Lisa Stokes

Thanksgiving

I had a lovely ride for coffee up to Caledon East to my usual stop at Gabe’s Country Bake Shop. As I pedal north, I anticipate the coffee and think about what I will choose to eat with it. The sky was blue, and while the leaves were changing, there is still a lot of green in this area.

This tree has managed to hang on despite significant damage to produce some lovely orange leaves.

I returned home for a couple of lazy hours, then cleaned up and headed to Lara’s for Thanksgiving dinner. I decided to do some family pictures as it has been a year since we last did a portrait of both families and my Dad. Since it was such a beautiful day we decided to do the pictures outside, however, the sun was getting low and was too bright to face or even have to our sides. I had brought my flash, but unfortunately, had forgotten my lens hood. Oh well, I did the best I could with what I had at hand.

My nephew Ryan built a fort (or shanty as his father calls it) out of flat screen TV boxes in the basement and has been sleeping in it for a few weeks. Isn’t he cute?

Lara serving the turkey.

Dig in! It looks great.

Summer is Over

There was frost on the roof this morning when I got up. I dressed in my warm running tights to go meet Patti for our Saturday morning run. Patti tells me she had to scrape frost off her windows before driving. It was sunny and still so it didn’t feel as cold as it was.

I started out wearing a fleece hat and sunglasses. On our return in a shady section I put the glasses on my head over the hat. I then decided I was too warm, pulled off the hat and it wasn’t until about a kilometre later in a bright sunny section I realized my sunglasses were gone. We doubled back, but never found them. They were the new non-polarized sunglasses I bought for cycling so I could read the polarized screen of my bike computer while riding. Darn. It meant we ran more than we expected, doing repetitions of two minutes running, one minute walking, for a total of about 35 minutes of running.

I headed home and then Michael, Owen and I went to the last farmer’s market of the year in Brampton.

When we returned home, Owen and I tidied the basement to make room for our deck furniture, while Michael, Alun and Trystan dismantled it and carried it to the basement.

I did get a message from Ravi, one of the more frequent users of the ice rink my neighbours and I built in the local park last winter, wondering when we would start the rink again. Another sign, summer is over.

If you haven’t done so already and you live in my neighbourhood, head over to the Facebook Page I set up for the rink and like it to receive updates for when we need help building it and rink opening times and ice quality updates.

My Green is Showing

Owen caught a cold and missed school last Friday. I tried my best not to catch it, but Monday morning I woke up feeling terrible. I didn’t have any colds in the fall 2013/winter 2014 cold season so perhaps I am a little more susceptible this year. That seems to be how it goes for me – a good year followed by a bad year. I felt miserable until this morning. I did have a nice surprise on Monday morning, though.

The Region of Peel is running a contest called Let Your Green Show. From their website: “Let Your Green Show is back and, this summer, we are asking you to give your car a break. Use your car less by walking, carpooling, taking a bus, or riding a bike. Each month from June to September residents are invited to submit a selfie showing a green action.” Each month three winners are chosen: one each from Mississauga, Brampton and Caledon.

I have made submissions every month. In total, over the four months of the contest, only 107 actions were submitted. I think I submitted seven which gave me a pretty good change of winning. In July, I won: the “Experience Nature Package” which, according to the email I received, “includes a treetop trekking experience for 2 at Heartlake Conservation Area and a guided tour at Island Lake Conservation Area for you and up to 5 guests . The approximate retail value of this package is $250 CAD”.

My sister, nephews, Trystan, Owen and I went treetop trekking last Saturday. It was good business to give away those tickets. I purchased four tickets for $230 to use with the two tickets I won.

In September I submitted three images for the theme “Make Your Commute Green”.

There were only seven submitted in total. I figured it was pretty likely that I would win and win I did. The picture that won was the last one at the Tour de Mississauga. On Monday morning I received an email stating, “Congratulations! You are the winner from Brampton of our “Give Your Car a break! Make Your Commute Green” contest that ran from September 2, 2014 to September 26, 2014. As the winner of this contest, you will receive the “Commuting Companion Package” which includes a CAA Membership with a bike assist program, headphones, a travelling pillow case, a travel size umbrella, and a re-usable water proof tote bag to carry your commute package. The approximate retail value of this package is $250 CAD. ”

So on Monday afternoon I met Susan at the CAA store and she bought me a CAA Plus membership with 200 km of free towing and “bike assist”. So, if I get a flat, even on my bike, CAA will help me out. CAA memberships belong to an individual whatever vehicle they are in. So, Michael figured he should have a membership, too. It cost me $95 for his membership. So, again, winning has cost me money!

