Post-Ride Recap and More Photo’s!
It’s Monday afternoon, 5 days since the ride finished. I think an appropriate amount of time has passed and my thoughts have settled a little bit…. So let’s do this re-cap/highlights blog. I’m just going to list the things that have stood out in my memory from the trip last week……
– The people. I know I mentioned this last week, but all the people on the trip were amazing. It reminds me that the people who serve the people of the province are a dedicated, caring and very balanced group of people. It was a breath of fresh air to be able to learn about OPS’ers outside of the day-to-day grind of the work experience.
– The accomplishment. The level of pride I felt at the end of each day riding was pretty amazing. Whether I had a good or a bad day, there was substantial km’s completed and it was very easy to look back to see what you had accomplished. Not something I’m used to on a day to day basis, making the world better one key stroke at a time – so a welcome change of pace.
– Athleticism. I thought I was in shape – turned out there’s a level of ‘in-shape’ I hadn’t predicted in advance. I was the weakest rider out of the entire group, so had a first hand opportunity to see how in shape everyone else was. I’ll be adding “physical recovery time” to my definition of in shape – and watching people ride 150k’s, and then play Frisbee in the park afterwards blew my mind. You guys are all amazing!
– Recovery time – a bit of a follow up to the previous point. I had predicted being in traction for days after the ride. It took about 24 hours for my body to feel normal again and my legs felt good by Saturday. Didn’t see that coming – and am impressed at how quickly the body can recover if you take good care of it.
– Camaraderie. Regardless of how you did during the day, to regroup at the end of the day and hear the stories from other riders was really cool. Cycling was all consuming, and I really didn’t expect that people would talk cycling after actually cycling for 8 hours. It was fun being immersed in it for 7 days.
– Ontario – what an amazing province we live in. being able to get out and really experience a good chunk of the province was amazing – and something I probably would not have done were it not for this experience.
– Nutrition – riding those distances, day after day, I have a better appreciation for the human body and the input/output relationship we have with food. Wish I had understood this prior to the ride, but hey, at least I know for next year (peanut butter and jam is way better than any gel pack on the market)
– OPS/Community support – it was great to actually get out of Toronto and interact with United Way offices and government offices in the various regions. I think we all have a sense of how much money the GTA can generate to help United Way campaigns, but to see the impact that a few thousand dollars has in smaller communities in Ontario, it’s very impressive. I feel fully confident that every penny earned will go a long way out in the regions so am super happy to have been able to help out. It was also great seeing executives from MNR, MOE and Service Ontario come out to show their support at various legs of the ride!
– Generosity – the outpouring of support from friends, families and co-workers was more than I expected. Perhaps more than any of the riders expected. The tweets and posts, the significant donations, the meals that were prepared and delivered to us along the way – absolutely amazing.
To my fellow OPS B4UW riders – thanks for an absolutely amazing experience. Now that I have a better idea of what to expect, I’m already planning on seeing you all again next year!
May the wind always be at your back…
C