Small World

Today I rode my new bike to Caledon East for a coffee at Gabe’s Bake Shop.

I’ve been using Mapmyride to track my rides. My best average speed for this 35 km round trip on my hybrid bike was 20.2 kph on a day with 8 kph winds. Today, on my new bike my average speed was 24 kph with winds of 17 kph. I am pleased. On Tuesday, I will go for a bike fitting and get new pedals and clip-in shoes which should make me even more efficient. I will also get a more comfortable seat as the one that came with the bike is quite uncomfortable even with bike shorts.

There were several other cyclists at the bake shop. I started chatting with another Lisa who also has a new bike and an uncomfortable seat. She mentioned knowing someone who rode across Canada last summer and who swears by Brooks saddles. I said, “So do I”.

“With the Tour du Canada?”, she said.

“Yes. What’s her name?”, I replied.

“Elaine Theriault”, she said.

“I know Elaine”, I said. “How do you know her?”.

“Through my mom, Elaine Stammers”, she replied.

“I know your mom”, I said, “through the Brampton Quilt Guild”.

Sometimes the world is very small.

I generally find cyclists to be very friendly and easy to talk to. Two were just leaving as I arrived. They had come up from Mississauga and were riding 100 km today. Lisa and her husband were riding the rail trail from Terra Cotta to Palgrave and back. A couple of other men from Mississauga and Guelph were also taking a break from the rail trail.

After I returned I had a shower and lunch. Then Trystan, Owen and I drove to the Tim’s at Weston Road and Rutherford Road to meet Kevin and Victoria and their four children. Trystan is going to a cottage with them for the week. We had a quick snack with them and they continued on their five hour journey from St. Thomas to cottage country.

Alun and I have been going on 20 minute bike rides some evenings. It’s not because Alun likes riding. He doesn’t. It’s because I told him he had to walk 30 minutes each day or cycle 20 minutes. He’s been doing the cycling so that he can get back to lying on his bed doing nothing sooner than if he had walked. Distressingly, even though it has been a couple years since he has ridden a bike regularly, he was able to ride up the hills easier than I could even though I have ridden 1600 km in the past three months.

This evening after dinner Alun rode my hybrid bike and I rode my new road bike. I left him in my dust on the hills. I was thrilled. His ego was crushed. I enjoyed it immensely. He told me I am a terrible mother who is ruining him for life. I told him I could live with that.