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

Aka Bikes, Bowling, Beers and Bank Machines

Last weekend saw two ESR Rando riders join 6 other starters in Port Elgin for the annual Creemore Classic 400 km Brevet.

The forecast said 80% chance of rain, and this time the weatherman got it right. But really, the rain was light and sporadic. Nice lunch in Owen Sound at 100 km was followed by a screaming descent into Beaver Valley and a long climb up into Eugenia at 170 km.

It was at the start of this climb that Sean from Hamilton failed to unclip quickly enough and toppled onto his hip. We’ve all been there

Nice rolling hills into Collingwood.

And here’s where it starts to get a little different.

Stopped at the Collingwood Bowling Alley for a tournament. Tried my best but only pulled off second place. Terry got first by 10 points!

Rolled out to Creemore and a great dinner at the Old Mill Restaurant. Extra mashed potatoes please. Most everyone else had a pint or two. Would have made me too sleepy with 150 km still to ride. Back to Collingwood and the Village at Blue Mountain. The cafe was closed so we got cappuccinos at a night club. Lights on at this point until the end of the ride.

Many of you have probably done the steep climb at Scenic Caves, but how many of you have done it at 11pm with 290 km in your legs? A nice climb and particularly amazing effort from Dave who rides a fixie. Put it back together up top. 6 riders together, with Sean and his wife Rene a couple of minutes back.

A big fog rolled in making visibility very poor. We made a turn off the main road, but Ali was just off the back and couldn’t see us turn, so he went straight. Figured it out in about 15 minutes, called us, and proceeded alone.

Stopping for the phone call split the group up a bit. Dave and John were off the front, Terry next, then Chappy and I coming up last. I tried to bridge up to Terry and found him nearly asleep on the bike, weaving back and forth. A bit of conversation woke him up and the group came back together in Chatsworth at 350 km.

Terry had Chappy and I follow him to the local BMO branch where we went in to the bank machine area and caught about 25 minutes of sleep. Fully recharged, we headed out for the last 50 km. A cold wet foggy finish. We sat down for a great breakfast and learned that Sean and Rene had to stop at about 330 km because Sean had a lot of hip pain due to his accident.

Kudos to Ali who proceeded alone through the night, using paper cue sheets for navigation and made it in 30 minutes before the cut-off time.

In Chappy’s words, this ride was unbelievable.

Tim (Mad Doc)

Ride Report by Dave Thompson:

Are you looking for a long ride on a well maintained road? Do you want to ride where there aren’t any trucks, where any traffic nicely gives you at least three feet or more of space? In fact, do you want a road where the occasional car seems like it’s out of place, like “why is that car on my bike path?” Are you looking for a relatively flat ride where you never have to move out of your large chainring?

I’ve got the ride for you! You need to ride on the Natchez Trace Parkway.

The NT 1500 is an out and back on the parkway with a few very short jogs off to get to Controls. Starting in Nashville Tennessee and turning around in Natchez Mississippi, there are no services on the parkway itself, nor are there intersections – only on and off ramps. Except for those Controls, you’d ride the entire thing without ever seeing a stop sign, a traffic light, a convenience store … you get the idea. There are restrooms with potable water and we made full use of those.

The scenery has a sameness for the entire ride. You cross a couple of large rivers, lots of creeks and over many crossing roads. Trees are well back from the sides, think 50-100 feet in general, and the roadsides mowed. Yes, that’s 450+ miles of mowing in either direction! Now that would be a full time job!

There is also some limited farming in some areas, mostly hay. Elevation never gets much over 1000 feet so there are only a couple of vistas to take in.

We saw some deer, wild dogs, armadillos (mostly road kill), but not a lot when you consider the length of the ride.

Only once did I switch to my small chainring and that was close to the end on the return leg, a grade that I hadn’t noticed as I descended. One other time I had a passing thought of shifting down but the hill on the road in Tishomingo Park to the Control was so short that it wasn’t necessary. Most of the grades that you encounter on this ride are 4% or less; in fact, there’s a lot of 1% that didn’t even register on my Garmin, which treated it as “noise” in total ascent even as the elevation changed.

