Thank you!!

A word of thanks to the people who helped make this trip as successful as it has been. It was a wonderful adventure, and we have felt support from so many.

Thank you first to Mom, Dad, and Peter who said yes at the beginning, and followed through when it became clear we weren't kidding. For pre-ride breakfasts, picnic lunches and daily campsite set-ups and tear downs. For keeping us fed, doing our laundry, and sharing in our enthusiasm.

Thank you to all those who supported the Stephen Lewis Foundation. We were blown away by the generosity of our family, friends and colleagues, and those who had heard about our trip second-hand. We set out to raise $5,000 and ended up raising over $9,000!! This will make a real difference in the lives of some of those living with HIV/AIDS in Africa, and it is of this that we are most proud:)

Finally, thanks to the friends who encouraged us along the way, and to our colleagues and teammates who put up with a 3 week absence!

Liz and Sarah

Photo from Day 16

Day 16: Antigonish to Shoreham Provincial Park

We did it!!

Love on Wheels pulled into Shoreham Provincial Park around 1 this afternoon, finishing our final day on the road. Despite the threat of abundant jellyfish, we stood in the Atlantic with our bikes overhead, feeling tired, triumphant and a little sad that that our journey was over.

A few stats from the trip:

Flat tires: 1
Flying squirrel sitings: 1
Rainy days: 2
Handmade Grohmann knives purchased: 4
Fromageries visited: 4
Provinces visited: 5
Loads of laundry done by Mom: 11
Pounds of lobsters sacrificed: 12
Estimated time to drive home: 24 hours
Cobs of "sweet turkey wheat" consumed: 24
Fastest single day average speed: 27.2 km/h
Campsite breakfasts, picnic lunches, and high carb dinners prepared by the Love on Wheels team: 54
Hours spent on a bike: 63 1/4 (each)
Fasted spead reached on a bike: 64.8 km/h (Liz), 66 km/h (Sarah)
Longest distance travelled in 1 day: 126 km
Number of casse croutes spotted: 367 (number of casse croutes resisted: 366)
Distance biked: 1491 km
Total raised for the Stephen Lewis Foundation: $8,794

The Loves

Unexpected Rest Day 4: Caribou to Antigonish

From soggy Nova Scotia we say hello! After all the excitement of yesterday's mad (1 hour) dash to the ferry, today was quite different. It started to rain last night while we were sleeping and it didn't stop until about 5:30-6 this afternoon. All the rain coupled with gusting wind meant that we didn't ride today. Unfortunately, since we're right at the end of our trip, we are running out of rest days, so we decided to drive to Antigonish and do tourist stuff along the way instead.

Liz was our Nova Scotia tourist guide today thanks to the 'Doers and Dreams' guide. She found a section titled rainy day activities and we all got pretty excited about a tour of handmade knife factory: Grohmann Knives. The short 20-30 minute tour inspired 4 out of 5 of us to purchase knives...I think they made a decent return on their free tour:)


We then had a variety of soups at Mrs. MacGregors Tea Room (the best chowder ever tasted by Peter's lips) before continuing our drive to Antigonish. We decided that our wet tents weren't going to dry in the rain, so we booked into a double suite at St. Francis Xavier. Awesome decision:)

Dinner was at a place recommended by Liz's friend who grew up in this area. Boyd's Seafood Galley on St. Georges Bay serves up a delicious deep-fried seafood feast. Battered fish, shrimp, calamari and scallops with some french fries...mmm....thanks for the great tip!! Pete took the picture below of the rest of us across the harbour before dinner...I know we're small, but we're there, right in the middle! haha


Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be much better and we're looking forward to finishing our ride!! Driving around today makes me think it might be a hilly ride, but it'll be Day 16 with Boylston Provincial Park as our destination and I don't think we'll let anything stop us from finishing:)

Sarah

Day 15: PEI to Caribou Provincial Park

We went to sleep to the sound of the surf and woke up to sunny skies and little wind. After a quick breakfast, we packed up camp and said goodbye to PEI National Park. Mom, Dad and Peter dropped Sarah and I off where we finished yesterday; they headed off to find groceries and we set out toward Charlottetown. We spent the first 15 k or so in the hills that we were struggling with yesterday - steep and close together, every uphill portion ate away any momentum we'd gathered going downhill. Not fun, but much easier to manage at the start of a ride than at the end.

As we got closer to Charlottetown, though, everything flattened out, and we cruised through town, stopping only at Walmart for some batteries and chapstick.

I had been really looking forward to PEI because I haven't been here since we lived here for a summer when I was 1 (Dad was doing a summer placement at a chuch on the eastern side of the island). I had no idea it was so hilly (for some reason I imagined it was almost as flat as Holland). I also had no idea how beautiful Charlottetown is - the old buildings downtown are lovely.

After Charlottetown, we headed south toward the ferry to Nova Scotia, following the TransCanada most of the way.

We actually beat the van to the town we had picked for lunch, and it was quickly apparent that Cherry Valley is little more than a gas station, so we poked our head into the attached garage to see if anyone knew of a place nearby for a picnic. The mechanic sent us down the next laneway and we parked the van in the middle of the lane and had lunch in the between two fields, but with a view of the ocean. Very random, but significantly better than eating in the gas staion parking lot or by the side of the road.

We set out from lunch at 1, and it quickly dawned on us that we were cutting things veeery tight for a 2:45 ferry.

We decided to do our best to try to catch the ferry. We were making pretty good time, and our short cut was working out wonderfully - until the pavement turned to gravel, and we found ourselves bumping along a red dirt road. The only thing that passed us was a dirt bike (which was much more suitable for the terrian than a couple of road bikes), but we made it safely out the other side, and headed back to the TransCanada.

