Day 2 – Conestoga to Goderich
Day 2
Remember that warning about snoring? And remember that request about not being eaten by a bear? Well no bear In its right mind would have approached the cacophony of noise that went down on campsite 399 at conestoga lake campground!. There was one point in the evening I woke up to hear wolfs howling – I’m pretty sure they were asking for us to shush it!
Ah well – I suppose that’s what you get when you put 5 tired female cyclists and one exhausted SAG driver at the same camp site. Who knew they could
Make such a sound 😉
The morning started off with rain, just as we were taking down camp. Not lots – just enough to make sure everything was wet as we packed up. The rain stayed away for a short amount of time – but came back – again, not for long. Just long enough to soak everything I was wearing. Fun times.
I’m making this seem a little dramatic. In the grand scheme of things a little rain wasn’t that big of a deal. The ride was from conestoga to just north of goderich. I believe we rode slog what’s commonly known as the “western butter tart trail”. (Commonly known by cyclists, or at least by the ones on this ride).
I guess this will sound ignorant to anyone who actually knows Ontario. But south western Ontario, northwest of Guelph (through my eyes) is a Mennonite farm country. And at this time of year, when the fields are being tilled (is that the proper term?) smells like horse poop. This isn’t a big deal under normal circumstances, but when your huffing and puffing with your capillaries wide open, that smell goes places that aren’t the most fun. But again – in the grand scheme of things……
Highlight of the day for me was my first real ride in a pelleton. I normally ride by myself or with Allison “tank” Partington, so to ride with a group of 14 other riders was cool. There’s physics behind the way a pelleton moves and why it goes so fast – Google it – but it was amazing to be a part of. I think I held on for about 10 kms before I got dropped, but the speed, the sound, how close we were to one another and the general non chalantness of the other riders was impressive. Definite highlight.
After we got dropped (three of us) we rode the last 50 kms at a more reasonable pace (30 kms/hr vs 44km/hr). But there was a chunk in that 50 that wasn’t too pleasant. I don’t think my mind went to too dark a place, but it was a grind. I couldn’t even tell you what I was thinking at that point other than just watching the kms click away knowing we only had a few hours to go.
We stayed at a campground just north of goderich, on a cliff over looking Lake Huron. Spectacular!! Some of these riders even went swimming – nutters (I only go in water south of Miami)
Second highlight of the day – we had guest deliver us dinner! I had talked about having to cook after a day of riding. We had guest bring a BBQ and we had a full spread – burgers, sausages, quinoa salad, pies and butter tarts. I could get used to this life!
Tomorrows supposed to be tough. Straight north into what I’m told is a killer headwind. This should be fun.
Sleep tight!
– Corwin Troje