Only about 22,000 feet of climbing registered on my Garmin over the 1500 km. Ridewithgps counted it as 36,000 — it counts all that low grade stuff. A lot of that climbing is on the first 60 miles which of course is the last 60 miles as you return.

The ride is broken up into, roughly, 450 (French Camp), 300 (Natchez), 300 (French Camp), 225 (Tishomingo), 225 km (finish).

The ride is setup with a long first day. I thought that was going to be a long one but didn’t realize how flat the parkway is. Leaving at 4am, Jerry and I arrived at the French Camp Control around 11:30 p.m. Sleeping was in cabins with several bunks. I went to sleep immediately, as usual; Jerry was disturbed by the noise of other riders. We were middle of the pack coming into French Creek. We got up at 3:30 and were rolling around 4am. 20 miles down the road there as an off-parkway store marked on the cue sheet and we stopped there.

The night control was at Natchez, the almost-halfway point, 750 km give or take. The return leg is very slightly longer because of the off route controls. We arrived at Natchez numbers 10 & 11 of the 55 or so riders. 6:30 p.m. at the Control, we left 7 hours later at 1:30 a.m. A 7-hour night stop is a record for me but Jerry needed the sleep. This Control was a motel and we slept soundly.

On the way back, my mental plan was to stop at French Camp and sleep for a few hours and do the same at Tishomingo. That mental plan was one that had developed along the way. That’s where the drop bags would be. It didn’t work out that way. We arrived at French Camp at 4:30 p.m. (?) but weren’t able to get any sleep. We were alone in the cabin but it was hot. I can’t sleep when it’s hot. We rested for almost the planned three hours but were obviously short on sleep when we left at 8:30 p.m. We found an open convenience store at an intervening control and rolled into Tupelo just before 5am. They opened the M.C.’s at 5:01 a.m. and we lingered there for an hour, catching a few minutes of sleep.

No, we didn’t see Elvis … he was sleeping.

I was sure that Jerry would want to rest for a long time at Tishomingo, the last night stop, but he was ready to get this over with as well. Besides, it was only 9:30 a.m. when we arrived in Tish! We’d taken a few 10-minute naps along the roadway or at the aforementioned restrooms, immediately falling asleep and awakened by my phone alarm.

Leaving Tish at 10:30, we arrived back in Nashville just before 11 p.m., just under 91 hours on the ride against the 120 hour time limit. We were numbers 4 & 5 of the group. We returned at noon the next day to check on the drop bags and only three more people had arrived in between.

The downside to the sameness, of course, especially at night, is that you can get bored. On a more typical ride going through small towns, even if everything is closed up late at night, there is something to see. The Parkway just goes on and on. I have to confess that the last 40 miles was tough mentally; I needed it to be over and the miles just crawled by.

The planning, support and execution were excellent. We were well fed and housed. If I were doing this again, I’d make an off-parkway motel booking between French Camp and Tishomingo for the return leg. Tupelo might have been a good location, or before. A couple of hours of good sleep at that point would have actually shortened the ride. We wouldn’t have needed the naps on the roadside and we would have been riding faster. To a certain extent you get into a sleep-deprived crawl and you roll along and have to remind yourself to up the pace – yes, pedaling does make it go faster!

Obviously Jerry and I were the outliers. We arrived late Friday night while most everyone else arrived 20-24 hours later on Saturday. Just as obviously, I enjoyed myself.

What a crazy “sport”! No more this year!