We had to call Dad at 2:25 to let him know whether he should stay in line for the 2:45 ferry. Google maps said 5.6 k with 20 mins left before we had to be boarded, so we told Dad "We're going to make it, but it's going to be tight".

I barely had time to hang up before Sarah took off at 38 km/hour, saying, "Stay with me, Sister". I tucked in behind her to start, and we swapped the lead a few times before we rounded a corner and there was the ferry, with cars still lined up to board. We quickly put our bikes in the van and slumped inside, red-faced but satisfied - we'd made the ferry with maybe 4 mins to spare.

We were stretching in one of the seating areas, and a guy came up to us to ask if we were the bikers. Apparently he saw us in Walmart in the morning, and was impressed we made it to the ferry so quicky. Honestly, so was I :)

Liz

PS. We could have opted to take the 4:30 ferry instead (and had a leisurely ride), but Sarah decided that whether we made it or not, this would make a more exciting blog post. So it is apparently for all of you that we rode like the blazes for our last hour today.

PPS. Tonight's photo is from around the fire. We're at Caribou Provincial Park right by the ferry on a site that overlooks the ocean. I don't think I've ever had a campsite with a berrer view. I'll try to get a photo in the morning to share.

Photos from Day 14

Here are the photos from yesterday.

Liz
Sent from my Blackberry.

Day 14: Parlee Beach to PEI

Hello from PEI National Park - Stanhope! The Stanhope part is very important as it's also where Sami and Billy (friends from home) happened to be! They came over to the campground and we went to the beach for a great (but a bit cold) swim in the ocean and then visit around the fire:)

Our ride today was scheduled to be 130 km all the way to the campground, but due to a slightly inflamed achilles tendon, we modified the route to 102 km. Tomorrow we'll get dropped back off where we stopped and continue along our shortened route through PEI to the ferry in Wood Islands. We may also split our last day into 2 depending on how everything feels, so we have only 2 (or 3) days left of this adventure!!!

Even though we did a modifed the route, we still finished riding through New Brunswick, met our 'sag wagon' at the Confederation bridge so we could cross it with them, realized that PEI is in no way flat and actually has an abundance of hills, and found our Mom sitting by the side of the road in a chair with a drink cooler and a red and white umbrella at our end location for the day. Pete and Dad had left here there to meet us while they dashed ahead to the campground to get a site. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the van to come back to pick us up and we used this time to enjoy a cold one from the cooler...it was pretty amusing:)

I find it a bit hard to believe we've biked to PEI from Ottawa and we're not done yet!

Sarah

Ps having problems sending this, so I've taken off the photos. I'll try to past them separately later.
Sent from my Blackberry.

Rest Day 3: Parlee Beach

Our 7:45 am attemp to go see the tidal bore didn't pass wink because some members of our party languished in bed instead. The last of the sluggards emerged to the aroma of sausages and the best french toast Liz has ever had.

Invigorated, we played tourist and visited the local farmer's market, the tourist bureau and the world's largest lobster. And then we saw what just might be the world's largest living lobster, a 19 lb, 75 year old beast, before purchasing our feast.

Perfect conditions welcomed us to Parlee Beach for a swim, sand animals (Sarah) and sleep (me).

While we waited for dinner, everybody beat me at euchre. [the editor wishes to note that it might be more accurate to say that he beat himself, given the number of times he got euchred.]

We all enjoyed our marvellous lobster dinner, and mom did an extra load of laundry to deal with the splatter.

I won the world champion hat for finding the best lobster place in town and losing with such class at euchre.

Charlie
Sent from my Blackberry.

Day 12: Kouchibouguac to Parlee Beach

Two photos today - dad enjoying his porridge, and Sarah and around 20 outside of Shediac. Simon and Peter took a bunch of photos of us from the van. I swear it felt like we were being persued by the paparazzi. Lol.

We started out yesterday with overcast skies and cool temperatures, under the threat of rain. We got about 30 k in before the showers started. We had a break in the rain and optimistically dried off our sunglassed, but before we set off again, the rain had caught up, and it rained steadily until we finally decided to pack it in, soaked and chilled to the bone. Sarah fared a little better than I did, being better dressed for the weather, but we were both pretty cold. The van picked us up from the side of the road, and we headed to Tim Horton's for chili. Man, did that ever hit the spot!

The weather got gradually better as the afternoon went on, and we went back and finished the ride before dinner - dry and warm this time. So much more pleasant!

Our crew has now gone from 4 to 6, at least temporarily - Dad picked Pete up from the Moncton airport on Friday night, and we picked up Simon from the bus station at 1 on Sat afternoon. Simon is with us until Monday morning only and Pete is with us through ther rest of the trip. I'm so happy that they both got to be with us for some of the trip.

Simon and Peter witnessed their first World Champion hat ceremony. Simon won, for his perseverence in getting out to hang out with us. A 16 hour bus ride would have been enough to deter most people!

Liz

Day 12: ??? To K-camp

I was a speed demon today if you ask my sister haha. I guess day 12 was pretty good! We biked 110 km from our random point on the road where we quit yesterday into K-camp as planned. The morning went surprisingly quickly except for the fact we started a little later than normal due to the drive from our site...this meant that we didn't have lunch until 1 and my sister was starving by that point!

Back to the speed demon comment. My sister thinks I was running on speedy sub power...apparently my turkey sub was speedy and my sister's subway melt wasn't haha. She also claims I was going 34 km/h after we ate lunch...it was closer to 30-31 in reality:)

Also at lunch, Dad talked to the Robertsville tourist information ladies and they were extremely helpful. He received a full history of the town, the location of the best bakery in town for pies (Mr. Tomato) and a donation for Love on Wheels!