There are two more prizes available. One for Peel’s “Greenest Resident”, the person who submitted the most actions during the contest and a draw for people who answered the contest survey after it closed. I did the survey and as far as I know I submitted more actions than anyone else. I might be getting another prize yet!

It was a fun contest. Something similar will be run next year and I encourage your to enter if you are a resident of Peel.

Between the two prizes from the Let Your Green Show contest and the fitness pass I won at Bike The Creek in June I have won $900 worth of goods and services this year. I don’t think I have ever been so lucky before.

Sunday Ride

It was a cool windy day today, but I am determined to get in a few more long rides on my road bike before putting it away for the winter.

Since the winds were from the southwest today, I decided to ride to Mississauga to my dad’s place for a visit. It took me an hour to ride there. Whenever I would drive by the hydro corridor crossing Tomken Road south of the 407 I would always be tempted to stop, but its not a good place to pull a car over. One of the things I like about riding a bike is how easy it is to stop to take pictures.

Love all these hydro towers so close together.

It was almost 25 kilometres one way. Other than around places of worship, traffic was very light and most drivers changed lanes to pass me. I think the very bright flashing LED light I have started to use on the back of my bike draws drivers attention to me and causes them to change lanes which is exactly the behavior I want.

After a visit and a bowl of butternut squash soup I was on my way. The ride back, even though up hill, wasn’t too bad with a tail wind. I had to stop to eat a pear just south of Steeles as the soup wasn’t very filling. I also grabbed this image at the top of the bridge over the railroad tracks at West Drive south of Steeles. I like these colours together. Perhaps I will use this picture as inspiration for a quilt some time.

I also stopped at Starbucks at Bramalea City Centre for a coffee and pumpkin spice scone. It was good, but I often find scones to be a bit dry and this one was no exception.

Owen started a class today in video game design. I would be pleased if he started to use the computer to create rather than just play games.

Treetop Trekking

The day dawned dark, cool and wet, but was forecast to improve. I met Patti for our Saturday morning run and increased our running to 90 seconds running, one minute walking. We repeated that 16 times which led to 60% more running that last week. I had planned to get out running in the week, but between cycling and stair climbing didn’t have the energy.

After a hot chocolate at Second Cup I headed home to pick up Michael, Trystan and Owen to head to skating lessons. From there we attended the penultimate Farmers’ Market for the season. We bought a basket of pears, some sausages and samosas. We also had lunch and tea at Tea by Daniel. Then we left Michael to make his own way home on foot and headed to Heart Lake Conservation Area for Treetop Trekking.

I won two passes in the Region of Peel’s Let Your Green Show contest. Trystan and Owen both wanted to trek and Lara, Jason and Ryan also joined us.

In summer 2010, Megan, Alun, Trystan and I went to Quebec to go whitewater rafting and to ziplining at Chutes Coulonge. We had a terrific time and when we returned I looked for courses in our area. I found one in Bracebridge, so in the autumn Megan, Alun and I along with our friends Gary and Jacob went trekking at the Eaglecrest Aereal Park adjacent to Santa’s village. It was fun, but tiring. The trekking is more effort and less exciting than the zipping, but still fun.

We arrived, as instructed, at 1pm, half an hour before our scheduled climb time, to allow for the signing of releases and fitting of equipment. It was raining lightly and cool at just 12 degrees, however the rain soon stopped. Unfortunately, a large group scheduled at the same time, did not arrive until almost 1:30 and staff allowed them to hold everyone back. Once everyone was ready we were taken to a practice area and shown how to use the equipment before demonstrating that we could do so.

Here is Lara practicing.

When climbing one must be attached to a safely wire by one carabiner at all times. There is only one person allowed on a ladder at a time, two (or two plus a guide) on a platform, one on a zip line, or two on a bridge.