Ride Report by Liz Overduin:

Earlier this year, I think it was April, Terry Payne asked me if I wanted to do a Super 600 down in the Blue Ridge Mountains with him in September. Recklessly I replied “WooHoo, let’s do it!” A Super 600 is a 600 km brevet with a minimum of 10,000 metres of climbing and you are allowed 50 hours instead of the usual 40 hours to complete it. Kathy Brouse and Arthur Reinstein did a Super 600 in Oregon earlier this summer. Kathy told me about her experience. She said it was the hardest thing she had ever done and that it made the Van Isle 1200 she had just completed a few weeks earlier, seem like merely a 200 in comparison. Is it me, or is it the sport of Randonneuring, but I got two reactions after hearing about their experience. Part of me was terrified at the thought of attempting something so difficult, and part of me couldn’t wait to do it. Eventually I emailed Terry and told him it would not be a good idea for me to attempt something as challenging as the Super 600. A month later I emailed him again and told him I was in! Ahhh, Randonneuring!

The Southern Appalachian Super 600 has everything you could possibly want in a Super 600. Yes, you go up and up a lot. We started the ride on Saturday morning at 4:30 AM. We went up immediately at the start, 53 kms up to the top of Mt Mitchell. It took us just over 4 hours to get to the summit. Then you go down, down, down. It was exhilarating! You can “take the lane” because you are going as fast as the cars. I would see Terry ahead of me going like a slingshot around the curves – it was incredible! I felt like I was on a roller-coaster ride but I was in charge of the speed. We did this over and over for the next 600 kms – slowly up, up and up, then zooming back down! The road conditions were perfect and even in the dark we could often let ourselves get good speed on the descents.

Terry and I also enjoyed meeting people with their Southern drawl way of talking. Terry would tell them what we were doing and getting their reaction was fun. One woman said “Wauw, ah woodn’ e’en be aybell to waulk tha’ faah” which made no sense to Terry and I because we weren’t walking, we were cycling! Everyone was so friendly and encouraging to us, one man gave us bottles of water when we got to the top of a long climb.

The scenery was spectacular, endless views on every horizon of the tree-covered Blue Ridge Mountains with waterfalls and lakes throughout. It seems that every home, whether it was a mansion up high in the hills or a shack along a rocky creek, the main focus was the porch. It’s all about the rocking chairs on the porch when you’re living in that kind of scenery!

Cycling during the night, Terry and I disturbed a lot of sleeping hound dogs who would wake up and howl at us as we approached. Thankfully they were on chains or behind fences. It seemed that when we did get chased by the occasional dog, it was almost always the harmless spunky wiener type dog. Except once for Terry – but that’s his story to tell.

We were very lucky with the weather. During the day it was sunny and warm – bit like the Ontario summer we missed here in Ontario. It would get cooler at night which was great for climbing up and up. When we went down, we had to wear all our warm gear or we would get completely chilled. On the second night, at the start of a big climb, it started to pour down rain. Not a gentle rain, but a pelting down rain with no real warning – one minute it’s not raining, and then it was torrential downpour! I could hear Terry laughing out loud ahead of me as we were going up – he’s like that – I would recommend Terry as a riding buddy to anyone!

One big difference about cycling down in the States is that there are no 24 hour Tim Hortons everywhere. You have to make sure you always have food with you on the bike. When you do see a place to eat and drink, don’t skip it because the next one may not be soon enough. One of the controls on the first night was a post office. Beside the Post office was a Pub with a huge outdoor patio and a live rock n’ roll band. It was after midnight and the band members looked like they just got off their Harleys and they were pounding out some great tunes. Terry and I went inside to fill our water bottles. Then we looked at each other and said “Carey Chappelle would not leave here without having a beer – let’s have one for Carey”! We sat among the pony-tailed, bearded bikers in that outdoor patio listening to the band and totally enjoyed that beer!

I love the sport of Randonneuring – there’s no doubt about it. I would recommend a Super 600 to all of you because even to just attempt it, is a great adventure. It’s tough, but that goes without saying. If it wasn’t a challenge, it wouldn’t be Randonneuring. Even with the extra 10 hours, Terry and I had less than 3 hours total at our “overnight” stop, where we did not arrive until 5:15 Sunday morning! Finishing at 4:14 on Monday morning, almost 48 hours later, Terry and I agreed that it sure had been an incredible experience!