We tried the pie as soon as we finished our ride and it was delightful. Dad beat us all in our post dinner scrabble game and Mom was awarded the world champion hat for having a productive rest day (she stayed at the site while Dad drove around as our support vehicle) that included some organizing of the trailer, cleaning the propane stove, drinking tea, biking 10 km, a quick dip in the cold ocean water and a nap to rejuvinate.

Tonight Pete gets picked up at the airport in Moncton and then he'll be with us for the rest of this adventure. Simon also arrives tomorrow for a couple days, so the LOW team is growing!

4 day left...I think I can, I think I can, I know I can!! Haha:)

Sarah

PS - My sister and I have spent enough time together that we're starting to do and say things at the same time. This happened again while riding today and she told me to stop doing the same things as her at the same time. My reply was okay, I'll just stop pedaling then! :) Unfortunately that didn't/couldn't last too long haha
Sent from my Blackberry.

Day 11: Plaster Rock to ??

We just biked 126 km, and we're now sitting in Pizza Delite waiting for dinner to arrive. We're all starving.

Today was supposed to be 110 km from Plaster Rock to McGraw Brook - generally uphill for the first 55 k, and generally downhill for the second 55 k.

The uphill was surprisingly ok, and we went from 150 to 550 meters above sea level without too much fuss. We had lunch by the side of the road, and then cruised through the afternoon. I think at one point I went 5 k without pedaling or braking.

This stretch of road was by far the most remote we'll encounter. There were no towns or even houses for the entire day, just some logging roads.

People warned us that we may encounter bears, so Sarah and I amused ourselves by yelling random things to so that we wouldn't surprise any. Things like "My boyfriend doesn't like coconut milk" and "My sister stole her boyfriend's cooler". I think we may have invented a new form of therapy. Lol

The day's complication? Apparently McGraw Brook Campground has been closed for years.

So, a new plan: Sarah and I were feeling great, and tomorrow was supposed to be a long day, so we decided to bike another 20 k or so, and then drive to Kouchibouguac National Park (where we were supposed to spend tomorrow night). In the morning we'll drive back to where we stopped today, and bike back to K-camp. We figured it would be easier to do the extra driving and stay in the same place for 2 nights than bike to another campground.

We were talking today about how we're actually living an old t-shirt slogan: "Eat, Sleep, Cycle". In reality, though, our days have been more like this:

Wake up (7 am)
Eat
Cycle
Eat
Cycle
Shower
Eat
Game/read?
Blog
Hand out world champion hat
Eat
Sleep (by 10 pm)

That's all for now. A note that if our blog posts seem a little off the wall, just think about how loopy you'd be after biking 1057 k over 11 days with only your family to talk to. :)

Liz

PS. I haven't actually awarded the World Champion hat tonight, but it's going to go to Dad for cooking breakfast yet again before he had even his first coffee. He always sends us off well-fed!

Day 10: La Republique to Plaster Rock

Today was the hardest day so far. Not only was it our longest day yet at 110 km, it was also pretty hilly and quite hot/sunny. We decided to bike 73 km before stopping for lunch in Grand Falls at the grand falls haha

When I went to the van to change to sandals, I noticed a large bag of potatoes, so I commented to Mom that she bought a lot! Apparently Mom and Dad saw a roadside sign at a house selling potatoes. They stopped, went up the house and to their surprise, the lady took them to her garden where she started digging out potatoes! We had some with dinner tonight and we'll be eating some as part of breakfast and lunch tomorrow!

Today was also the most we've interacted with others while cycling. We had a girl about our age drive past us in her SUV pull over, get out of her car and wave us down. She was hoping we were locals and was a little disappointed to find out we're from Ontario. I guess there aren't a lot of female riders in St. Leonard NB and she was hoping to make some new riding friends!

We (and that means Liz and her phone) also helped out a pair of gentlemen who are doing a cross-Canada trip. They weren't exactly sure what road to take in Grand Falls to best get to Fredericton, so Liz pointed them in the right direction:) They think we're good New Democrats for raising money for the Stephen Lewis Foundation haha

Finally, we'd like to send out a loud, thunderous CONGRATULATIONS to Uncle Bruce and his new wife Ruth who were married today. We're looking forward to the celebrating with them in person when we get back!!

Sarah

Rest Day 2: Edmundston

Our day of rest at Parc de la Republique in New Brunswick was perfect.

The park is a jewel with a beautiful pool, a botanical garden and a butterfly conservatory.

The gardens have characters made of plants growing on a 3D metal frame and a wonderful array of flowers - actually the best ones Charles and I have ever visited. Do not miss this park on your journey east.

If you want a soft ice cream, just outside the park toward Edmundston is Bellavance Kwik Way, and for $2 you get the choice of 6 flavours - yum.

The girls scoped out a new pair of stylish shorts for me at Joe Fresh, and now I feel very chique at the campsite.

We had a bold little red squirrel which started toward Elizabeth as she was reading. It darted across her foot and she jerked her foot and the squirrel flew across the campsite, landed on its feet and scurried away. Now THAT'S what you call a flying squirrel!

Marius's trailer is holding up beautifully.

Our rib steak supper was delish, and Sarah's sweet potato mash was to die for.

Cobie

Day 9: Riviere-du-Loup to St. Jacques

Au revoir Quebec, hello New Brunswick!

That pretty much sums up our accomplishment for today as we did in 90 of the hilliest kilometers so far! Liz set a new top speed record for herself getting to 64.8 km/h on one descent!!!

