep then hit the road. Just leaving town, we noticed a couple on a mattress … in some front yard …hugging each other and watching the sun come up! I asked Chris if he thought that was a Secret Control!

I don’t know if it’s just me, but this 1200 was AWESOME!!! I can’t wait to do it again! FLORIDA – I now know how beautiful this State actually is!!

THANK-YOU TO THE SUNSHINE 1200 ORGANIZERS AND VOLUNTEERS! I KNOW THE EFFORT PUT TOWARDS DEVELOPING AND SUPPORTING THIS EVENT IS MORE THAN ACTUALLY DOING THE RIDE!

Carey Chappelle