Day 46 - Heading Home

Sunday, July 2, 2017

It was a bittersweet day today as we prepared to take Ritchie, Caroline and Shevaun to the airport.  We started the day with no rain, although it had rained hard all night long.  We had a very enjoyable morning enjoying the views at our new found friends' (Sara & Shawn's) house.

The dog on the right is Jim, a 3 year old Great Dane.  It's his house.  The dog on the left is Roxy, an 8 year old Great Dane.  She is Sara's sisters' dog.  She is visiting for a few days.

This is a picture that none of Lynn's friends would ever believe!  Big dogs scare the crap out of her!

These two dogs were so well behaved and mellow that even Lynn couldn't resist them.

Ritchie spent most of the day boxing his bike, a long process ensuring his $10,000 bike arrived home safe and sound.  He had a problem getting one of the pedals off.  He finally resorted to a mobile bike repair and he couldn't get it off either.  They agreed to take the whole crank assembly off. Problem resolved.

It was finally time to leave.
That's Roxy, Shevaun, Caroline, Ritchie, Shawn, Sara,Alicia, Lynn, myself and Jim.

I really can't say enough about Shawn and Sara.  They opened their home and their hearts to us.  Two of the most amazing Canadians of the many that we have had the privilege of meeting along this amazing journey.  I hope we meet again.  Maybe at a wedding somewhere!😉

On the way to the airport, we made a quick stop at Walmart for more duct tape for the bike boxes and of course an extra piece of luggage to take most of their stuff back.  The rest will be shipped.

We stopped at Montana's for one last meal together and of course the skies opened up again in a torrential downpour.  Why not, it's rained every day we've been in Ontario (3 weeks!)

And then it was time...........  

After living in a tin can together for the last 6 weeks it was time to say good bye.  It has been such a memorable time.  An experience none of us will ever forget.  We're so proud of what Ritchie and Caroline did and the guts and determination it took to achieve it and allowing us to be part of it.

And then it was over.  We headed out of the airport and pointed the RV for home.  

On the way home I diverted to take the Thousand Island Parkway.  My Tromper buddies and I will be cycling the bike trail as part of our annual getaway.  If you check the photos you'll see that it is flat and straight.  My kind of trail where we will be able to burn down the trail at our average speed of 16 kph!!!😀

Another adventure down the road!

Some rambling reflections on our last 9 weeks:

• Ritchie rode the entire distance - 4708 km with almost 27 km of vertical climbing!  He calculates that he made over 1,200,000 revolutions!
• Caroline rode much further than she thought she would, 2514 km with over 12.8 km of vertical climbing!
• I knocked off two items on my Bucket List.  One was the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay and the other was to get to Lake of the Woods although I didn't get to fish it.
• The RV performed extremely well.  We had issues along the way (Fridge, Batteries, etc), but none were showstoppers and none affected the ride schedule.
• We never hit a bad campground.  Some of the ones that looked sketchy often ended up being some of our favourites.
• Almost every campground was close by a railroad line.  The steel ribbon of rail is still a core of this great country.
• We met so many amazing people along the way.  It will take time to reflect and remember many of them.
• A BIG thanks to all who have followed along.  It was rewarding to see so many page views.
• The Prairies are NOT flat.  Nor are they boring.  I travelled them in 125 km chunks, much slower than the average bear and I was never bored!
• We didn't see anywhere near the wildlife we expected.  Even roadkills, unless you include the billions of tent caterpillars strewn across the Saskatchewan highways.
• Winnipeg had the worst roads to drive on (worse than Hamilton)!
• Ontario had by far the worst highways, especially for cyclists!
• I have discovered a wonderful new way (for me) to travel!  I have wanted to RV for years.  This confirmed all my investigations. 
• We live in the best and most beautiful country in the world!
• A tip of the hat to all our Veterans and First Responders.  Our everyday heroes!

I hope to eventually add one more post with a video of our entire adventure.

And one last thought.
Ritchie had a dream.  It started in Lake Louise so many years ago.  It took this long for it to come to fruition, but he MADE IT HAPPEN!
We all have dreams.  YOU NEED TO FOLLOW YOURS!
One of the main inspirations in my life has been my older brother Bud (now 80).  He has done so many amazing things in his life, BUT, he has wanted to see the Alaskan Highway since he was 5 years old and saw them building it on the NewsReels at the show.  HE IS THERE NOW!
If you want to follow along, go here to Dorsal's Diaries and bookmark it.

Those that know me, know my mantra;  "LIFE IS SHORT"!!
So get out there, follow your dreams and do stuff while you can!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 
Mark Twain

Happy Trails!

Day 45 - Canada Day 150!!

Saturday, July 1, 2017

We debated whether to go to the Canada 150 Celebration due to the weather forecast (possible thunderstorms all day), security lines that we were told would be 3-4 hours long, not to mention all the security concerns, but in the end it was decided that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  So, we were up at 5:00 am in Calabogie to shower, eat and pack up and head into Ottawa.
The long nights and all the restaurant food and travelling had finally done me in.  With the prospect of the lines, massive crowds and possible thunderstorms, I volunteered to stay back and guard the RV and bikes while the rest of the team marched onward towards Parliament Hill.

Even with the forecast it was still a 3 hour wait to get past security.

 But, finally, they were in!

Wet, but happy!

If you didn't see it on TV, the grounds were a quagmire from all the rain.

But they kept on smiling!

It turned out to be an amazing day!  They saw Trudeau, Prince Charlie, Bono and The Edge, Shania Twain and many others.

How did they get their own space?