We also ran into 5 km of construction at one point, but as Mom and Dad were ahead of us, they scoped out the roads, determined it wouldn't be safe to ride through and set up a pick up point. They delivered us safely to the end of the construction where we continued our ride...thanks!

As I look back at the last 10 days, my memories include:
1. The multitude of bar laitiers and casse croutes
2. The fromageries (which includes their associated fermes and their associated stenches...delightful haha)
3. Paying in quarters for every shower of varying lengths from 2 to 5 minutes
4. The ease with which Dad was picking up the language
5. Smoked salmon
And most importantly:
6. Sweet turkey wheat!!

Bring it on New Brunswick!

Sarah
Sent from my Blackberry.

Day 8: Riviere Ouelle to Riviere du Loup

We weighed our options last night, and decided we'd try our luck with the Hwy 185 (the TransCanada) rather than the 189 to get to Edmuston area. We figured that although the TransCanada would definitely have more traffic than the secondary hwy, it would hopefully also have a paved shoulder, and the pavement itself is probably in better shape. As a result, we had a shorter day today - just 77 k from Riviere Ouelle to Riviere du Loup.

It was a stunningly beautiful morning. I took the shot below as we left the campground, looking across the St. Lawrence at the misty Laurentians. What a way to start the day.


Today was our fastest day in a while, and Sarah and I each had a couple of nice stretches at the front going around 30 km/h. The riding felt good.

We had lunch in Riviere du Loup, at Parc des Cascades, complete with waterfall. Mom and Dad found a tiny little place advertising smoked fish, and picked up some amazing smoked salmon for lunch. We ate it with cream cheese and green onion on rye bread. Sooo good!

With the end of today, we're over half way with our riding days, although we're not half way in terms of distance yet. We've also spent out last day on the Route Verte, which has made life so much easier. If you're ever cycling in Quebec, check out www.routeverte.com. The route is well-signed, and the map book that you can buy has been our constant companion throughout the province. My only complaint is that they spiral bound it so that you can't take out individual pages to bring with you as you ride (we just tore them out instead).

The campsite beside us is occupied by a different sort of "bike" tourers. They're actually pulling an ulta-mini tent trailer behind their Harley. Kind of cool, although I'd much rather be doing it our way.

Sarah won the world champion hat today for the triple accomplishments of figuring out wifi at the campground, reorganizing the van to get rid of the chaos, and managing to get the fire started. All very good things.

Liz

Day 7: St. Vallier to Riviere-Ouelle

We apologize for the delayed blog post. When we got to the campsite yesterday, we quickly set up camp as rain was threatening, ate dinner (a delicious stir-fry ala Mom) and got into a game of Settlers. I'm told this game usually takes around an hour to complete, but we started at 7:15 and didn't end until almost 9:45!! We promptly went to bed upon the game's conclusion:)

Yesterday's ride was really nice though. We were expecting rain pretty much all day, but not a single drop fell! We enjoyed the scenery of the passing mountains and the Saint Lawrence river. Pretty awesome. And with being on a bike, we had plenty of time to take in the surroundings!!


Dad was the world champion yesterday for finally spotting and stopping at a boulangerie to pick up some fresh bread and for learning how to play Settlers. Dad and new games don't happen too often anymore, but he did great:)

Be sure to check out the link in the previous post if you wish to view more pictures from our trip so far!!

Sarah

Photos After 8 Days of Cycling

We found a campground that has free wifi, so I've uploaded an assortment of pictures from the trip so far. To view the pictures, go to:

http://picasaweb.google.ca/sarah.gwen.love/LoveOnWheels2010Round1After8DaysOfCycling#

There are no comments, but if you've been following the blog this far, you may recognize some pictures!

Sarah

Day 6: Portneuf to St. Vallier

This morning we started out in Portneuf after our very restful day off. We ventured...can you guess what direction...yep you got it right, east! Through Quebec City and on to Saint-Vallier. Getting through Quebec was much more enjoyable than Montreal. The Green Route was straight forward and not once did I want to be voted off an island haha

When we met up with Mom and Dad for lunch, the idea arose for Mom to bike the next part of the route with us. After consulting with the map, we figured out a location for Dad to meet us at down the way and off the three of us went! For the next 14 km, all I heard Mom say was "I can go faster" and "Pass these people!" Even on her mountain bike with only one working gear, Mom managed to ride the whole way averaging more than 20 km/hr! She's an all star:)

Dad and Liz went off to another fromagerie once we had our campsite set up, so we tried out the cheese from yesterday and the one they just found...both were awesome. I'm sure we'll be eating more cheese tomorrow haha

Today's champion hat was shared between my sister and I for helping our Mom through the 14 km. We have a great picture of the three of us on the route with the Chateau Frontenac (or whatever the big castle in old Quebec is called) but it's on my camera not the phone so it can't be displayed yet. Maybe one day!

Now off to sleep to the lovely sound of a fountain, noisy frogs and the occasion train haha It'll be an interesting night!!

Sarah

Rest Day 1: Portneuf

It's been lovely not having to drive 2 hours with Dad's "little lady" (aka his GPS).

We found out today that all the signs advertising "ble d'inde sucre" were actually advertising corn, not sweet turkey wheat.

We had lunch at Casse-croute a King, which was decorated with Elvis and 50s memorabilia. The first poutine of the trip.

I asked for directions to the grocery store all in French and she answered in French too. I felt pretty good about that.

We went to Fromagerie Grondin and got some goat/cow combo cheese. We haven't tried it yet, but we are looking for another fromagerie tomorrow or the next day to compare it to.

We are finding everyone extremely helpful.

C'est tout.

