Get up and climb that hill.
You got to get up and climb that hill again.
- Tom Petty – “Climb that Hill”
Day 45: Owen Sound – Alliston
168 kms / 102 miles (circ. 122 hills)
The first thing I did this morning is stretch my arms and my legs in my sleeping bag to ensure that they were still working after yesterday’s shock to the system. I’m pretty sure that my body spent the entire evening recovering and asking itself, ‘what the hell just happened’. After 45 days of developing cycling muscles the swimming muscles have become significantly weaker. Fortunately everything still w
orked but the ride to Alliston was not an easy one. I was SUPER excited this morning though as today was the day I would meet my parents in Alliston!! AND, we would be staying in a nice hotel adjacent to the campground!
The cue sheets read some worrying words, ‘A challenging but scenic day as you ride through the Dufferin Highlands…’ ‘Challenging’ and ‘Highlands’ are two words that when used together are not exactly what you want to hear the day after a triathalon. It was also due to be a hot and sunny day which would also make the climbing even more difficult. In spite of efforts for an early start we didn’t hit the road until about 7:30am and almost immediately entered the highlands. The views from the top of the hills over the rolling green terrain was spectacular – absolutely gorgeous. We were in ‘Cottage Country’ and everything was so green.
We passed through a lot of small towns such as Walters Falls, Gorning, Bowles Hill (great winding downhill!), and climbed out of Beaver Valley but many of the restaurants were closed because it was a Holiday Monday. It was incredibly hot and water was in short supply. As we climbed a very sweaty and steep climb out of Beaver Valley I prayed to the ‘Gods of Liquid Refreshments’ that a well stocked gas station would be the view at the top of the hill. Fortunately my prayers were answered and I indulged in two giant bottles of iced tea and a peanut butter sandwich and a healthy packet of Sunchips.
The rolling terrain continued throughout the afternoon which made for a very challenging but scenic day. It felt good to be on more ‘familiar’ turf surrounded by corn, wheat and soybeans rather than steep granite cliffs. It was also great to see Collingwoods rolling hills off in the distance even though this did mean that there were more ups and downs ahead. The weather stayed beautiful and some clouds which passed over at around 2pm provided some much needed shade. As we neared Alliston the towns began to look more ‘Victorian’ in style with lots more red brick homes and it was clear that many of the towns had undergone some sort of ‘heritage preservation’ programme as all of the frontages were done in similar ‘Victorian’ themed styles. The homes also got much bigger the closer we got to Alliston.
Breandan was on turbo mode so he headed off to Alliston to meet his parents
so Andrew and I stopped for a drink and a ‘snack’ in beautiful Creemore – famous for the Creemore brewery. The bakery / coffee shop where we stopped was lovely – it had a HUGE selection of coffees, teas, and plenty of homemade treats. I indulged in a mint chocolate chip ice-cream sandwich which was wonderful..! It was difficult to decide between that and a homemade blueberry pie – the pie would have been difficult to carry back to the campground on my bike though..! The shop was beautifully decorated with a giant window overlooking the main street and was pretty busy when we first arrived. I think that there are a lot of families which travel up to Creemore or use the area as ‘cottage country’. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a tour of the Creemore brewery (which is just off the main street) but it’s such a lovely town I’m keen to return and explore it at my leisure..!
We then continued on for another 40kms of rolling hills to Alliston. It was a great ride under a sky which had clouded over a bit which cooled things down nicely. I was keen to get to camp around 3:30 in time to meet my parents. It felt strange to think that I last saw them 46 days ago when I left home with the realisation that I’d have to bike a few thousand kilometres across the country before seeing them again. It’s amazing how quickly the time flies as it seemed like just yesterday I said goodbye to them but when I think back to everything I’ve seen and done over the past 46 days it’s overwhelmin
g. I was worried that when seeing them I’d be keen for my ‘creature comforts’ again – particularly after a night out in a nice hotel and being taken out for dinner..! I must admit, I was super excited to see them.
We reached Alliston in record time and I felt pretty good considering we’d bike 166kms in 6 hours and 33 minutes…! Alliston itself was quite nice – lots of little shops and a bustling main street which was certainly worth exploring. Of course, Dairy Queen and Tim Hortons were enroute but we were in too much of a hurry to get to camp to stop. There were a few people who’d already arrived in camp and some tents were already up. The campground was nice – it had a pool and a huge pavilion that we could use for lounging and cooking under. I must admit however, it was a satisfying feeling that I would not have to put up my tent that night and the next. No sign of my parents though… I wondered if it was possible that they went to the wrong campground as I’d never really specified which campground in Alliston we were staying at AND the campground where we were staying was not actually in Alliston – it was in Nicolston Dam, just opposite the Nottawasaga Inn.