This is Allen Abel from MacLean's Magazine.  He asked Lynn what the shirts were about.  She referred him to Ritchie.

This is what he wrote in Maclean's:

A man named Ritchie Hughes, age 59, had come to Parliament Hill by bicycle—all the way from Victoria, B.C. His cause on this calf-killing odyssey had not been mere sightseeing, a desire to be devoured by blackflies, or New Age “personal growth;” he was riding to raise money for a charity called Honour House and the injured and traumatized veterans of Canada’s newer wars.
Hughes said that both of his grandfathers had been severely wounded in the First World War, and that he himself had served in the Canadian Navy in the 1990s, back when, “if you told people you were in the military, they were like, ‘What’s wrong with you?’” Today, he observed, “Canada has started to honour our new veterans, and people are finally saying, ‘Hey—our military’s damn good.”

Now that's cool!!
Here's the whole article. Click Here

Next was the main reason that they had gone today.  They met up with Chief Superintendent Joe Oliver, and his son Ben, both from the RCMP.   Constable Adrian Oliver, Ben's twin brother was also an RCMP officer who lost his life on duty 5 years ago.  They are huge supporters of Honour House and wanted to meet Ritchie and Caroline.  Also in the picture is the Financial Officer for Honour House and he accepted a cheque for over $3,200 (and still counting) for Honour House.

This was Peter Mansbridge's last official day on CBC and the crew caught this magic moment as Sophie Trudeau wished him good luck and Justin is saying that he's taking his girl!

The last photo on his last day as Peter Mansbridge was leaving for the airport.  Lynn was just trying to take a picture of him, but he grabbed the camera from her, handed it to someone else and told her to "get in the picture with me!"   One class act!

It was a happy crew returning to the RV.
Our plans for the night had changed.  Originally we were going to park in my buddy Andre's driveway for the night, but Alicia's (Ritchie's son Mike's girlfriend) sister Sara insisted that we come to their place.  They have a 6 acre property just outside of Ottawa.
Their Great Dane "Jim" even got into the act, putting on one of Ritchie's arm warmers!!

We didn't even know these people, but they opened their home to us and said do or use whatever you want.  Just make yourselves at home.  Just awesome people!......and an awesome home!

I especially loved their dining room (yes, dining room) wall!  There are some mean axes on that wall!

 Things got a little nasty!  That was one scary cloud!

 So we moved into the garage.  Oh, look, a stage!!

 Shawn is one hell of a guitar player and he was kind enough to put up with Ritchie and me.

What a great way to finish up this awesome adventure.  Haven't had this much fun in a long time!

The highlight of the night for me though was a couple of songs that Shawn recorded of his Dad (that his Dad had written) a week before he passed away from cancer a few years ago.  Very moving and beautiful songs.  A real treasure.

What a Day!!

Day 44 - Arnprior to Ottawa!

Friday, June 30, 2017

The first positive sign for today was when we arrived at the starting point of the ride (~30km) and these locks survived the ride on the bumper!

A final Team Thumbs Up before this memorable final ride!

And away they Go!

We headed straight for Ottawa to hopefully find a parking spot for the RV.  No checkpoints today!  We managed to find a spot fairly quickly.  It was just as well we didn't do checkpoints today.  A few km down the highway, the police pulled our trio over and said they had to get off 417.  They could have each been fined $110!  They have ridden on 4 lane highways in every other province (with posted speeds of 110 km at times), but here in Ontario they have survived shoulderless 2 lane highways, but can't ride on a shoulder that is over 12 feet wide!  We knew there were restrictions (nothing was posted), but thought they were closer to Ottawa.  After some negotiation they ended up getting a Police escort to the next exit.  Needless to say their well planned route was in shambles, but they pressed on.
Meanwhile, back in Ottawa at the National War Memorial and Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we were met by Larry & Lorine Hooge!  What a pleasant surprise,  Larry is riding across Canada and we first met them in Savanne on Day 26 and several times since.  Good Luck Larry (and Lorine).

Lorine got to meet Captain Canada!

It was great to watch the changing of the guard.

And before long, Ritchie, Caroline and Shevaun could be spotted riding up Elgin Street!  The end of a journey that started 44 days ago with the 3 of them and they were greeted by Nikolas Mouriopoulos a representative from Soldier On, family and friends.

Larry and Lorine were quick to greet them.

It is amazing that even during a celebration like this,  and given some of the unfortunate circumstances that have happened here, a normal citizen can still approach right up to this sacred spot.  What a wonderful country we live in!!!!

A very special moment and the culmination of this wonderful journey.

And then the celebration begins!

The lady on the right is Bernie Pauly, is a riding partner of Caroline's back in Victoria.  Her son Ethan was in Ottawa for a National cycling event.  They have been following Caroline's amazing journey across this great country.

Nick, accepting a cheque from Ritchie and Caroline for $5,020 for Soldier On.

This is a flag on which Ritchie has written every donor's name.
You all rode on his shoulders.  Thank You!

On our way down Sparks Street to the restaurant to celebrate, we passed many Police at the ready with some serious weapons and fingers on the trigger.  Security is very tight.  One officer told us that it will be a 4 hour process to get screened to enter Parliament Hill tomorrow.

Ottawa!!!!

We had a great celebration Lunch at the Bier Mrkt.

While the others checked out downtown a little further, Lynn and I walked to the Somerset Bridge for our own special ceremony.

To add another "special" lock (with all names of the Celebrate Canada 150 Bike Ride Team) to our string of locks that we've placed before.

Back at Calabogie, we took a moment (between packing) to celebrate and savour what had been accomplished.

An awesome ending.