Cobie

One more photo from Day 5

Day 5: Trois Rivieres to Portneuf

Hi all,

I got wrapped up with a game of Scrabble last night and ran out of time to post about yesterday's ride, so here goes.

We rode 88 k yesterday from Trois Rivieres to Portneuf. We rode south from the campsite on a path that took us right into Trois Rivieres. The path was so beautifully paved and through such a nice forest that we decided to try to take photos with both of us on our bikes - and promptly experienced our first crash, although at 4 km/h with no cars around I think we got off pretty easy. My body took the worst of the fall (with a nasty bruise on my quad) and Sarah's bike ended up with handle bars pointing one way and the bike in another. So we made our second bike repair in a park (the first to change a flat) and continued on our way. Ultimately no harm done, and we did get one good photo before we crashed. Lol

The rest of the ride was smooth sailing and I had my first biking on autopilot experience as a rambled on to Sarah about Stella - when I was done talking we were 20 k further up the road and I'm not sure how we got there. I guess I'm getting more comfortable on the bike??

Sarah spotted the Liberal Express going the opposite way on Hwy 138 yesterday - who could have predicted such a brush with celebrity? Do you think he would have donated to Love on Wheels?

I won the world champion hat for taking the brunt of the crash, and coming back to win Scrabble that same night. I'm truly a wonder. Haha

Sarah just checked our fundraising and we've now raised $8300 for the Stephen Lewis Foundation thanks to the generosity of our family, friends and colleagues. That's a pretty good reason to get on the bike in the morning. Thank you all.

Liz

Day 4: St. Sulpice to Trois Rivieres

We've completed day 4 which ended up being 99 km from St. Sulpice to Trois-Rivieres. We had another relatively flat day with little wind. I managed to miss part of my leg with sunscreen so I have a slight burn...but if this is my biggest concern so far I think I'm doing pretty well!!

Liz and I just made our first fire sandwiches of the trip despite having a large dinner not too long ago...as Mom would say, we're eating like lumberjacks!

It's pretty exciting to have completed the first quarter of our riding days...4 down, 12 to go!

Today's World Champion hat went to Dad for his gourmet bacon and eggs breakfast which was the perfect pre-ride meal!

Sarah

Day 3: Oka to St. Sulpice

Woke early to pretty heavy rain in Oka National Park, and I did a good job confusing Sarah when I suggested we "ride it out" and start a bit later. Not the clearest choice of expression. We eventually got on the road around 10:30 with some light rain. First day riding in the rain.

We opted to stick mainly to the "Route Verte" cycling network, even though it would be longer and a lot less straightforeward because it meant more pathways and less roads. When we were on paths it was great, but we had to pay attention all the time because the route switched regularly from paths to roads and back again. We got a bit off track at one point and stopped to check the map, and when we stopped I heard a hissing sound and knew right away what it meant: our first flat. Changing the tire went remarkably well, but we struggled with the CO2 canister to refill it....eventually Sarah figured it out and nearly gave herself frostbite holding the metal canister as the CO2 was released.

We stopped for lunch shortly afterwards, needing a hot pick me up after changing the tire in the rain. Another first: first full conversation for me in French! (I honestly had no idea I knew how to say cauliflower in French!)

The sky cleared up after lunch, and aside from Sarah getting fed up with the trails on Montreal island (she was begging me to vote her off the island) we got the rest of the ride in without any implosions.

Camping tonight cost us $20 plus tax, by far the cheapest place we've stayed. We're on a treeless lot, but it's on the St. Laurence, and it's actually great.

Today's totals: 98 km, avg speed 22.5 km/h. I won the world champion hat for putting up with grumpypants when she wanted to be voted off the island.

Liz

Day 3: Holy rollers? Rounds of Oka cheese

Packed up and went to the Oka Monestary. Tasted canard sausage and wild boar. Bought wild boar sausage for dinner tomorrow. Bought 2 nearly identical types of Oka cheese, which we ate around the campfire. The grand finale was a box of handmade Oka chocolates under the stars. Pretty good day.

Charlie

Day 2: Papineauville to Oka

Greetings from Oka National Park! Today was day 2 of Love on Wheels
and we successfully completed 95 km in 3 hours 40 minutes.

The highlight of todays ride (apart from another mostly tail wind that allowed us to average 27 km/h) was that we witnessed a man mowing his lawn in none other than a black speedo! If only pictures were allowed in situations like that...haha!

Mom was awarded today's world champion hat for biking her first 4 km of Love on Wheels to meet us on the road and guide us to our lunch stop. Mom's fast! She reached 34 km/hr!

Today's photo shows part of the dirt road we ended up on...no flats so we're good!

Sarah

Day 1: Ottawa to Papineauville

Day 1:

Start: 3 pm from Parliament Hill
Finish: 5:50 in Papineauville
Total distance: 69 km

Today was by far the easiest 69 k I've ever biked - flat + tail wind = awesome.

We stopped near the end of our ride to pick some cattails - when we were little, we used to pick them, let them dry out and then "smoke" them. (We were so cool back then...I have no idea what happened since then ;) ). I stuck the cattails between my seat bag and my seat, and rode with the brown parts sticking out behind my behind. (Take a second to picture it) Sarah nearly lost it laughing when I started to ride and one of the cattails started creeping out. Not the greatest image but funny.

We're camping a little off our route tonight so Mom and Dad picked us up in Papineauville and they'll drop us back off in the morning. The campsite (Camping St. Andre Avellin) is pretty good for a private campground, and the 50 cents I paid for a shower was the best 50 cents I've spent in a long time. :)

Sarah re-packed our stuff tonight, so the van is now a haven of organization rather than a den of chaos. Kudos to her for that.

