Southern Ontario bike trip

Canada Day 2017 and Independence Day 2017

Day 1


Day 2


Across mostly flat land, but the ride was beautiful in its own way. I had to do some motivational self talk on a particularly hard segment. I still carry that with me now, a week after the ride. It was only two days, but I felt I grew a lot during this ride. As usual, the biggest challenge was mental, not physical. After I got through the self doubt and fear, my body and bike pulled me along: slow, weighed down by my panniers but steadily making my way along my goals. I learned how to eat properly for sports: http://www.runnersworld.com/nutrition/the-right-way-to-carbo-load-before-a-race . I also planned my ride around distance rather than time. It became a rhythm: every 10 km change stance/positions on the bike, every 30 km stop for food and rest. Pause often and move around on the bike. Get off the bike and walk when it becomes uncomfortable.

Mentally, the biggest fear was that of loneliness, of being left behind, of having no goals in life and seeing the road ahead as desolation. I am thankful that I didn't worry too much about my physical safety since there was habitation around me, and I realise that's a kind of privilege that many women riders don't have. When I talked to a date about biking, she was aghast at the type of riding that was possible as a male, and she told me that she wanted to try that too some day, when she knows she will be safe.

An attitude shift and self coaching changed my fears into confidence, and transformed a psychologically painful ride into a hopeful one. Confident that I am strong enough for what is to come in the future, and hopeful that I will not be lonely on the journey.

At the same time I was biking, an acquaintance was traveling in Iceland, posting many beautiful photos. I stayed off the internet as much as I could this trip, but still I was marveling at her photos as I went along. My view was pretty good too. It's an interesting feeling, leading separate lives and experiencing events of great significance in parallel.

I took lots of photos, a few of them are pretty neat and moody. Moody. That word captures the trip. I wonder what is on the horizon.