Soon after Sept.11 2001, I decided to retire from the workforce. For me, the last straw that broke the camel’s back was the inconvenience and nuisance caused by the extra security measures at the airport.
I was 59. Now at 69, I am looking for something that I have never done before to celebrate my 10th year retirement anniversary. I like new challenges, it makes me feel alive. I highly recommend this, taking on new challenges, to my fellow seniors.
Bicycle touring and camping seems to be the perfect thing to do at this time. Bicycle touring means travelling by bicycle from one place to another, carrying all the stuff that you need to survive on your tour with you on the bicycle. I have never done this before. I have done long distance cycling, but not touring. In 2009 I participated in a fundraising ride, ‘The Ride to Conquer Cancer’; it was a 2 day 200km ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls via Hamilton. This ride was fully supported, I did not have to carry anything with me, everything was provided; all I had to do was cycle the distance. Touring is much more challenging.
Last year my daughter and her husband bought me a new bicycle for my birthday. It is an MEC Shadowlands touring bicycle. It is by far the best bicycle I have ever owned and rode; very comfortable, smooth and stable. So it is only natural that I should do some touring on this bike.
As the destination of this first tour, I chose the Albion Hills conservation area campground; a beautiful place with nice hiking and cycling trails, and canoe rental. It is about 35 km from my house in Brampton. Besides enjoying the trails and nature of the conservation area, my objective of this first tour was to test my touring and camping gear and see what I could learn.
In early September I started to gather, order and purchase the items that I would need for the tour. I purchased fenders, front rack, and four panniers with rain covers for the bicycle. Chris, our son-in-law, helped me install the front rack properly. The bicycle has disc brakes so it was a bit tricky to align the rack with the front wheel. We had to use and modify the spacers that were provided for the fenders. I bought a blue foam sleeping pad from Walmart which is extremely light. This is to replace the air-mattress that I have, which is too bulky and heavy to carry on the bicycle. I also left my heavy and bulky electric shaver behind, and replaced it with a disposable manual shaver blade. You’ve got the idea; things need to be light and compact to carry them on the bicycle.
The shopping and preparing for the tour went well, but breaking the news about my plan to my wife Theresia did not go too well. She did not like that I would be going by myself. So I invited Jusni and Cecile – a husband and wife team - who are avid cyclists and expert campers to join me on this tour. I also invited Bob, my former colleague, an adventurer who likes challenges. Unfortunately Jusni and Cecile were not able to make it due to appointments during the week I planned to go. Bob accepted my invitation or should I say challenge; but he could only go on Wednesday to Friday. So I had to forgo the luxury of choosing a good weather day.
Bob is a rugged, strong and easy going guy. He loves nature. He had walked and backpacked the Bruce trail from Tobermory to Niagara on the Lake, carrying 40 + lbs on his back and camped along the way. Perhaps I should do this – would anybody like to join me? Just kidding! I was happy that Bob could accompany me on my first bicycle tour.
Tuesday September 21, the day before my tour, was a beautiful day. I packed everything that I would take with me on the bicycle and tested the setup by riding around the block. With the loaded panniers on the front wheel, the bicycle became hard to manoeuvre. It took some time to get use to it. I made some adjustments in securing the sleeping pad and sleeping bag to the rear rack.
D day: Wednesday September 22; the Weather Network forecasted rain for the afternoon, so I put the rain covers on the panniers. After a quick lunch I started my tour, around 12:30 PM. I headed for Professor’s Lake, then North on Torbram Rd. On Torbram in front of a church, I met up with Bob. Earlier in the morning Bob had dropped off his camping gear at the camp site, because his bicycle was not equipped for touring. It does not have racks and panniers to carry stuff. He has a very old bicycle that he picked up second hand and fixed it up. I was a bit concerned about how he would do climbing some of the hills that we would encounter. Soon my worries were put to rest, on the first decent hill, just North of Mayfield Road, He passed me with ease.