Sarah's friend lent her a "world champion cycling hat", and we've decided to award it to one of us each day. I won it today for cattail poops. Good times.

Liz

Well Wishes from a Pro:)

Last night I met up with a member of the 7-11 cycling team who gave me her best wishes!


I was also very fortunate to be lent the power of a world champion cycling hat...


Thanks Sami and Billy for a great send off!!

Sarah

Tentative Schedule!!

Here's our tentative schedule. We'll see how closely we can stick to this plan:)

July 17 - Ottawa to Plaisance (58 km)
July 18 - Plaisance to Oka (100 km)
July 19 - Oka to St. Sulpice (110 km)
July 20 - St. Sulpice to Trois-Rivieres (105 km)
July 21 - Trois Rivieres to Portneuf (73 km)
July 22 - Break
July 23 - Portneuf to Saint Vallier (100 km)
July 24 - Saint Vallier to Riviere Ouelle (93 km)
July 25 - Riviere Ouelle to Pohenegamook (97 km)
July 26 - Pohenegamook to Les Jardins des Republique (108 km)
July 27 - Break
July 28 - Les Jardins to Plaster Rock (112 km)
July 29 - Plaster Rock to McGraw Brook (110 km)
July 30 - McGraw Brook to Kouchibouguac (128 km)
July 31 - Kouchiboubuac to Parlee Beach (95 km)
Aug 1 - Break
Aug 2 - Parlee Beach to PEI National PArk (130 km)
Aug 3 - PEI National Park to Caribou-Munroe (108 km)
Aug 4 - Caribou to Boylston (150 km)
Aug 5 - Enjoy Nova Scotia!
Aug 6-7 - Drive home :)

Last Major Training Ride...

Love on Wheels officially takes off in 6 more sleeps!!!!!!!

Yesterday was my last long ride in preparation. With the usual crew at the Brampton Club, we rode 98 km from Eldorado Park to Freelton. It was a great ride and a good one to end on:) Special thanks goes out to all the members of the Brampton Club who've helped me along these past 3.5 months. I've learned so much and it's been a tremendous help riding with the club. The encouragement I have received from everyone about our upcoming trip has also been awesome!!

Only final preparations remain. I'll take my bike in for a check over tomorrow, buy my last pair of shorts, make sure I have plenty of sunscreen and then pack! Saturday is going to arrive extremely fast:)

I'm looking forward to getting to Ottawa, putting my anxiety aside and heading out:)

Love on Wheels, here we come!!

Sarah

Yesterday's workout was the hardest I'd worked in ages, and my body felt it today. Still finished today's 95 k ride with the Ottawa Bicycle Club, though....Now I'm sitting on the bed, and it's 8:18 and I'm wondering whether I'll make it to 9 pm awake.

I started thinking about transferable skills on today's ride. I have been on my bike around half as much as Sarah leading into this tour, and I'm really banking on having some transferable skills to pull me through. There are the big ones:

From ultimate I have learned how how to eat properly to keep me going for a whole day of activity, and I know what my body craves to get it ready for the next day (i.e. pasta and meat sauce).

From climbing volcanoes, I know that I can keep going all day, as long as I eat properly and go at my own pace, but I will burn out quickly if I get sucked into going faster than I'm comfortable.

Less critical, but still important when you're getting dressed for a bike ride, from figure skating I know that I am comfortable in spandex. :)

Liz

PS. It's 9:18 and I'm still awake, thanks to a planning call with Sarah. It feels like some sort of victory....

A Dog and Rain

Today's ride was pretty soggy! We started out in a very light drizzle that only seemed to get worse the farther we went. We were supposed to do a 100 km route, but we made a group decision at the 27 km mark to turn around and head home. The idea of stopping for a break at Tim's when we were already wet was quickly shot down so we just turned around and went home. Definitely the most wet I've been on a ride so far!!

We also had an unfortunate accident during the first part of our ride. I was near the front of the group when we went past a house and noticed a dog running full out towards us on the driveway. I made it past the driveway okay, but the dog kept coming and took out another rider. Somehow she managed to fall mostly on her tailbone and avoided road rash, but she was shaken up and her bike took a beating (not to mention her cracked helmet!). She rode back with other member while we continued.

I don't know what I would do if chased by a dog, but today definitely made me realize that this is more likely than I originally thought!

Sarah

Smattering of Fun Thoughts

It's been awhile since I posted...so I have some updates!

The most exciting news is that Love on Wheels has now reached 48% of our fundraising goal of $5000! Click on the new links to the right of this post to make a donation or follow our progress!

Our route is nearly complete! We figure it will take us 16 days of riding with 3 days of rest/rain interspersed to complete the trek from Ottawa to Boylston Provincial Park in Nova Scotia! And that includes a couple days of riding in PEI:) The first day of our ride will be July 17 and the last day will hopefully be August 4!!

The last couple weekends have been awesome riding with my sister! It feels great to have done our first 100 km ride...yay! We were also able to try out the camping/riding combo two weekends ago at Presqu'ile Provincial Park. Everything seems to be coming together perfectly so far...even the tennis elbow I was getting from riding has gone away! Now all we need are the Love on Wheels jerseys to arrive:)

Sarah

Our first 100 k day!

Check it out!



It actually felt pretty good, and my legs held up well. Now we just have to be ready to do 18 of these in a row. Piece of cake.

4 Weeks!

I can't believe that in 4 short weeks Love on Wheels will begin!!

This weekend my sister and I are planning on riding together in Ottawa. It's going to be great to get in two solid rides (hopefully the weather cooperates!) and to be able to get more planning completed.

The route is well on it's way to being completed and we'll make it accessible as soon as we can!