Cheers to you all,
Liz Overduin

PS – (FYI – Huron Chapter’s March to the Marsh 600 has 4,300 metres of climbing and Toronto Chapter’s Haliburton Highlands 600 has 4,500 metres of climbing but…..the Ottawa Chapter has the Lake Placid ride which has 8,000 metres of climbing….hey….just saying….!)

Ride Report by Dave Thompson:

This was a good ride. Very well organized and supported, there’s little that I could provide in constructive criticism. It was a delight doing a supported 1000…

We started at 4:00 a.m. in Leesburg VA from the Comfort Suites – same start location as the Shenandoah 1200 – and ended that day in Lexington VA at a Best Western. The second day started and ended in Lexington which was convenient for riders and organizers, as we could stay in place, re-use the hotel room etc. The third day saw us back in Leesburg.

A large conference room was setup in the Lexington hotel as the Control. They kept food simple – rice with veggie or meat chilli and chicken soup. Two large rice cookers kept producing rice. Snack food aplenty along with PB&J, breakfast items etc. were continuously available. Soft drinks, juice and beer…

Volunteers staffed the Lexington Control, three for each of the two nights. On the first night you checked in at the Control, got your hotel room key, collected your drop bag, ate and showered in your preferred order, got up the next day, ate again in that conference room and headed out. You were able to leave your stuff in the room as you were coming back to the same place. After the second night you brought your drop-bag back to the conference room.

This ride was organized into three relatively equal days in terms of distance and climbing. The VA countryside in the Appalachians rolls and rolls. There really is no flat. Day 2 featured some longer climbs; the longest being about 1400 feet, but each day came in around 13,000 feet. The cue sheet provided good climbing information, letting you know when we were heading for a “gap” or “crest” and what that climb would be. It also provided Control-to-Control climbing rate, which varied between about 4,000 and 8,000 feet of climbing per 100 miles. For me, the really useful part was knowing the elevation at the gap. Most of those longer climbs are long switch-backs, so it helps to know where you are.

The cue sheet was superb. It had every detail imaginable about facilities on the route, even down to ORF’s (outdoor restroom facilities, aka johnny-on-the-spot). Usually that kind of detail is too much, but not in this case. There were many, many Controls but most were Info Controls, which eased time constraints for the riders. Crista noted the “if this were a timed Control open/close” on the cue sheet so you knew if you were on track. On Day 2, for example, there was only one Control during the day that wasn’t an Info Control, which was about half way through the day. Most of those Info Controls were actually establishments that could have provided stamps or signatures, but were not used that way.

The roads are excellent. I can only remember one significant but short rough patch and it was well noted on the cue sheet. There were no gravel stretches, no fresh chip-seal. We crossed railroad tracks often and many were marked as very rough — but compared to what we experience in Ontario rides, they were a dream. It certainly helps that they get neither deep frost nor Florida heat!

The scenery is pretty, rolling countryside, farms, heavily treed in places but obviously no snow-capped peaks or ocean views. There are rivers and a few lakes but not the 50% water experience of Northern Ontario. Dawn on Day 2 found me at the top of the highest crest looking down at all these hills, orange in the sky, fog filling the lowest points — that was probably the highlight scenery-wise. It’s a great area for cycling, great exercise with all the hills and reasonable traffic.

Everyone can experience something different on these rides, depending on where you are in the group. It was very hot on day one, temps and humidity around 90 – that, everyone felt. I got caught in a short downpour that day; some others didn’t see rain. On day two and three the temperature was gradually easing … some got caught in rain on day two, I did not. We did have wind soon after dawn for a few hours on day three, but that would depend on where you were at that point in time. It did not get cold at night, that’s one advantage of Fall in Virginia. For the most part arm-warmers did the job — highly unusual for me. I carried my heavy jacket in my pack, knowing that sometime a short thunderstorm can produce hail … that was unnecessary, thankfully. I did don the jacket during the rain; was thankful for its protection.

