...rode ! 931.1 km in 12.25 hours. Sing along with me "Ah feeeeeel good!". OK, that may be a bit of a stretch. I admit, somewhere around 250 km I thought "oh my gosh, what in the heck am I doing?" But between 500 and 600 km, I got my second wind and my little lumbar-spine-issue became less noticeable.
The day started out with me checking my tire pressure and needing air. For crying out loud. New tires on only a week - I wouldn't have thought they'd need air. I had checked as a normal pre-ride inspection. Our 0900h start became 0917h. We crossed the border at Vanceboro by 1003h and the ride was largely uneventful until we hit the construction on the Autoroute (10) at Montreal. Saw only BIG moose in a ditch by Athens, Maine, and we had some pretty slow riding a couple of times through the Carrabasset Valley when we got stuck behind two different flatbed trucks - and accompanying safety vehicles including a contingent of police cars - each carrying a wind turbine blade. Those things are HUGE! Jim had set a spirited pace so he made up for lost time. For the most part, I didn't try to keep up. I found 110kph plenty fast enough through the Valley.
Construction on Rte 10 .... brutal. It was 25 degrees, we were baking in our gear and between the stop-and-start traffic and the evolving fatigue of 700 km already behind us - there was huge potential for a little FJR tipover right there. As I've pointed out, upright and moving - that's fairly easy for me. It's the stops that can be tricky. Luckily, there were no incidents.
Jan had cold beer and a great dinner of ham, potato scallop and her homemade rolls ready for us. Yummy! Thanks Jan :-)
There were very few photos today. The obligatory Beginning-of-the-Trip and End-of-Day-One in Manotick, ON photos. And the stopped-in-Montreal-construction photo posted.
The day started out with me checking my tire pressure and needing air. For crying out loud. New tires on only a week - I wouldn't have thought they'd need air. I had checked as a normal pre-ride inspection. Our 0900h start became 0917h. We crossed the border at Vanceboro by 1003h and the ride was largely uneventful until we hit the construction on the Autoroute (10) at Montreal. Saw only BIG moose in a ditch by Athens, Maine, and we had some pretty slow riding a couple of times through the Carrabasset Valley when we got stuck behind two different flatbed trucks - and accompanying safety vehicles including a contingent of police cars - each carrying a wind turbine blade. Those things are HUGE! Jim had set a spirited pace so he made up for lost time. For the most part, I didn't try to keep up. I found 110kph plenty fast enough through the Valley.
Construction on Rte 10 .... brutal. It was 25 degrees, we were baking in our gear and between the stop-and-start traffic and the evolving fatigue of 700 km already behind us - there was huge potential for a little FJR tipover right there. As I've pointed out, upright and moving - that's fairly easy for me. It's the stops that can be tricky. Luckily, there were no incidents.
Jan had cold beer and a great dinner of ham, potato scallop and her homemade rolls ready for us. Yummy! Thanks Jan :-)
There were very few photos today. The obligatory Beginning-of-the-Trip and End-of-Day-One in Manotick, ON photos. And the stopped-in-Montreal-construction photo posted.
No plan for tomorrow yet - other than we're goin' ridin' !
A work colleague, Gail, mentioned that she was going to have her children make a geography lesson out of my trip so I'm going to try to post something for them each day.
To Kathryn, Sam & Andrew - and, perhaps, Olivia & Emma? :
1. In reference to Ottawa, what does "NCR" stand for ?
2. This weekend, Manotick is celebrating "Dickinson Days". What is the significance of Dickinson Days?
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3 comments:
NCR = National Capital Region, maybe.
Chris
I agree with Chris... on the NCR!
Mary Ellen, you must be pooped! Glad you made it according to plan. Keep up the good work! M&D
LOL! Chris?! You might have to get your map out for Day 2 questions :-)
Thanks for the comments !
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