I'm sure we'll have some great updates from this weekend, so stay tuned:)

Sarah

Today's Ride Brought to You by the Letter "A"

Today's ride with the Brampton Club was awesome, awesome, awesome!

The weather forecast was slightly wrong and it didn't rain at all, not even one drop, on our ride which equals awesome.

The temperature was a little cooler and there were nice clouds to block the sun at times which equals awesome.

We rode together and everyone kept pace which equals awesome.

My top speed was 73.3 km/h which is a new record for me which equals AWESOME!!

We did a sprint finish (down a hill, up a hill and back down another hill) to end the ride which equals awesome.

We did 84 km in 3 hours 18 minutes which equals awesome.

And finally, I'm still smiling from the ride which equals AWESOME!!

Sarah

Attempting to Help

I did a nice ride today after work...a relatively quick 40 km. About 15 km into my ride I saw a guy on the side of road looking at his bike. Trying to do the "cyclist" thing, I slowed down and asked if he was okay to which he responded "no". Great I thought, this guy now thinks/hopes I can help him and I don't know anything about bikes!

I get over to his side and he says he has a flat, but has no pump, no spare tube and no cell phone. He doesn't know if he tube has a leak or what. I'm not much help as I also don't carry a pump so we can't test the tube for a leak. I offer him my cell phone but he can't remember anyone's numbers! I think it's wise if you ride without a phone to at least know some people's numbers by heart in the event of a bike malfunction or emergency! The easier option is to just carry a phone:)

He decides that he's going to check some of the houses near by to see if anyone has a pump. He thanked me for trying to help and off I went on my ride. On my way back I ended up passing him again unfortunately...he hadn't been able to find a pump and he wasn't able to contact anyone so he was walking his bike home. Thankfully he had a great attitude about the whole situation!!

Sarah

Protein!!

Saturday was an eventful day for me. It started off with the club ride that included a picnic in Eden Mills with about 80 club members! During the ride, one piece of advice I received was to be sure to eat a bunch of protein after each ride during our trip to help with recovery.

After the ride I went for dinner in Kitchener with my family and then off to a fundraiser for my high school’s athletic department with my friend Adrien.

Despite arriving fashionably late (by 1 hour) we were still early, so we headed over to the silent auction items to see what we could bid on. I put bids on a Bosu ball including a training kit, a Penguins jersey and wait for it, this is the most exciting part…a case of protein powder!! I told Adrien the advice I had received earlier in the day and we laughed at the prospect of winning an entire case. As this was still quite early in the night, we were sure we’d be out bid on everything:)

The rest of the evening was enjoyable as we caught up with people, played some games and checked our bids. Eventually I was out bid on the Bosu ball and the jersey, but I was still winning on one item! I was quite amused that at the end of the night I ended up with case of protein powder for only $25 haha. I should have no problem with my protein intake during Love on Wheels!

Sarah

Another Lesson Learned

Squeak, squeak. Squeak, squeak. This was essentially the sound my bike was making after my first ride in the rain a few weeks ago. I kept looking at different parts of my bike and realized my bike only sounded bad when I was pedaling so it was something to do with the chain or the gears. That's as far as I was able to get in diagnosing the problem.

A few rides later this noise was still occurring. The thought did cross my mind that maybe I needed to grease my chain, but everything looked okay, so I just kept riding. Finally, someone from the club told me I needed to lube the chain so my bike would be more quiet:) I immediately went straight from that ride to the bike shop, purchased some lube and like magic the squeaking stopped! Now I know that after riding in the rain I need to lube the chain and any moving joints on the bike haha My bike knowledge is expanding, however slowly:)

Sarah

Riding in the Heat

After battling the wind on every ride for what seemed like a month, the weather has now changed and heat is my new opponent! For those who know me, I don't handle heat very well. I usually end up with a headache and then I start to feel slightly ill...not pleasant! However, I'm learning a few tricks to avoid these issues on my bike:)

On Monday I went out with the Brampton Club for a ride from Georgetown to Cambellville and back in some round-about way of course! The forecast that day was a high of 27 but it was going to feel like 31. How I was going to bike 90+ km that day was an interesting thought! I loaded up on sunscreen, filled by water bottles and headed out. I learned two things that day. First, biking is way easier than running in hot weather because of the added bonus of wind! Second, if you slow down a wee bit and don't push yourself as hard as normal, it may take a tad bit longer to complete the ride, but you'll feel great the whole way! Monday's ride was awesome despite the heat which is great knowledge to have when looking ahead to our trip which is right smack dab in the middle of summer!

Just to be sure that Monday wasn't a fluke, I went out after work yesterday when the temperature was 28 and felt like closer to 34. My plan was to ride 55 km at a slightly slower pace. Again, I finished the ride and felt great! This is a revelation for me...I can do physical activity when it's hot...amazing!

Sarah

Bananas!

Couldn't help feeling like I was part of Mario Kart on my ride today when a banana peel got tossed from a car just ahead of me!! The passenger who tossed the peel then caught a glimpse of me and apologized, but by that moment I was just chuckling to myself wondering when Yoshi was going to zoom past!

Sarah

Biking 90 k, the afternoon after, and the next morning...

I did my second ride with the Ottawa Bicycle Club yesterday morning. My first ride with the club was two weeks ago: 47 k with the Ramblers (the slowest group). The first ride felt like a leisurely stroll, so I decided to up the ante… 90 km with a faster group. Don’t ever call me un-ambitious! You can, however, call me crazy and or idiotic. It turns out that 90 k is doable, but pretty exhausting. Managed to make it home, bbq some hotdogs, and pass out for 3 hours. Feels pretty good to have gotten such a big ride out of the way, but I’m paying for it today with some limp-inducing leg stiffness and a seriously tight IT band.