Inevitably I compare this ride to the Shenandoah 1200, since it covers some of the same territory. The amount of total climbing per mile is less, but not much less. The Shen has some long relatively flat stretches … which means that it also has some long, long climbs with steep grades. The Shen covers more north-to-south territory, from Gettysburg PA to Mt Airy SC; the AA is more compact. The days are shorter time-wise on the AA but about the same distance, except for, of course, the last 200k of the Shen as it’s a 1200 vs. the AA 1000.

As is typical on these rides, I’m the Lantern Rouge early on. In this case I was riding by myself and trailing the pack after about 12 miles. By the end of the first day I was somewhere in the middle of the group of 30-some riders. There were a couple of riders who rode through, but most got some sleep. The fast getting-some-sleep group of six riders finished the ride about 10 minutes ahead of me. It was kind of a running joke — I’d come into a Control and find them there; I’d leave first; they’d pass me down the road. I wrapped up the ride at 7:28 p.m. on Sunday for a time of 63:28 against the time limit of 75 hours. When I left the hotel at 3:30 the next a.m. to head back to Reading PA and our youngest son’s family, one rider had just come in and there were still four on the course due in shortly.

I finished Day 1 around 9 p.m.; Day 2 around 7 p.m. I started Day 2 at 1:15 a.m. and Day 3 at 12:45 a.m. That’s actually more night stop time than I usually have on these rides — 4 hours the first night and 6 hours the second night.

Night riding was particularly slow on the second night. My Garmin had frozen at about 280 miles and even when I got it “thawed”, it wouldn’t show the course beyond that point. I ended up using it simply as a cycle computer with a built-in map. That meant a lot of in-the-dark navigating and this route has lots of turns. I stopped a lot. I put in some bonus miles. Oh well. Even though I’ve used the Garmin for many 1200 km rides with the entire ride loaded up as one tcx track, the roads were too winding and therefore the number of bread-crumbs in the tcx over-ran its capacity — that’s my assumption. I should have broken the ride up into separate days. I will do some research on that.

This is a ride well worth doing, but don’t I say that about every ride?

Ride Report by Dave Thompson:

I don’t get tired of Ontario scenery and every new ride that I do with Randonneurs Ontario offers something new. Yes I know that we do see a lot of forest but it still offers much more variety than many of the U.S. rides that I’ve done with mile after mile of Everglades and Sugarcane (yes, that would be Florida), corn fields, grazing land for cattle, you name it.

Look closely — yes, that’s a beaver swimming in that pond. Look up — wow, you have to be far removed from civilization to see that many stars! I didn’t realize that most, if not all, of the Trent Severn Locks are historical sites; yes, we rode along the Trent/Severn for a while, very pleasant and flat. That was about the only flat section of this ride….

Six of us started; six of us finished. Tim Ormond, Smiling Oliveira, Martin Cooper, Henk Bouhuyzen, Terry Payne and I rode up and down the relentless hills! Most of them are relatively short; occasionally the momentum from one would help you with the climb up the next … or not quite.

Construction of the 407 extension is coming along nicely. So nicely, in fact, that we had to detour at one point. Terry got so much mud in his fender that he had to find someone with a hose; Martin had his cleats packed with mud; I was reminded why I switched to mountain shoes after I started Randonneuring.

I was having a left calf problem that a couple of ibuprofen purchased at the pharmacy at Orono kept at bay. It’s still a little swollen this morning; perhaps I won’t ride today! Shortly after that, Terry and I were riding together and did so for the rest of the ride. The six of us would end up together at the next couple of Controls. Henk and Martin finished the ride together; Tim and Smiling paired up through that first day and night but then finished up separately.

I had booked two rooms in Minden for Henk, Martin, Terry and myself. Martin was originally going to room with me but once the ride pairings “happened”, Terry and I roomed together. Coming into Minden northbound, we picked up a couple of Subway subs each, checked into the hotel, ate half a sub and left them in the room for our return. We also, ahem, picked up one beer each from the bar downstairs and left those in the room. The bar couldn’t send them off with caps intact but they did put Saran Wrap over the tops. I now know that beer won’t go flat over 4-5 hours standing up in a fridge with the tops covered. See – you learn something on every one of these rides!