Then we were sent to the Great Blue Heron twin 300 metre zip lines over Heart Lake and back. There were about ten people waiting to climb up to the platform to access the zip line. None seemed very dextrous at the task of climbing the ladder and moving their carabiners in a leapfrog fashion from one safety loop to the next as they climbed. That, combined with one climber who froze on the ladder for several minutes before having to climb back down, made for a long wait to get started.

Owen went first across the lake and screamed all the way. He claimed it was with excitement. I followed, then Trystan, then the others.

Then we had to climb up a few bridges to gain elevation for the return trip.

After finishing the Great Blue Heron, we headed back to the treetop trekking area to begin trekking through the various courses: Chickadee, Sandpiper, Screech Owl, Osprey and Kingfisher. Owen and I completed the first three. Many of the bridges had a wire to clip onto and one wire for each hand to hold. We were slowed down a bit by Owen becoming scared on the first bridge we encountered without the side wires, which was more difficult to navigate. He did later navigate the same type of bridge on the third course without getting scared. Lara, Jason, Ryan and Trystan got through the first four courses. We ran out of time and none of us got to Kingfisher. The ten years old would not have been allowed on that course anyway.

It was a fun afternoon, but I was quite cold by the time we left. We dropped Trystan off at a birthday party at Trinity Commons on the way home. I had a hot bath to warm up and soothe my wrist which had become a bit achy over the course of the afternoon.

Misty Autumn Day

Today Gail picked me up and we went for a drive in Caledon and Halton Hills. When I checked the weather on Monday evening, Tuesday was forecast to be rainy and today was forecast to be clear and sunny, a perfect day for a drive and photo shoot. Unfortunately, the day dawned overcast and misty, but we made the best of it.

We drove north or Torbram Road to Boston Mills Road and then over to the Cheltenham Badlands. The Badlands are a small area of rolling hills almost completely devoid of vegetation. The surface, made of Queenston shale, erodes easily, and becomes very slippery when wet. The area has become a major tourist attractive and erosion has accelerated due to all the foot traffic. Old Base Line Road is hazardous, especially on weekends in the fall, due to huge numbers of people visiting. Even on this misty weekday morning there were several groups of people visiting.

The Region of Peel has a funded plan to build a parking lot and viewing platform in 2015. The sides of the road will be blocked off to prevent parking other than in the parking lot. People are currently encouraged to stay off the Badlands, but generally do not. It is hoped that the viewing platform will aid in preventing further erosion from foot traffic.

We then drove on to Scotsdale Farm, a working farm of over 500 acres. It has some lovely old buildings and hiking trails, including the Bruce Trail and the Bennett Trail. It was bequeathed to the Ontario Heritage Trust by Stewart and Violet Bennett in 1982. Bennett had developed Scotsdale into an internationally renowned breeding farm for his Arabian horses and shorthorn beef cattle.

The Badlands are also owned by the Ontario Heritage Trust, the province’s heritage agency, which “is dedicated to identifying, protecting, renewing and promoting Ontario’s rich and diverse built, cultural and natural heritage that has influenced and continues to shape our society for the benefit of present and future generations”.

We finished up with a drive along Forks of the Credit Road.

I have posted additional pictures on flickr.

When I broke my wrist I was unable to fold laundry so I got Trystan and Owen involved in sorting and folding their own. Megan and Alun had already taken on that task of their own volition in the past. Even though I am no longer hampered by that injury I figured it was a good habit to continue.

This evening we continued our stair climbing practice at the hospital. We have four more training sessions and then the actual climb. We all climbed up and down 17 times (except Jason who did 20) which means we are ready to climb the 1776 steps of the CN Tower on October 18.

Awesome Autumn

It was an awesome autumn day for a ride in the country. I headed up Torbram Road only to encounter a road closure that sent me across Countryside Road to Airport Road and then back across Mayfield Road to Torbram. Riding on Mayfield is not for the faint of heart. One SUV passed me with inches to spare.

My friend Gail drove to Algonquin Park yesterday where the fall colours are at 90%. The first few pictures she has shared are glorious. In Caledon it is probably more like 20% autumn colours. I found a few quite pretty places, though.

Approaching Walker Road where I turn to go into Caledon East. There are no shoulders on Torbram Road, but there is very little traffic and those that do come along tend to give me the whole lane when passing.

