May have been drunk

After a very interesting Friday night that included bikes, beer, food and fire that continued late into the night with some of those good friends that I say keep me young, I woke up feeling very old. Actually I woke up feeling like I was on my death bed. I won't get into the antics of the evening but there were some good stories told. As I sprawled out on the couch waiting for the grime reaper to just finish the job I started to debate on what to do. If I stay on this couch much longer I won't be doing anything. Google maps can be a great thing. This decision was made by the click of the keyboard. 15 minutes later I was in the car with coffee, water, lots of water and an Anthem.

I figured I was going to need a little more time to get the evil alcohol out of my system before I raised the heart rate up. A nice two hour drive north while listening to some comedy helped this. After staying on the same road for the 2 hours I made my favorite type turn, to the left, drove two minutes and parked the car. Time to pedal. It had been a couple years since I'd been on this particular road, the Anthem was the bike of choice. Last time up the road was under construction and I didn't plan on driving this far to be shut down because a road bike couldn't handle the conditions.

Didn't take long to get in the groove, the head still hurt a little though. Traffic was almost non existent and everyone seemed to either have a camper trailer or a canoe. Now the last thing I expected to see out here was another cyclist. At first I thought I may still be a little drunk and seeing things in the distance but I seemed to be gaining on the hallucination. Of course I chased the rider down. Ended up being a tourer from Gatineau, had to be from Gatineau because he was riding and Eclipse. Chatted for a few kms, he was riding roughly 2400km all over Ontario. Very jealous. Motored on as I had limited time.

The ride to the west was pretty undramatic, some amazing views. I'll be honest that I was getting a little concerned that the distance that google maps versus the odd distance signs on the road were both screwed and that I wouldn't make it to my destination. I also misjudged the pace a little that I could sustain on the Anthem. Not having anything more than a hr monitor I didn't really no how fast I was going. As I rolled past the 2 hour mark I saw the sign I really wanted to see.

Topped up the bottles and made a short tour of the park with a stop at the beach, Always need to go to the beach. The camera does not give you a true idea of the big rock faces in the distance. This is one of my favourite paddling places and a trip to the top of Silver Peak is still on the agenda for the day.

I came across this also.


For all those cyclists how have been randomly attacked you may want to read this. Now for the return trip. Now the ride out was pretty tame, great scenery that's about it. No more than a km out of the park I swear I almost T-boned a deer. Stopped and stared for a few minutes with amazement, the deer did the same. We looked at one another, probably thinking the same thing. Stupid animal watch where you're going!!!!

Back to pedalling, WOAH!!!!!!!!!!!!! on the brakes. Hey the cars are all on the brakes to. Unlike the deer this stop had me ready to make some evasive moves. Yep, big fuzzy cuddly black bear. I was about 300 feet away, the cars not so much. Attempts to get the camera out were done but in a way that I could spin the bike around and sprint away in fear if he started to head my way. He did stare down the Kia minivan for a few moments. In to the bush he went, I delayed for a second just to make sure there wasn't a pack of them in chase.

I passed the only other cyclist on the road about 20 minutes later. He was probably looking forward to reaching the campground also. Now knowing roughly how long it would take for me to get back to the car nutrition concerns were gone. There's not much in the line of convience stores up this way. Kept pedalling along enjoying the solitude.

As the hours started to add up and the hangover still was lingering I was starting to watch in the distance for the antenna that I parked at. 4.5 hours on the bike I coasted the last 100 feet of the 120km ride. What a great way to spend the day. The road bike will be used the next time I do this. I'd like to make my way right to the town of Killarney, there is a great restaurant there, maybe a trip in the fall is in order. Group ride?????

SO it's pretty obvious I'm not racing provincials today. Long story, it will all make sense over the next few weeks. Bigger plans that have yet to be announced, changed etc. The schedule to the right is pretty much all tentative right now because of these changes. It's all for the good though. There will be some stories to be told.