Reports from Jamie's latest tour

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day 89

sometimes a title can convey many different, but important things

Actual Date: 2007-08-01
Uploaded: wed, 1 aug 2007 19:42:25 -0700
Distance: 139.00 km

I can remember being told not to judge a book by its cover. In addition to the cover I should also read a few pages and see if the book seems interesting before deciding.

Journal titles are similar. Sometimes they are simple and sometimes they are more complex. In all cases it's the content within the journal that brings it all alive for the readers and participants alike.

Unlike my simplier titles of the past this time I chose a more complex one. This seems like a good time to unveil the entire meaning.

Five Years, Five Lakes, Two bicycles is the title.

Five Years - The number of years that I've been circling great lakes at the rate of one lake per year.

Five Lakes - The number of great lakes I will have circled in the five years AND the number of great lakes that I will visit during the course of this tour. The longest circle by far has been this years ride around Lake Superior.

Two bicycles - I rode more then halfway around Lake Ontario with another cyclist. His was the original second bicycle. As my tour approached the replacement of my original touring bike with a new one added an additional meaning.

Some of this will hopefully explain why I am typing this in Hamilton, Ontario within apparent viewing distance of the waters of Lake Ontario, my fourth great lake of this tour (it was dark when I arrived so I haven't actually seen the lake yet)! After seeing the lake tomorrow I will head west-south-west towards the northern shore of Lake Erie.

It will be interesting to see what role the weather plays as I finish out my tour. If the heat wave continues there is a good chance of a head wind until I reach Lake Erie. Since heat waves are always replaced by cold fronts the odds are good that I will also face north-westerlies on approach to London. Oh well, short of extreme weather, I will be reporting back for active duty on time.

I visited the bike shop in Durham this morning and picked up some new bike shorts as well as the set of Eggbeater cleats. More importantly I found a very interesting shop that will be well worth a return visit. This shop was easily the best stocked of the entire tour with Old Man Mountain racks, high quality water filters, good tires, and other hard to find replacement parts. In addition to diamond frame and recumbent bikes I also saw my first hand bike as well (you pedal with your hands rather then your feet). To round it off nicely the shop owners were quite pleasant and interesting to talk to.

Near Mount Forest I met a couple who were three days into the second leg of their Cross Canada tour. They completed from Vancouver to North Bay last year. This year they are riding from Espanola to Trois Riveres, Quebec.

Last year they rode mountain bikes. This year they've upgraded to touring bikes. The girl's bike apparently came with a great touring accessory, a boyfriend who insisted on carrying all the gear! She called it "Equalality Plus"! He called it a "speed boost"! :)

They are very lightly packed this year with no tent or gear of that nature. They've planned their route so that with only the exception of one night they will be staying at the homes of friends or family.

I had a tremendous amount of fun riding and joking with them. Unfortunately the fun ended when a valve let go in my rear tire in the exact same place as the last two. Later I came within about 5 minutes of catching them according to a construction flag person but as the day ended I never did see them again. I wish them well in their endeavour especially since they will still be touring after my bike, Bonaventure, is resting from her long ride.

My entrance into Hamilton seemed to bring with it sore eyes and a head ache. After weeks of breathing well filtered air I wonder if I am now enjoying the effects of pollution and smog?

Tomorrow I begin the last leg to my final great lake viewing.

~Jamie N

Interested in bicycle touring? www.bicycletouring101.com

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Tour Statistics

(Based on riding days only)

Number of Riding Days: 34
Overall total so far: 3840.10 km
Daily Average: 112.94 km
Shortest: 53.00 km
Longest: 163.00 km

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