We took a break; I call it a Pit stop, at a coffee shop in Caledon East. So far we had ridden 22 km, mostly on asphalt. The next 13 km would be mostly on dirt road. The extra 45 lbs load did not seem to matter much on flat asphalt road and had little impact on the hills, but on dirt road I could feel the difference; it was slower and more difficult to manoeuvre.
About 2 km from the campground it started to rain lightly. By the time we arrived at our campsite the rain poured down. We put on our rain coats and setup our tents. Half an hour later, the rain stopped. We were done setting up the tents and I stowed the panniers inside my tent. The rain covers worked, my stuff inside the panniers stayed dry, but I was soaking wet, my rain coat did not work. I changed into dry T-shirt and made tea and miso soup. We enjoyed our tea and soup under light rain; they tasted sooooo.... good.
It kept on raining on and off, sometimes hard sometimes just a drizzle. Our plan to have a campfire did not materialize. We went to bed early. In spite of the lulling sounds from the Humber River and from the chirping of insects, I could not sleep all night. The sleeping pad that I bought from Walmart did not provide enough cushioning. I could not stay in one position for long. My hips and shoulders hurt. I heard Bob snoring softly inside his tent. He used a self inflating air mattress with a built in pillow.
The morning was beautiful. I walked around a little, enjoying the morning sun. After breakfast we cycled around the campground and got a hiking map from the campground office. We went hiking on the most scenic hiking route as recommended by the person from the campground office. Albion Hills conservation area has several hiking trails as well as mountain bike trails. The trail we hiked on was beautiful and easy. As we approached a turn, we came face to face with a white tail deer, less than 50 feet away. He was a beautiful specimen. We stared at each other for a few seconds; as I grabbed and turn on my camera he turned around and darted away.
We rested near a clearing. As we were enjoying our drinks and snacks, the sky changed. We felt a cold breeze and saw some dark clouds covering the sky. I called Theresia on my cell phone. Yeah, do not go on a bicycle tour without a cell phone. It is an essential tool. She told us that the weather forecast called for rain tonight and all day the following day. So we decided to head home that afternoon. We did not want to break camp and ride home in the rain. Secretly I was happy about our decision, since I dreaded another sleepless night on that awful sleeping pad. Our hike on the trail lasted 2.5 hours.
After cooking and enjoying our last meal at the campsite, we broke camp. I packed all my belongings on the bike again, this time I did not put the rain covers on. It was around 3:00 PM when we pedalled our bikes out of the campground. The first few hills leaving the campground felt a bit difficult to handle. The campground is in a valley. As we rode on dirt road, the Trans Canada trail, I felt really sluggish. It was difficult for me to go above 15 km/hour. There was some head wind but we were mostly protected by the trees on both sides of the trail. It must be due to lack of sleep.
We took a pit stop at the same coffee house in Caledon East. An elderly senior arrived on a bicycle, parked his bike next to mine and studied my fully loaded bike. We chatted a little, he was amused. We had 2 km to go on dirt road, after that it would be asphalt all the way home.
To overcome my sluggishness I pushed hard, and managed to do above 20 km/hour on asphalt. I also wanted to arrive home before dark. But after about 12 km I needed another rest. We stopped just south of Old School road. The farmer field with its different shades of green and yellow was beautiful to watch. I finished a snack bar and my sport drink. Bob and I parted at the corner of Torbram and Bovaird; he continued south and I went West. I arrived home just before 6:00 PM, tired and happy.
All in all I am very happy with the tour. The weather was not perfect but it gave me the opportunity to test my gears and readiness to do a longer tour. I have learned about myself, what worked and what did not work, what to do and what not to do, what to take along and what to leave at home. I have enjoyed the ride, the outdoors and the beautiful Albion Hills. I had achieved my objectives.
Next year I will be 70, what should I do to celebrate? Looking forward for a new challenge................