I stopped in at Gabe’s Country Bake shop for a coffee and date square. There are a couple locust trees in front of Gabes and they were at their prettiest, with enough fallen leaves to create a beautiful carpet of colour, but sufficient still on the tree, to provide lovely golden light. I was surprised how long it took me to get there. I haven’t been in the habit of stopping for a lot of pictures while training this year, but the colours were too pretty not to stop. After a quick break, I headed home to meet Owen for lunch. My ride was 41km. My legs started out tired from jumping rope yesterday and running on Saturday, but warmed up and I enjoyed the ride.

After Owen went back to school I cycled my old bike to Fortinos for a few groceries. I have gotten used to the posture on the road bike now and find the old one, which I rode for nine years, feels odd.

Megan and Alun had the dentist after school. Megan has been grinding her teeth and needs to start wearing a night guard. She had molds made today and goes back next week for the fitting.

I forgot when I rode so far this morning that we train for the CN Tower on Monday nights. Jason completed 17 times up and down as usual; Ryan finished 17 times for the first time this year. Trystan did 15 as his ankle was hurting from turning it at school today. Owen did 12 and I gave up after eight with legs too tired to carry on. Michael joined us for four times up and down and enjoyed walking around the top of the parking garage the rest of the time. He doesn’t plan to join us at the tower, though.

Book of Mormon

What a perfect autumn day it was today. I started out with a quick bike ride in the cool of a perfectly still, sunny morning. The trees were changing colour at the Mayfield Golf Club.

Upon my return home, I had a quick shower, then Lara and Joe picked up Michael and me and we headed to Toronto. Lara and Joe kindly treated us to the musical The Book of Mormon at the Princess of Wales Theatre for Joe’s 50th birthday.

I have seen a number of live shows in the last year. Last September, when Michael and I were in Chicago, we saw Evita. Last November Michael and I took Alun to see Les Miserables. Alun loves musical threatre. The other children weren’t really interested and given the price of live theatre we didn’t try very hard to coax them into coming. The children gave Michael a ticket to see Queen in concert for his 50th birthday on July 28th and asked me to buy myself a ticket to accompany him. We gave Alun a ticket to Wicked for his birthday, which we attended earlier this month.

The Gardner Expressway was closed this weekend so Lara exited the highway at The Queensway. It made for a longer, but more interesting drive than usual. Fortunately, it took just over an hour. We parked under the theatre, picked up the tickets at the box office and looked for somewhere to eat. I suggested the canteen at TIFF, but there was a wait for a table there. We tried Fred’s Not Here, but it wasn’t open for lunch. We ended up at Crabby’s which has a very nice patio and lots of choices on the menu.

Shortly after sitting down, the sun came out and we had a relaxing lunch which felt more like summer than early fall.

After a short walk back to the theatre, a trip to the bathroom, orders placed for drinks and snacks at the interval and a few pictures we took our seats.

The show was very funny with good music and excellent performances. I highly recommend it if you are not offended by expletives and religious mockery.

I would not recommend parking under the theatre. It took about 20 minutes to get out of the parking lot. Given the Gardner closure, we headed north, very slowly, to the Allan and 401 to get home.

Thanks Lara for driving and thanks to you both for a very enjoyable day.

Busy Saturday

Patti and I met this morning to exercise for the first time in about a month. She was away on vacation the past two Saturdays and the one before that had an appointment. Prior to that we rode our bikes on the trail, as my knee was too swollen from falling off my bike to run, but riding didn’t cause me too much pain. I finally got back to running today after a six week break. My physiotherapist suggested a few reps of 30 seconds running, followed by 30 seconds walking, but I hate starting slowly and building at the recommended 10-15% per week. So, we decided on one minute running, one walking. After 15 reps my knee had not started hurting or swelling, but I decided not to push my luck any further and we walked the rest of the way back to Second Cup for refreshment.

I had to leave by 10:15 to get home and pick up Trystan, Owen and Michael. Trystan and Owen had skating lessons at 11 at Jim Archdekin. This was the second week. Last week I was very rushed because I mistakenly went to Terry Miller. This week, although I knew I wouldn’t make the same mistake, I left myself more time.

