Day 1- And we're off!

Oh my what a day.

The three of us arrived separately at University Stadium between 9 to 10 with our bikes and equipment. We had the goal of leaving at 11 AM after the 10 K Waterloo classic was complete, but we had a lot to do. Say our good-bye's to friends and family, pack stuff on our bikes, and have videos and pictures taken of us.

At around 11:15 all three of us mounted our bikes and headed off. We biked around the track, waving at race participants/volunteers, family and friends. At this point we were trying to get used to the large amount of weight on the back of our bikes as it was the first time we had really biked with weight. Also, for Jordan and Tyler it was the first time they had used clip in pedals. All these things we should have been familiar with, but here we were experiencing them for the first time.

After we left the stadium and biked outside we realized we didn't know where to go next. We knew we were going to the Caledon area, but we hadn't drawn out the map yet. This ment Jordan had to pull out his Blackberry and look at the best route to Caledon. While Jordan was looking at his Blackberry we had race participants make some jokes about us taking a break so quickly.

Tyler making wheel adjustments on Kyle's bike at Harvest Moon.

After we got our route we biked through St. Jacobs to Harvest Moon to see Jordan's sister Lahring. All four of Jordan's other siblings were at the stadium, but Lahring had to work. Jordan had tried seeing her in the morning by going to Harvest Moon before he went to University Stadium thinking Lahring was working. However, Lahring was at home. Anyway, the three of us got to say our good-bye to Lahring. Very sweet.

Next we cruised to Elora feeling good that we were free to bike across Canada. We stopped at a  Cafe Creprie to see friends of Tyler's and then got bread for peanut butter and jam sandwiches in Fergus after visiting a grocery store.

The next part of the bike ride was frustrating. We wanted to bike about 40 km on a trail to take us to Caledon. After arriving at the trail, Jordan- the one with the GPS- noticed our speed had dropped. We were averaging about 25 km/h on the roads, but we had dropped to 15 km/h on the trails. Too slow! After biking 16 km we abandoned the trail and hit the roads. No more trail riding for us.

Food!

We also realized that biking to Caledon was going to take a while. It was 4 PM and we were 40 to 50 km away from Caledon. Biking 15 km/h it was going to take another 3 hours. Also, Jordan just wasn't feeling it. Biking much slower than he had in previous weeks when training.

Picture of Kyle writing this blog.

We knew we had another option than biking to Caledon. My friend Pauline- who lives just outside of Orangeville- had said she and her family were willing to host us for a night if we were going her direction. With this wonderful option in mind we made the decision to abondon the idea going to Caledon and go to Pauline's.

Pauline's family welcomed us with open arms offering us a place to sleep and wonderful meal. Thank you Pauline and family!

Because we cut short our bike trip today, we are biking far tomorrow. We are going to Peterbough and need to bike about 180 km. None of us have done this before- nevermind that we are going it carrying equipment. Also it is suppose to feel like 40C with the humidity so we'll be hot. Should be fun...