I left London about 9am on Wednesday August 10, 2016. I was headed, by bicycle, for Egerton, ON, a trip of 155km which google maps suggested should take 8 hours and 2 minutes. However, I am 64 years old and am pulling a trailer with about 300kg of equipment, so I allowed 3 days for the trip.
On Wednesday, I got as far as Stratford. I arrived as the sun was setting and slept in the park that night, although I did not sleep well.
I left about 6 am on Thursday and made it to Glen Allan by 3:30pm. I was exhausted and needed to rest a while. Around 5pm I considered starting out again. Rain was off and on and it started raining again which was enough of an excuse to spend the night in the quaint little park at Glen Allan.
At 5:15 am on Friday I set out for my final day of travel before reaching Egerton. I arrived in Arthur before noon and the back tire of my bike went flat while I was resting. I fixed it then had lunch. after that I went into a park and waited out the hottest part of the day. About 4:30, I left Arthur. and got to Conn by 7:36 pm. I sold two books at Two different places in Conn and was in Egerton shortly after.
Our family picnic, the excuse for the trip, was to occur at 11 am on Saturday August 13. A few had arrived when it started to rain. They decided to move to a park in Conn where there was a pavilion, but there was about 2 inches of rain on the ground, so my sister, Evelyn, had everyone go to her house in Fergus. Thus, she drove me to Fergus for the festivities. It was great to see so many of the family and meet grand nieces and nephews that I had not met before. Later my sister's husband drove me back to Egerton where I spent another night in my tent.
I went to church in Conn in the Morning and biked back to the tent in Egerton. I had nothing planned after this point and thought I would leave it to the Lord's leading. A bit discouraged I felt it was time to begin the trip home.
On the way back I went to visit the grave of my uncle in Arthur. The grave yard took me a little west of my planed route, so I headed south on the gravel road to see where it would take me. This way I felt I could go through Drayton on my way home to visit those who had helped me on my previous trip.
The gravel road took me through what appeared to be the land of the gentle giants. The road cut through a line of 10 giant wind turbines. 5 at each side of the road stood with blades gently turning.
I got to Drayton by nightfall and camped in a park there.
Leaving Drayton about 8 am on Monday, I got to Stratford by 5 pm. and spent the night in my tent.
Tuesday morning rain delayed me breaking camp. As soon as I got my tent packed up, it began to rain again. I found the visitor information office and learned the location of the Stratford Newspaper. Rain had stopped, so I headed for the Newspaper office that would be on my way home. High headwinds made progress slow and rain recommenced. I had a very good interview with Scott at the paper, and then went into a Tim Hortons to wait on the weather. The rain stopped but winds continued, so I allowed those winds to blow me back to downtown Stratford where I am now sitting in the library debating when I should head out. It is almost 3 pm and it would mean I would reach London in the wee hours of the morning if I left now. It will be so good to have a bed to sleep in after spending 6 nights in a tent. Also a shower would help to make me and others in my proximity feel better. However, seeing the leaves of trees dancing in the wind does not make prospects look good. Perhaps I will spend one more night in my tent, or maybe I will fight the wind which will hopefully die down as night falls.
Come back to find out how this successful trip ends. This will be the first one were I made it to my destination and back without assistance.
On Wednesday, I got as far as Stratford. I arrived as the sun was setting and slept in the park that night, although I did not sleep well.
I left about 6 am on Thursday and made it to Glen Allan by 3:30pm. I was exhausted and needed to rest a while. Around 5pm I considered starting out again. Rain was off and on and it started raining again which was enough of an excuse to spend the night in the quaint little park at Glen Allan.
At 5:15 am on Friday I set out for my final day of travel before reaching Egerton. I arrived in Arthur before noon and the back tire of my bike went flat while I was resting. I fixed it then had lunch. after that I went into a park and waited out the hottest part of the day. About 4:30, I left Arthur. and got to Conn by 7:36 pm. I sold two books at Two different places in Conn and was in Egerton shortly after.
Our family picnic, the excuse for the trip, was to occur at 11 am on Saturday August 13. A few had arrived when it started to rain. They decided to move to a park in Conn where there was a pavilion, but there was about 2 inches of rain on the ground, so my sister, Evelyn, had everyone go to her house in Fergus. Thus, she drove me to Fergus for the festivities. It was great to see so many of the family and meet grand nieces and nephews that I had not met before. Later my sister's husband drove me back to Egerton where I spent another night in my tent.
I went to church in Conn in the Morning and biked back to the tent in Egerton. I had nothing planned after this point and thought I would leave it to the Lord's leading. A bit discouraged I felt it was time to begin the trip home.
On the way back I went to visit the grave of my uncle in Arthur. The grave yard took me a little west of my planed route, so I headed south on the gravel road to see where it would take me. This way I felt I could go through Drayton on my way home to visit those who had helped me on my previous trip.
The gravel road took me through what appeared to be the land of the gentle giants. The road cut through a line of 10 giant wind turbines. 5 at each side of the road stood with blades gently turning.
I got to Drayton by nightfall and camped in a park there.
Leaving Drayton about 8 am on Monday, I got to Stratford by 5 pm. and spent the night in my tent.
Tuesday morning rain delayed me breaking camp. As soon as I got my tent packed up, it began to rain again. I found the visitor information office and learned the location of the Stratford Newspaper. Rain had stopped, so I headed for the Newspaper office that would be on my way home. High headwinds made progress slow and rain recommenced. I had a very good interview with Scott at the paper, and then went into a Tim Hortons to wait on the weather. The rain stopped but winds continued, so I allowed those winds to blow me back to downtown Stratford where I am now sitting in the library debating when I should head out. It is almost 3 pm and it would mean I would reach London in the wee hours of the morning if I left now. It will be so good to have a bed to sleep in after spending 6 nights in a tent. Also a shower would help to make me and others in my proximity feel better. However, seeing the leaves of trees dancing in the wind does not make prospects look good. Perhaps I will spend one more night in my tent, or maybe I will fight the wind which will hopefully die down as night falls.
Come back to find out how this successful trip ends. This will be the first one were I made it to my destination and back without assistance.
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