Last winter, I volunteered to build and maintain a community ice rink in the park next to my house. I had a blast and was out every day for a month for hours working on it and skating on it. My neighbours helped out and it made for very social winter evenings until I fell on the rink and broke my wrist. Even then, I took about three weeks off, and then started going out again in the evening to help with the scraping. Phil, one of my neighbours who helped with the rink, was a former skating instructor for the city. He gave Trystan and Owen some lessons, however, I thought it would be good to give them a session this fall to get their skills honed before we built the rink this winter.

If you are reading this and live in my neighbourhood start thinking about helping out when the weather gets cold. It was great fun and the kids had a blast having a local outdoor rink.

After the skating lessons we headed to the Farmers’ Market for a quick bite to eat and to pick up a few things. Trystan and I had souvlaki. Owen had a frozen chai and pumpkin spice cookie from T by Daniel. Daniel was giving out samples and is quite the character. I highly recommend a visit to his shop. Michael had something from the Pie Guyz. We bought some pears, pork scratchings and perogies for dinner.

Then we rushed back north to Loafer’s Lake recreation centre so Trystan, and my nephew Jason, could take a swimming lesson. It turned out it was too easy for them, so we withdrew them from the session.

For dinner I made a simple tomato sauce, with tomatoes and basil that Michael had grown in our garden, to accompany the perogies. It was lovely.

Tour De Mississauga (#tourdemississauga)

What an awesome day I had today. I have had the goal of riding the 100 kilometre route in the Tour de Mississauga today, since I rode the 60 kilometre route a year ago. On July 1, I cycled 50 kilometres on my hybrid bike and was on track with my training programme. However, as I increased my distance I was finding myself yearning for a road bike so on August 12 I bought a used one. On August 14 at the end of my first ride with clipped in shoes on my new road bike I fell and bruised my tibia. I ended up with a very swollen knee and huge hematoma. I had to stop riding for days and then ride only short distances. The swelling subsided somewhat, but I still have a hard, swollen lump under my knee today.

I have a confession to make. I fell again last Tuesday. That was fall number five. I sure hope its the last. I was very careful with the wet roads and paying attention to clipping out as I approached stops today and successfully rode the 100K without falling. The bruise on my ankle from my fall last Tuesday became much more pronounced on the ride today.

All week the weather forecast for today looked iffy. It was looking quite bad last night and the Mississauga Cycle Advisory Committee (MCAC), the group that ran the ride, put out the following statement.

We know that many riders are concerned about the weather for Sunday’s Tour, and our organizing committee is actively monitoring the evolving forecast. Here is our present statement as of 6:00 pm Saturday, and we will update again at 10:00 pm.

Like virtually all large organized rides, we have no Rain Date. Our policy is that the Tour goes Rain or Shine.

Our current position is that all (5) rides should be able to START at their scheduled times on Sunday, and probably without rain. As always, riders must exercise their own caution and judgement as to whether they ride, and whether they turn back at any point on a ride. Riders should plan to carry some rain protection with them. Reviewing your route map ahead of time is helpful should a quick return to the Square prove advisable, or if you need to take shelter at the nearest community centre or other destination (e.g. a plaza, coffee shop, etc).

The Free BBQ will proceed in any event and we have the use of the Great Hall (ground floor of City Hall) in which to gather and eat and view the exhibits. The BBQ unit can be sheltered outside near the building.

In regard to our volunteer Tour Marshals out on the routes, they are prepared for rainy conditions. Marshals can point out short back turns. We will stay in communication with the Marshals, and all riders may wish follow the @BikeMississauga twitter feed for the latest updates or to provide information from their locations.

We will not begin a ride during a thundershower or storm, and may delay the start of a ride if the weather looks to be clearing up in the near term. There will be safety messaging at the start of each ride, as the weather in evidence develops. Further decisions will be made as necessary.

Two weeks ago a woman riding in the charity event Ride the Rideau was struck and killed by a garbage truck in the south end suburb of Manotick. The weather might have been a factor. It was raining heavily. Given that tragic occurrence I thought the MCAC might cancel the ride.

Later they updated their page with this information.