Terry and I were first into Haliburton. Even though it was only 10:30, the entire town was closed for the night except for a Daisy Mart that had a hot chocolate machine … great! The ride reverses course back to Minden and we found Tim and Smiling not far behind us so we let them know about the open store which would be closing at 11 p.m. We also let them know that we had extra beds in our room if they were interested, but both were intent on riding through. We encountered Henk and Martin shortly afterwards but didn’t stop to talk.

Back in Minden just before 1am, Terry and I cleaned up, ate our subs, consumed our beer and agreed on a 1.5 hour sleep time. That got us up at 3:00 a.m. and rolling at 3:30. We then went to the Tim Horton Control, checked in, had a bowl of soup and hit the road. We were confused by the fellow signing the cards who said that four riders had already been through. We thought at first that Henk and Martin had had an incredibly short sleep but realized afterwards that they must have gone to the Tim’s first to get something to eat and then went back to the hotel. Sure enough we found out later that they had three hours sleep before continuing.

Note to other Ontario Randonneurs — the Dominion Hotel in Minden is a perfect spot as a layover.

The first day was cloudy for the most part, some dark clouds occasionally but no rain. Late in the day it cleared and we were treated to the array of stars, no moon or clouds to spoil the view. The temperature dropped with the absence of cloud cover but stayed over 10C so it was comfortable. Day two was sunny and hot but there were enough services along the route that we could stop and get a cool-down drink when necessary, and we did. Once that was at a golf course…

Terry and I finished up a little after 4 p.m. Smiling was still in the Tim’s, having arrived about 20 minutes before us. Tim Ormond was there when Smiling arrived, gone when we finished. Henk and Martin came in close to 8pm; they’d taken the time to sleep, smart men! The flip side, of course, is that the wind had changed to mostly south and became more of a factor for them.

Hats off to Martin — congrats — his first 600!

As always, with one of these things, I’m anxious to get ‘er done, as we close in on the finish line. Also as always, I enjoy myself, the riding company and the scenery. There’s really no experience quite like it.

Ride Report from Dave Pearson:

I rarely sleep well before a brevet. I spent most of Friday packing and repacking my bike, eating carbs, and trying to take a few catnaps. I drank far too much coffee and drifted off to sleep at around 1:00. The alarm was set for 4:30. I bolted awake at 3:20, showered, shaved, ate more carbs (oatmeal), drank even more coffee, and then ambled on my bike to Queens Park.

There were two of us riding the TOT: Stephen Jones the ride organizer and me. So, my job at this point was to guess which side of the building I would find Stephen…front or back?
The front was full of scaffolding but was, after all, the front. The back was the start of the GPS trail and had no scaffolding. I flipped a coin and waited at the back.

Stephen was running a bit late, failed to see me at the front, and decided to chase me down, assuming I had already started. But he checked the back just on the off chance…thank god.

So, we rode out of Queens Park together.

The route from Toronto to Oshawa is relatively smooth with a slight incline that twists and winds through scenic neighborhoods and takes a neat pass behind the zoo. We were a bit past the zoo when Stephen’s bike sounded like it lost a derailleur with a bang and he went crashing to the ground. There were no broken bones and no broken derailleur. However, there was quite a bit of road rash and a broken wallet hidden behind a perfectly intact jersey. Are Garneau kits made of Kevlar? This one may have been. And the culprit which caused the crash? A worn chain ring…the big one.

The first control was in Oshawa on Simcoe Street 70 km into the ride. It was to be an egg McMuffin breakfast. I got food and my control card signed as quickly as possible while Steve went to the washroom. I bolted my first sandwich the waited to see if Steve would take a few minutes to sit and eat or if he would ‘run and gun’ like many others in the Toronto chapter. He elected to sit for a few minutes.

