Revenge On The Circle Route

This epic day started at 7:30 for me with a big French Press. I mow'd a bowl of cereal, some toast with PB and jam then chilled and got high on caffeine. When my dad woke up he made pancakes and I had to put one of those down too. I was a little nervous about snapping my chain on the ride because when I took it off to clean it yesterday, I had to re-use a master pin to put it back on. It went in fine, but the lip that keeps it locked in was worn off from the prior installation and extraction. Before embarking on this 100+km day I had to get some more pins or a quick link for security, which I did.

I was out the door by 9am, and at Justins just before 10:30. I pounded a Powerade and was educated about fishing by his dad, while Justin got ready. We were off to Port Colbourne before 11, and zig zagged through various roads to avoid traffic and the snowy canal path. We ended up at the tip of the island separating the old and new canals, and to save time we crossed an ice bridge to get to the canal path near the hood. I made sure the ice was solid by throwing some big rocks on it. They bounced, so it was solid enough for me.

Riding through the snow on the other side was very tough, but we made it to lock 8 park in good time and crossed the canal to head over to Concession 2 road. Con. 2, then Bertie road were great country roads that I will have to ride again. We didn't see a single car for a while and there was some cool scenery. Highway 3 was next, and we stopped at the first Timmys we found in Fort Erie. I was a little sore before the stop, but was surprised how good I felt when I got back on the bike. We passed under the Peace Bridge, then began the long stretch down the Parkway. The wind was in our face, so we worked together to keep our speed up, and get some shelter. It worked great and we were both fresh every pull.

It was a relief to see Niagara Falls, as it always is on this route, and we climbed Clifton Hill to get more food form the Timmy's up top. We were flying after that stop and killed the hills along the parkway. So that Justin cold get back to Welland before dark, we cut out some of the parkway and took Queenston road back to St. Catharines. We split after crossing the Hommer bridge, and I was home about 15 minutes later. Although we cut out a bit of the full circle, that total distance was over 130kms. The fact that we were on cross bikes, with nobbies, and rode through some snow made this the most epic ride we have ever done. Total time was just shy of 6 hours pedal time, and since I didn't have my computer I don't know our average speed, but it had to have been just under 25km/h.

I was happy with how I was riding and finished quite strong considering the ride time. I didn't have much punch, but felt like I cold steadily put out a highish wattage. Justin was riding well also and seemed strong when we split.

So I got my revenge on the circle route, on a slower bike and in similarly tough conditions. Take that!

Recovery meal: Chicken Curry with a Keith's White


Ingredients: 3 large chicken breasts, red pepper, yellow pepper, 2 potatoes, two onions, garlic, 2 cans coconut milk, red and yellow curry spice, and two cups of rice. Serves 4 hungry men. Very yummy. Crap....I forgot to put mushrooms in. Oh well, next time.

Later