11:30 update: The MCAC and City Staff will be meeting at Celebration Square at 5:30 am on Sunday morning as planned. At this point the Tour is still moving ahead on the ‘Rain or Shine’ basis, pending further evidence of the thunderstorm risk as predicted for the morning hours. We will provide later updates on our Twitter feed.

I set my alarm for 6am and went to sleep. When I got up, there had been no rain overnight as predicted and it was warm and humid. There was no update from MCAC so I proceeded as planned. As I left the house at 7am it started to rain. I almost didn’t leave, but I knew I would regret it if the weather improved. As I drove down the 410 it began to pour.

There were over 3300 riders registered by the end of day yesterday with the following breakdown:

120k — 440
100k — 525
60k – 1000
30k – 870
15k — 550

The 120K riders were scheduled to leave at 7am and the 100K riders at 8 am. When I arrived at 7:30 I was still unsure whether or not to ride. Many cyclists were ready to go, but sheltering in the garage or under the roof by check-in.

I parked under City Hall and left everything in the car. As I began walking towards the stairs another rider called out to me that she was unsure about riding, what was I going to do? We decided to walk up together and listen to the announcements. MCAC had decided to delay the 120K riders until 8am, then send out the 120K and 100K riders together. About 7:45 the rain tailed off to a light sprinkle. Sandy (my new friend) and I decided to grab our stuff and ride.

I got up to the starting area with enough time to take a selfie and we were off.

Within a kilometre my socks were already soaked inside my shoes. It started pouring again. Within minutes I was completely soaked through. I was a little nervous going down hills. I rarely ride on wet roads and had never done so with such narrow tires as I have on my road bike. I braked gently on the hills and took the corners carefully. Sandy is a better rider than I and I soon fell behind. Just over 100 riders left at 8am, only about a ninth of those registered, however, for most of the ride there was someone to ride near, to chat with or just to follow for help with navigation.

There were very few marshals out and the markings on the road were hard to see. I had planned to stop every 20 kilometres to rest and eat. However, I caught up with Sandy at about 17 kilometres into the ride and we started riding together. I was getting more confident on the wet roads and feeling pretty good. We didn’t end up taking a break until we had gone 35 kilometres. I’ve never gone that far without a break before, but I felt good. We picked the Tim’s in Port Credit and pulled in. Turns out they don’t have any indoor tables. It was still raining hard.

I put my bike under an umbrella at a patio table and removed my trunk bag from my rack. I had put the rain cover on, but the spray had got up under the cover and everything was wet – extra shirt, snacks, iPad and Blackberry. I grabbed some napkins and dried things off as best I could. I went to the bathroom, grabbed a coffee and headed outside to see blue sky! The rain had stopped and there were small patches of blue. Sandy didn’t want to stop for long. Had I been on my own I probably would have headed to Second Cup or Starbucks and sat in a comfy chair for half an hour, but I was enjoying riding with Sandy, so after we took each other’s pictures, and I quickly finished my coffee and a hard boiled egg I had brought along, we were off.

Shortly thereafter, the sun came out and eventually the roads dried up. To my surprise we made it all the way to the rest stop at 60 kilometres before taking another break. There was a very steep hill at the foot of Winston Churchhill, but it was manageable after my ride up the Escarpment last weekend. I had drafted behind Sandy on Lakeshore and she drafted behind me on Winston Churchhill.

At the rest stop I wolfed down one of Megan’s homemade cinnamon rolls and re-filled my water bottle. I did some stretches and we were off, again.

At 80 kilometres I had to stop for another rest. I told Sandy I would see her at the end, then laid down under a tree for ten minutes.

In the end I rode 101.89 kilometres in 4:39 hours of riding time over 5:45 hours of elapsed time. It only took me 15 minutes longer to ride the route today than it took me to ride 71 kilometres last Sunday.

There was an announcer waiting at the finish ride who asked me a few questions and then announced to the whole of Celebration Square that “Lisa has just completed the 100K ride, the longest ride of her life”. He then took my picture in front of the finish line.

I grabbed some lunch and found Sandy and my friend Elaine, who rode her bike across Canada last year, and who is on the MCAC. We enjoyed lunch together in the warm sun before I headed home to sit in a cold bath for half and hour.

Finally I collapsed on the couch with a coffee and TWO more cinnamon buns. After all, its not that often that I burn 2572 calories in one day!