Pedal Whipped

Day 6 – Our best and final ride day of the rally is behind us!

The ride was 100km from Lancaster to Montreal and included a few breaks along the way; including, the Quebec-Ontario border, Coteau-du-Lac and the Lachine Canal.

Most of the day was spent riding on bike trails and was quite fast since there were no street lights, stop lights or cars to contend with.

We decided to spend our last day together riding as a team and set up our pace line. It was a very efficient method of riding and made it so much easier to increase our speed when we were working as a group. We opted to skip the lunch they provided and, as a team, we found a patio to enjoy a meal on.

The ride itself, as with the rest of the week, did not disappoint and we were again welcomed into the towns we passed through with cheers.

The ride into Montreal and to Parc Emelie-Gamelin was an amazing experience. As we rode through the bike paths and Old Montreal there were people cheering out of their windows and standing on the streets. At Parc Emelie-Gamelin friends and family were waiting with a number of props and Chris and I were sprayed down with silly string as we passed. As you’ll see from the picture, the props were quite festive!

We spent some time in the parc to congratulate and celebrate with the other riders and crew, with cocktails of course. This was followed by unpacking of bins into my duffle bag and, the best part, a real shower!

Thanks again to everyone for your support over the past number of months. I’m happy to say that the Bike Rally has been able to raise 1.2 million dollars for Toronto People With AIDS, something they couldn’t have done without riders, crew and, more importantly, the generous and caring people that support them!

Looking forward to next year!

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Day 5 – 108km ride today from Johnstown to Lancaster, our final stop before arriving in Montreal tomorrow.

The usual start to our day with announcements, reminders and stretching. Our first break was in Morrisburg at Morrisburg Beach Park before stopping for lunch at Milles Roches Island Beach.

The whole route was again very scenic, but today was one of the more tiresome days since we’re nearing the end of our journey! We still made good time getting into camp; we arrived at 2pm – that’s 5 hours including lunch, break and our mandatory stop at the LCBO to pick up our fuel!

The highlight of today’s ride was the Dairy Queen in Lancaster that we visited to enjoy a lovely Blizzard. Proceeds from all sales of Blizzards were generously donated to the Friends for Life Bike Rally and PWA; that’s the best kind of dessert!

We’ll all be enjoying our final night with a dance party, but before that is the Candle Light Ceremony on the beach.

Tomorrow we ride into Parc Emelie-Gamelin to meet friends and family to celebrate!

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Day 4 – 110km down and that much closer to Montreal.

After having a fantastic show with Miss Conception at Stages in Kingston last night we awoke to the Gold Jersey ceremony; a special ceremony for those riders that raised $6000 or more. Congratulations to all those who made this amazing goal, and more, including my friend Chris!

A number of beautiful places to see today, a pattern I’m noticing as the ride continues. We rode along the St. Lawrence River and the 1000 Islands region, passing through Gananoque, Brockville and arriving at our camp site in Johnstown at 130pm! Our best ride time this week; arriving in under 5 hours including lunch and breaks along the way.

Today was quite hot so I finally broke down and had a dip in the river. It was very cold, but quite refreshing after a hot ride, I immediately showered!

Tomorrow we ride into Lancaster, our final stop before Montreal, but before that it’s team talent night and toga Party.

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Day 3 – Today was the shortest day of the entire week at 58k. We departed Adolphustown at 9am and made really great time coming into Kingston; arriving just before 11am.

Today was Red Dress day so I rode from Adolphustown to Kingston in my red tutu! It was quite an experience to see 300 mostly men cruising down the highway in dresses, tutus, evening gowns, feather boas and, for those who dared, stiletto heels (modified to have clips attached. We were greeted in each of the towns we passed through with cheers and well wishes.

The weather has been great this far and no complaints about the support we’re receiving; The food has been great and the directions have been very clearly marked!

Tonight we’re in luxury accommodations at the University of Queens so I actually have a washroom… Semi-private, but it’s not a shared campground facility so I’ll take it!

We’ll be enjoying dinner at The Grizzly tonight, followed by Miss Conception.

Half way there!

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Day 2 and our longest day of the ride at 128km. We left Port Hope at 9am, sent on our way by City TV’s Breakfast Television, and arrived into Adolphustown at 3pm.

Again some very beautiful scenery throughout the entire ride. We rode through Prince Edward County and next to Lake Ontario for the entire route. This totally gives you a great deal of appreciation for the beauty in our own backyards!

Lunch break was at a lovely B&B in Brighton, the location was generously donated by the owners.

The last part of the journey led us through Picton and to the Glenora ferry. A great boat ride before arriving at Adolphustown.

Tomorrow is our shortest ride, and red dress day, to Kingston.

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Day 1 – We departed Queen’s Park this morning at 9am after speeches from the Chaplain of Toronto Police Services and mayoral candidate George Smitherman. The ribbon was cut and we made our way across Wellesley to Yonge!

With police escort we rode through the city to our first of many breaks at Lawson Park and then proceeded to lunch in Oshawa at the GM plant. Our second break was along the shores of Lake Ontario.

Some beautiful scenery along the way so far, but we’ve arrived to Port Hope to spend the night overlooking Lake Ontario!

Off to the local community centre for a well deserved shower and then dinner!

Tomorrow is Adolphustown and another 126km.

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