90 k ride or not, a Friday afternoon conversation with some colleagues had me committed to biking to work on Monday morning, and I dutifully met them at 7:30…Nothing like a 17 k ride with people who want to go 5 km/h faster than you do to kick-start the week! I’ll be on my own for the ride home, and I have a feeling it’ll be much, much slower. Thankfully.

Liz

PS. Someone asked how long it took to do 90 k....we did it in 3:45 active time, plus a couple of stops (probably half an hour total). I guess that works out to an average speed of 24 km/h.

Fun Fact of the Day

The odometer on my bike is now past 1000 km and 750 km have been from riding this spring!!

Sarah

2 Months!

Two months from now Love on Wheels will officially take off!!

The plan is for the whole Love on Wheels team to convene in Ottawa to make final preparations on July 17. Then we'll have a fantastic sleep, wake up and start riding! Even though I've been out riding a bunch so far this spring, I still find the trip a little daunting. Perhaps once I've had my first 100 km ride (which will hopefully be soon!) I'll start to feel more comfortable:)

For now though, I have improved immensely the over the last month and half. I can climb hills more efficiently, ride long and ride faster! My after work rides have gone from 30 km to 50+ km and as the days get longer so can my rides! A 30 km ride now feels like warmup which is the way I soon hope to feel about 50 km rides:) Since our goal is to be riding between 100 and 125 km a day I still have a ways to go haha!

I'm also starting to look like a real cyclist which is exciting...just don't ask me technical questions about my bike unless you'd like to see me slighly confused! Bike maintenance is another area I have yet to explore. If anyone has tips or would like to show me a few things, I'd be grateful for the guidance! As you can tell by my post about opening valves when pumping the tires, my knowledge is limited:)

Sarah

How Far I've Come

This weekend my one roommate, Ashley, told me I should do a blog entry called "how far I've come" to give myself a chance to tell amusing stories from last summer. Tonight, during my 56 km ride, I had a chance to think about what the first story in this potential series should be, so here goes!

Last spring my sister and I set about (in our respective cities) to buy road bikes. We both went to various shops before feeling comfortable with one. For me, I ended up at Via Ciclante in Streetsville. Everyone there was awesome and they made me realize that buying a bike was about more than just the bike. Everyone at the bike shop becomes your best friend, especially when you're just starting out and have a lot to learn!

For me, one of the more amusing learning sessions took place when I couldn't get my back tire to inflate fully. I didn't really think there was a problem with the tire, but since I had no problems pumping up the front tire, I was perplexed. So into Via Ciclante I went with my bike (this was not the first time I had to go back in with a question:). One of the guys came over and I tried my best to explain my problem without being too embarrassed. Thankfully, as is always the case at the bike shop, the guy didn't make me feel stupid as he kindly explained that in order to put air in the tire, you actually had to open the valve before connecting the pump! Who knew haha!

I found this whole experience pretty humorous (thankfully) and you can be sure that I haven't forgotten that little tidbit of information since! So thank you to Via Ciclante for all you've taught me so far!!

Sarah

Riding in the Rain

So today was my first time experiencing rainfall during a ride! I was out with the Brampton Cycle Club for the usual Saturday ride, but unfortunately Mother Nature had something else in mind. 23 km into the ride the first few flashes of lightning were seen. We pulled over (about 12 of us) and those who had rain jackets with them threw them on. The rest of us just looked at the clouds and contemplated the fact we were going to get wet:) We turned around to head home and sure enough the rain came!

We slowed down a bit as the road started to get wet, but we soldiered on...we had to get back to our cars! The worst part about riding in the rain with a group is that when you're near the back of the group, the spray from all the other bikes hits you which isn't so fun. When you're at the front of the group, although you may be leading the group into the wind, there's no additional spray from anyone and it's awesome. We made it back safety with no wipeouts:)

Lessons learned from this ride are to acquire more cycling clothing (most notably a weather proof jacket), to slow down in rainy conditions and to take full advantage of a hot shower to clean off all the dirt and sand at the earliest availability! One idea I thought of before the ride was to throw my cell phone into a ziplock bag...turned out to be a smart idea!

Sarah

Planning begins

Finally, over Easter, planning began in earnest. The first night was decidedly low-tech, with a couple of maps and a piece of string.

Still up for debate is where exactly we'll finish. Also uncertain is the accuracy of Sarah's "bloop bloop" method of curving the string to approximate the distance around to curves. I think all we can safely say at this point is that we can definitely make it to the Atlantic in 3 weeks - and that's pretty exciting.

LOW is born

Some of the best decisions in life are made apparently spontaneously.

It seems that much of our lives are shaped by decisions that could seem almost random, but for the context that surrounds them....as if life has been carefully arranged so that at that one point, a big decision becomes blessedly easy. Often, the slightest shift in perspective can suddenly bring something into focus. In this case, it felt like hundreds of partial thoughts suddenly coalesced into one concrete plan.

So it was that Love on Wheels was born in 10 minutes in a hotel room in Ottawa. The plan was (and is) simple: Sarah and I would bike from Ottawa to the east coast in 2010 with Mom and Dad driving a support vehicle, and we would to raise money for a charity we believed in. And here we are, a year and a half later, with bikes purchased, vacation days booked, a tentative route set, a charity selected, and our first donations in the bank. The way we made the decision lent it an air of destiny, and feels like it would take a lot to stop us now.

I hope you join us on our journey, whether by reading our blog, sending us good vibes, donating to the Stephen Lewis Foundation (more on that later), or teaching us something.....there are certainly a few things we still have to learn.