The French Connection pulled in around 5:30 where we learned that Yao had come off his bike in a patch of sand. His back wheel was completely bent and needed some serious tuning but fortunately he was ok apart from a few bruises. Graham had also come off and they were all a bit shaken up. It is always so scary to hear about a fall (even worse to be in one and/or witness one!) and I must admit, it is always such a relief when everyone does make it into camp each evening safe and sound. Thank goodness everyone made it to Alliston safely.
By 6pm my parents STILL hadn’t appeared so I decided to call and, sure enough, they’d been to the provincial park campground and had driven around there looking for us..! By this point they’d realised I was at the Nicolston campground and were enroute to pick me up by the time I’d called. When they finally DID arrive, it was so great to see my parents and show them around the truck and introduce everyone. The truck and routine which is now such an integral part of my life seems totally ‘normal’ to me but I can certainly understand how it’s quite a novelty to visitors. The smelly truck with all of our gear (shelves and shelves of wet shoes, tents, random plastic bags, plastic boxes…), the kitchen with its gigantic pots and pans, and tent city itself are all quite unique and appears slightly chaotic but we all seem to function in it with our own routines.
We went to my sister, Melanie’s house in Borden Base which is just outside of Alliston. It was also great to see Melanie and finally see where she lived! Another bonus was that she had a shower AND laundry so I dumped all of my belongings in her backyard and sorted through everything and completely reorganised my ‘stuff’. I have a huge bag of things which I’ve been carrying around for the past 45 days but haven’t used /worn so was more than happy to unload these with my parents to take back home for collection at the end of the trip..! Another bonus was that I had some of my Mom’s fantastic home cooking – homemade chilli which is absolutely delicious. It was great not to have dinner standing up and eating out of a giant plastic bowl and swatting random bugs for a change.
As I fell asleep that night at around 11pm in the comfort of the hotel room bed back in Alliston I was sooo glad not to be in a damp tent and sooo glad to be back with family. It felt weird though as I have gotten used to the ‘outside’ noises and the fresh air when falling asleep and in spite of the fact that I was in a comfy bed with a thick warm duvet, I had troubles falling asleep..! Too much excitement for one day ;-)
168 kms / 102 miles (circ. 122 hills)
The first thing I did this morning is stretch my arms and my legs in my sleeping bag to ensure that they were still working after yesterday’s shock to the system. I’m pretty sure that my body spent the entire evening recovering and asking itself, ‘what the hell just happened’. After 45 days of developing cycling muscles the swimming muscles have become significantly weaker. Fortunately everything still w
orked but the ride to Alliston was not an easy one. I was SUPER excited this morning though as today was the day I would meet my parents in Alliston!! AND, we would be staying in a nice hotel adjacent to the campground!The cue sheets read some worrying words, ‘A challenging but scenic day as you ride through the Dufferin Highlands…’ ‘Challenging’ and ‘Highlands’ are two words that when used together are not exactly what you want to hear the day after a triathalon. It was also due to be a hot and sunny day which would also make the climbing even more difficult. In spite of efforts for an early start we didn’t hit the road until about 7:30am and almost immediately entered the highlands. The views from the top of the hills over the rolling green terrain was spectacular – absolutely gorgeous. We were in ‘Cottage Country’ and everything was so green.
We passed through a lot of small towns such as Walters Falls, Gorning, Bowles Hill (great winding downhill!), and climbed out of Beaver Valley but many of the restaurants were closed because it was a Holiday Monday. It was incredibly hot and water was in short supply. As we climbed a very sweaty and steep climb out of Beaver Valley I prayed to the ‘Gods of Liquid Refreshments’ that a well stocked gas station would be the view at the top of the hill. Fortunately my prayers were answered and I indulged in two giant bottles of iced tea and a peanut butter sandwich and a healthy packet of Sunchips.
The rolling terrain continued throughout the afternoon which made for a very challenging but scenic day. It felt good to be on more ‘familiar’ turf surrounded by corn, wheat and soybeans rather than steep granite cliffs. It was also great to see Collingwoods rolling hills off in the distance even though this did mean that there were more ups and downs ahead. The weather stayed beautiful and some clouds which passed over at around 2pm provided some much needed shade. As we neared Alliston the towns began to look more ‘Victorian’ in style with lots more red brick homes and it was clear that many of the towns had undergone some sort of ‘heritage preservation’ programme as all of the frontages were done in similar ‘Victorian’ themed styles. The homes also got much bigger the closer we got to Alliston.