After Oshawa, the route becomes winding country roads with a few hills. Stephen and I talk of ride expectations and strategy. He wants to finish in 50 hours. Me? I just want to finish. This is my first time riding this kind of distance without a planned sleep stop and I don’t know how my body will behave. So, at 90 km Stephen’s bike fades into the distance and I’m on my own.

At 120 km the route comes to a T and my GPS indicates both ways are part of the route.
There is an arrow cue which indicates left, but I want to make sure, so I stop to pull out my cue sheet to check. Hmm…no cue sheet. Damn. This little arrow better be correct or I’m about to go 80 km out of my way.

The arrow was correct. The Peterborough control was at the 160 km mark. There was a big long line inside the Wendy’s so, I went through the drive through and ate on the bike.

Another 110 km to Tweed and dinner at Subway. I place my order and the waitress asks if I’m on a bike ride from Toronto to Ottawa and back to Toronto. Clearly Stephen was here before me. An hour before me. He will be two hours ahead of me by the time I finish dinner and get back on the bike.

With the darkness comes the fog and I’m frequently wiping the condensation from my glasses.

The next control is in Perth, 401 km. This is the spot where I would normally get a motel room for a few hours. But I’ve elected to ride through. No soft bed for me. As I ride down Gore Street my eyes are drawn to the Tim Hortons on the corner. A cup of coffee would sure help matters.
“Dave!”
Wha…?
“Dave, over here!”
Sure enough, it’s Stephen, standing in front of the Macs on the other side of the street.
He’s ready to concede the ride and go to his parents’ house. We ride together for a ways then he turns off. I’m truly on my own.

It’s up to Parliament Hill and back to Perth. It was hazy, hot, and humid and I was running out of steam. Back at Perth I stopped at the Tim’s for a double order of chicken noodle soup, a lot of water, a carton of chocolate milk, and a cup of coffee. I also changed my kit.

Outside, the weather had changed. We were in for some rain. And rain it did! On again off again for the next several hours. When the rain let up, the fog rolled in and keeping any speed was quite difficult.

The next control was the Glenora ferry which is 150kms from the Perth control. If I could make the ferry by 11 p.m., I could ride across that night. Any later and I’d have to wait until 6 a.m.

It turns out I was in Greater Nappanee at 10:30 p.m.…31 km from the ferry. Damn.
I found an all-night Tim’s and put my head down for a couple of hours, then rode to the Ferry. Between Tim’s and the ferry, one of my Garmins died. I stopped to try to bring it back to life. A chorus of deep throated coyotes howl quite close to my left. They are answered by a multitude of higher pitched coyotes much closer on my right. To hell with the Garmin. I pedal as fast as I can to the ferry. It’s about 3 a.m. and I get a bit of sleep on the bench until I’m woken by a group of fishermen. One of them signs my control card.

Glenora to Brighton…the longest 71 km ever. I needed a good breakfast to get my legs working. I was thinking pancakes or French toast.
Or pancakes and French toast…yum!
“Sorry, we have no Pancakes …or French toast”
I settled for eggs and hash browns…sigh.

Brighton to Bewdley…the long, dark, teatime of the soul. On this stretch of road I passed through three thunderstorms and kept falling asleep on my bike. After a time, when I was in that half wakeful state, I saw my dog Cyril in front of my guiding my way. And beside him was my new puppy Mattie learning from Cyril how to be a Spirit guide. And behind me was my wife Gillian giving me words of encouragement. Once in a while I would lose balance and would be shaken to full wakefulness. Everyone would disappear. Then they quickly came back to help me on my way. After a time, Cyril and Mattie led me to a road sign. Gillian suggested I lean the bike against it and myself against the bike and take a good, long nap. I did just that. In the pouring rain. Sometime later thunder cracked overhead and a bolt of lightning struck a tree directly across from me. I wanted to look, but I was too tired and fell back to sleep. A car pulled over and asked if I was alright. Yes, I assured them, I was. It had stopped raining. I stood up and looked across the road. Yup, lightening had struck a tree.

Bewdley to Queens Park was long and tiring…as any good brevet should be. There was no more rain. Just a mild breeze. A good ride.