Day 67: Chatsworth, ON -> Guelph, ON
Jerermy gets burgled, keeps going flat, and sees some familiar faces
Date: Friday, July 21, 2023
Start: South Baymouth, ON (John Budd Memorial Park)
End: Guelph, ON (Staying with friends)
Distance: 127km
I woke up to find the rain was just stopping. This was good news as it meant I might be able to take my tent down without getting wet. That wasn't a huge concern though because - if everything went according to plan - I'd be reaching my friend's house today! The friends are Patrick and Mireille who I have known since university and who I haven't seen in maybe 5 or 6 years!
Everything didn't go according to plan (but I did make it to their house).
When I got out of my tent this was what I saw:
As I looked closer, I figured out what had gone on. Raccoons had pushed my bike over and unrolled the edges of two of my bags and pulled everything out. Then they ate everything they pulled out. They didn't seem to be fans of dry pasta or dry oatmeal. But they ate all the sausage and babybel cheese (including all the wax). They managed to unscrew the bottle of peanut butter and lick it clean. They got some other things as well. What they DIDN'T get was one can of mackerel and my remaining Toppables crackers! JOKES ON THEM THAT'S ALL I NEED!
I hadn't heard any of this because I had earplugs in I guess. First night in Southern Ontario and I learned real quick that the bears weren't going to be the real problem anymore!
I cleaned up the mess, took down my tent, and immediately left without trying to dry my tent or rain fly. I found a great breakfast spot down the highway and went in for some food at 8am. I had a great hash and lots of toast and eggs. After I finished that I noticed they had Dutch apple pie. The apple pie they make in The Netherlands is noteworthy, and since I'd had a long night and morning I treated myself to a piece. It didn't disappoint!
On my way out I chatted with a local about the trip and then hit the road. I had about 130km to Guelph and I was so.determined.to.get.there. and finally get a rest!
I hit the road and went through Chatsworth.
The goal was Guelph, and this sign was the first to tell me how far I had to go! I rode Highway 6 and headed south the entire way!
As I was riding out of Chatsworth I stopped at a monument to Nellie McClung, who was born in Chatsworth. McClung is one of the "famous five" women who pushed for and won the right to vote for women. One of the most prominent suffragists in Canadian history, she was also an author and politician herself. She was elected to the legislature of Alberta. She was also the first woman to serve on the governing board of the CBC.
Overall it was a glorious ride for the day. The weather was good, I had a tailwind, and the road wasn't too hilly. I rode through a lot of really gorgious countryside and appreciated being back in a part of the country where the parcels of land were smaller and the variety of crops was greater.
After about 40km I made it to Durham, Ontario. Only 40km more to go and I started riding out of town. As I did so I started to become aware of a problem with my steering. It felt like the front tire was floating around on the ride, or like the bike was pulling left and right. At some point I stopped, pinched the front tire, and found that it was QUITE soft. This was bad. The front tire was still that original one that came with the bike and is incredibly difficult to get off. I decided to pump the tire up and see what happened. No obvious sign that it was deflating, so I kept going to see what would happen.
After 12km, it was soft enough to affect the steering again. I could either attempt to remove the tire and fix the problem or pump the tube up and hope it would get me another 12km. I knew that taking the tire off would be next to impossible if it was anything like the old rear tire, so I pumped it up again. And again got another 12km before it affected my steering. It was a very slow leak! I calculated that I'd only have to do this about another 5 times to get to Guelph...so I just kept stopping and pumping it up every 12km. It worked, and got me to Guelph!
Some more sights from along the way...
At this point I biked through the town of Arthur, Ontario. They had a really impressive war memorial and I stopped to snap pictures of it and some of the plaques that were placed nearby.
The last major town I passed through before Guelph was Fergus, Ontario. It was sizeable. Of note were the many buildings built from limestone. This is a hallmark of old towns in Southern Ontario. I was seeing them more and more and Fergus was the first big town that had them. It also had a number of old mills near the river that had been preserved and converted into more modern uses like office space and commercial businesses.
I rode out of Fergus and towards Guelph as my tire kept deflating...
At about 4:45pm, I reached the edge of Guelph, Ontario.
As I biked into the city I listened to a song. I had first heard it at Mireille and Patrick's wedding and it has always reminded me of them. I'll talk more about them later, but their wedding was a really happy memory and the ability of a song to transport me back to that happy time is what the magic of music if for. I know the song might be overplayed for a lot of you, but it only sounds like one thing to me. I popped it on and felt the tears welling up as I drew closer and closer...
When I arrived on their lawn I did the only thing I could do...fall over, lay in the grass, and marvel at the fact that I had FINALLY made it to Guelph!!!
It was a happy reunion. Again, it had been at least 5 years since we'd last seen one another. Out of respect for privacy I won't share a lot about our time together, but they were consummate hosts. I'd pished to make sure I arrived for the weekend when I could spend some time with them.
I showered, cleaned up, and we ate dinner. There was a lot of catching up to do. Dinner was incredible.
A fun note that I will share is that they offered up two ice creams for desert. If you've been following closely you might remember that I had an ice cream in Wawa that I loved but couldn't remember the name of...well I found out what it was. Because they had a giant tub of it. It was Moose Tracks from Kawartha Dairy. And now that I know, I've been tucking right into it!
It had been quite a day. I'd been cleaned out by raccoons. All my gear was wet. My front tire kept going flat. And I pushed another 120km day. But none of that mattered, because I'd finally arrived and found some familiar faces.
A big part of what I decided to do this ride was so I could visit friends I hadn't seen in years. Many of them have had kids in the last decade and so I understand why they can't visit me. So I try to visit them. That hadn't been possible during COVID-19. I visited a lot of old friends in BC, but hadn't really seen any familiar faces since Saskatoon or Calgary (except when Lorne visited as he drove by in Upsala, Ontario). I've been focused on reaching Guelph because I was really excited to see my friends. And also because I wanted to spend time with people I knew intimately.
I was finally there. It was also the first break I'd be taking in over three weeks. So begins the portion of the trip where I visit friends and family throughout Southern Ontario and Quebec. It promises to be a real treat compared to the isolation, long days, and solidtude of Northern Ontario.