Breandan was on turbo mode so he headed off to Alliston to meet his parents
so Andrew and I stopped for a drink and a ‘snack’ in beautiful Creemore – famous for the Creemore brewery. The bakery / coffee shop where we stopped was lovely – it had a HUGE selection of coffees, teas, and plenty of homemade treats. I indulged in a mint chocolate chip ice-cream sandwich which was wonderful..! It was difficult to decide between that and a homemade blueberry pie – the pie would have been difficult to carry back to the campground on my bike though..! The shop was beautifully decorated with a giant window overlooking the main street and was pretty busy when we first arrived. I think that there are a lot of families which travel up to Creemore or use the area as ‘cottage country’. Unfortunately we didn’t have time for a tour of the Creemore brewery (which is just off the main street) but it’s such a lovely town I’m keen to return and explore it at my leisure..!We then continued on for another 40kms of rolling hills to Alliston. It was a great ride under a sky which had clouded over a bit which cooled things down nicely. I was keen to get to camp around 3:30 in time to meet my parents. It felt strange to think that I last saw them 46 days ago when I left home with the realisation that I’d have to bike a few thousand kilometres across the country before seeing them again. It’s amazing how quickly the time flies as it seemed like just yesterday I said goodbye to them but when I think back to everything I’ve seen and done over the past 46 days it’s overwhelmin
g. I was worried that when seeing them I’d be keen for my ‘creature comforts’ again – particularly after a night out in a nice hotel and being taken out for dinner..! I must admit, I was super excited to see them.We reached Alliston in record time and I felt pretty good considering we’d bike 166kms in 6 hours and 33 minutes…! Alliston itself was quite nice – lots of little shops and a bustling main street which was certainly worth exploring. Of course, Dairy Queen and Tim Hortons were enroute but we were in too much of a hurry to get to camp to stop. There were a few people who’d already arrived in camp and some tents were already up. The campground was nice – it had a pool and a huge pavilion that we could use for lounging and cooking under. I must admit however, it was a satisfying feeling that I would not have to put up my tent that night and the next. No sign of my parents though… I wondered if it was possible that they went to the wrong campground as I’d never really specified which campground in Alliston we were staying at AND the campground where we were staying was not actually in Alliston – it was in Nicolston Dam, just opposite the Nottawasaga Inn.
The French Connection pulled in around 5:30 where we learned that Yao had come off his bike in a patch of sand. His back wheel was completely bent and needed some serious tuning but fortunately he was ok apart from a few bruises. Graham had also come off and they were all a bit shaken up. It is always so scary to hear about a fall (even worse to be in one and/or witness one!) and I must admit, it is always such a relief when everyone does make it into camp each evening safe and sound. Thank goodness everyone made it to Alliston safely.
By 6pm my parents STILL hadn’t appeared so I decided to call and, sure enough, they’d been to the provincial park campground and had driven around there looking for us..! By this point they’d realised I was at the Nicolston campground and were enroute to pick me up by the time I’d called. When they finally DID arrive, it was so great to see my parents and show them around the truck and introduce everyone. The truck and routine which is now such an integral part of my life seems totally ‘normal’ to me but I can certainly understand how it’s quite a novelty to visitors. The smelly truck with all of our gear (shelves and shelves of wet shoes, tents, random plastic bags, plastic boxes…), the kitchen with its gigantic pots and pans, and tent city itself are all quite unique and appears slightly chaotic but we all seem to function in it with our own routines.
We went to my sister, Melanie’s house in Borden Base which is just outside of Alliston. It was also great to see Melanie and finally see where she lived! Another bonus was that she had a shower AND laundry so I dumped all of my belongings in her backyard and sorted through everything and completely reorganised my ‘stuff’. I have a huge bag of things which I’ve been carrying around for the past 45 days but haven’t used /worn so was more than happy to unload these with my parents to take back home for collection at the end of the trip..! Another bonus was that I had some of my Mom’s fantastic home cooking – homemade chilli which is absolutely delicious. It was great not to have dinner standing up and eating out of a giant plastic bowl and swatting random bugs for a change.
As I fell asleep that night at around 11pm in the comfort of the hotel room bed back in Alliston I was sooo glad not to be in a damp tent and sooo glad to be back with family. It felt weird though as I have gotten used to the ‘outside’ noises and the fresh air when falling asleep and in spite of the fact that I was in a comfy bed with a thick warm duvet, I had troubles falling asleep..! Too much excitement for one day ;-)
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