July 13, 2014. Trenton to Bowmanville, ON. 75 Miles.

The rain was imminent when we got up this morning. It had not yet started when Dianne took photos of the "statement" jersey I bought at the bike shop yesterday.

 

 

We had breakfast in the hotel: boiled eggs, make your own waffles, cereal.... not my best breakfast for a long day. Cy took a group photo before we left--how can we recognize anyone in all that rain gear? As we were leaving I said "I hate rain gear".

 

 

Nine of us rode out together: Mary, Jo, Julie, Deb, Dianne, me, FL Ann, Barb, and Karen in the lead (she gave instructions last night for riding in the rain). It rained plenty this morning, but we made good time and actually enjoyed ourselves. After about an hour I retracted my statement about hating rain gear. I would not have wanted to be out there without it today.

 

Caryn found a pleasant spot under a tree and near a port-a-john for the first SAG stop. Here she is in her red raincoat with handy clipboard under her arm.

 

At about 41 miles we came to the small town of Cobourg, which was strongly suggested as a lunch stop. The SAG car and van were there. They've been keeping a close eye on us today. Several people "bumped forward" which means they did not start riding in the morning but rode in the van and were dropped off at some other point, to make it a shorter day; WT is very accommodating that way. Above is most of the group I rode with this morning; the rest were getting sustenance from the SAG car. We ate lunch at Subway because the cafe had a long waiting line and we did not know there were other options on the way out of town. After lunch Dianne and I were chilled from being in the air conditioned building while sopping wet, so we left ahead of the others.

 

It quit raining shortly after lunch, just about the time the terrain became less gentle--now we were into some serious hills, and the rain gear was no longer an asset. After one long climb we stopped and peeled it off and tied it around our waists and handed it over to Caryn at the last SAG stop.

 

We had a lot of turns today, 3 typewritten pages worth! At one point we crossed a wooden bridge; we were warned to walk our bikes across, and unlike the bridge this morning this time we actually did!

At mile 67 we got onto a beautiful paved bike path, but it did not last long... we zigged around to cross a bridge and get back on the bike path and it was loose gravel. There was a steep downhill, which would have been fun on a mountain bike, but not on skinny tires with little tread! At the bottom of the hill was a bridge (we rode across) and then an equally steep uphill. The whole path was still wet from the morning's rain so there were mud holes as well.

 

After the steep hill covered in wet loose gravel we found Pat and Joanne on the side of the path. Joanne had fallen on the hill and bent the brakes and front derailleur on her bike and lost a little skin in the process... Dianne got out her tools and tweaked the brake and I checked the derailleur and suggested she leave it in the small chain ring the rest of the day. We rode with them the rest of the way to the hotel. There were several more stretches of dirt road and many turns to navigate, but we arrived safely if a bit wet and dirty.