big decisions

as one small feature of the tyrone mill ride, a decision had to be made by five riders - do we take the easier way that we had already taken to get to our midpoint, or take a route that has a hard climb with a really incredible view at the top and a steep descent with a very sharp stop at the bottom because of the very sketchy railway crossing? then a really steep, thigh burning climb out of the valley.

oh, and there's a beautiful swimming hole - too cool at this time of year for swimming but still beautiful.....

my answer?

"i'm happy no matter what we choose because i'm right here right now."

top of the hill . . .

bottom of the hill . . .

sometimes grace just shines on a place, on a moment.

tyrone mill bakery ride (iii)

journey's home are sometimes bittersweet.

returning over familiar territory - in reverse - seeing scenes that are both familiar and unfamiliar.

always with the background knowledge that at some point, you'll be back home.

that doesn't have to be a bad thing of course, but the journey is - well an immersion into experiences as diverse as newness, innocence, escapism, ineffable goodness - and so the return is . . . well bittersweet.

fueled up with honey, coffees, pastries and of course some really spicy cheese curds we headed up the very short very steep hill that leads northeast away from the tyrone mill.

big skies chased us. we were able to watch clouds parallel to our journey move across the landscape, rain a little and continue on their journey.

they rolled along like the great soft beasts they are!

while we rolled along in quiet appreciation through the ganaraska forest.

here's local bike czar clifford on the glory glide.

a dangerous practice for a cyclist - looking skywards at speed while holding a camera.

but worth the risk.

then onwards through the land of long rolling hills.

where laughing egos were toyed with on climbs ill-suited to those of us who are flat land speed demons!

egos easily and smirkingly crushed by those with the stamina and will to drop them (me included)

as they race on up the hill at the same speed i just descended at.

the post after this one will tell you about a moment. a decision that was made by a little group of cyclists. take the easy way and see what we've seen in reverse. or take the hard way and see something truly beautiful. something i'll not forget. please check it out when it arrives here. for now though, one of my fave moments on a ride.

so like the gurdjieff stop exercise. stop. examine the moment. examine your presence in its entirety.

begin. onwards past windswept early autumn fields.

i've noticed that on longer rides, my eyes start to focus on the details of the ride. the vistas, the little clusterings of plants, the moments. it's almost as if the experience becomes more refined.

maybe there's another word or explanation for it.

i've noticed that even though i put my bike away for the night,

the ride doesn't end.

here's the google map for the route.

the tyrone mill bakery ride (ii)

any ride has many objectives when you sit back and think about it. which, because of the way i was brought up as well as the way i have chosen to be - i do! this bike ride was about riding through the rapidly changing fall colours. the mid-point destination was the tyrone mill - a lovely old bakery that by reputation alone has managed to draw countless generations of people to get out of their comfort zone and make the trek to its relatively isolated self and give them good grain, good wood, good breads, and good honey and fruit. all good motivators for sure.

the bicycle ride - well it was about all of that and then also, bicycling in the company of really good people.

i know i crave and treasure that, and this ride was so much about that.

the mill is situated at the bottom of a steep hill and so the anchors were out the whole way down as we negotiated our way into a space (next to some old gears from the mill) for the bikes.

and then made our way inside past this display of local apples to sample the fare.

a gentleman offered samples of cinnamon and regular honey. both were stunningly tasty and filled with the fullness of a summer clearly good for busy bees. i made my way to the sales counter and asked for a white chocolate-raspberry scone and a cup of coffee. both were incredibly good. really truly!!! we sat out in the gorgeous early fall sunshine and enjoyed the luxury of sitting back and sharing life stories and the very simple luxury of good company while eating and drinking pure goodness.

here we are outside at the mill.

now i feel kind of bad that i didn't get more about the mill itself so i am relying on this video tour

to help carry the weight of that missing piece!!!

the tyrone mill bakery ride (i)

if you're a cyclist and you don't belong to a club but you hang around with like-minded people, these are the sorts of e-mails you love to receive:

"last week i was driving back from a work appointment in the oshawa area and i stopped in at tyrone at the bakery for some awesome snacks (fresh blueberry scone, and a dozen donuts). as i drove home from there i kept thinking about how great it would be to be on my bike instead of in my car. and so, the idea of a big group ride to tyrone and back was formed."

it took me a couple of moments to reply in the affirmative and from that point on, each moment in which i wasn't involved in doing or thinking about something else came back to the prospect of a ride through the early autumn landscape southwest of peterborough with some really awesome people!

well, the day dawned cool and sunny. i had just bought a brand new trek madone 4.7 the day before and so i was pretty jazzed to see if it was comfortable. you see i don't try out bikes, try on clothes or any of that junk, i just get 'em and hope they work out!! what better way to see if a bike is for you than to

ride it through 120 kilometres of hilly countryside?!

so we all gathered at the famous silver bean at roughly nine a.m. some of the riders put back a strong coffee. others nursed hangovers from the night before, some were too mature for any of that, and still others were just glad to have a chance to get out of the house.

along for the ride were africycle chums jim vyn, dave breukelar, andrea and michael vanderherberg, as well as bike bud dave blondell, bike manufacturer and local cycling czar cliff mccarten, and three new riders

who i knew as jim, kim, and meg.

the early part of the ride proved costly as we lost jim vyn and his son-in-law (who very generously (and wisely) offered to accompany his father-in-law back to peterborough) about fifteen km in.

here's the group riding out of peterborough along wallace point road, recently reopened after

being closed all summer due to bridge reconstruction.

within five kilometres we said goodbye to kim and meg who had planned all along to travel to a certain point and then turn back. it was becoming a lot like an agatha christie novel - who will be last on the bike?! not to worry, there were other steeper, longer distractions to fill our minds called hills! you climb up them . . .

you race down them . . .

it all sounds so easy unless you factor in headwinds that don't let up. headwinds with that pernicious, cynical, hurtful tone that accompanies your very best efforts and ever so gently, ever so remorselessly crushes you!!! or not. see the thing with these riders is, they were - like me - motivated by the prospect of fresh baked goods at the mid-point. so working together, keeping it positive, laughing, stopping for photographs,

stopping to regroup was an integral part of the ride.

david byrne's bicycle diary - speaks!

on this - the triple ten of days - i'm really pleased to share something that has a little bit of that

cooler than cool quality we all crave.

david byrne has been one of those iconic figures in my life who have lived louder than i dare.

his work with talking heads and then as a solo artist and especially the seminal work "my life in the bush of ghosts" which he co-created with brian eno, drove me to think beyond my thinking at that time, to see the world as something completely different and richer than i had previously known.

that david is a cyclist came as something of a revelation when i came across some mentions in his online journal that got me to thinking about how a guy who is a slightly off-centre personage, could fit cycling

into his persona and lifestyle.

it brought me to think about my own relationship with my bicycles and especially my own rationale for being a cyclist. which brings me to my own reading of david's book "the bicycle diaries". i read the book a little bit at a time last year, sort of like eating a bento box of sushi - the experience being a lot about unpacking small spaces and letting the unpacking extend into the bigger spaces of your experiencing.

i enjoyed the book from the perspective of reading words written by david because even though i haven't ever met him, he has a place in my life - a good place actually. i enjoyed the book because it's about an intelligent creative person talking about swimming ever so slightly upstream - riding a bike brings with it a very slender coolness quotient and regardless of how many other people are doing it, you really are on your own, carving your niche, making the space within which you wish to move from point a to point b and survive and thrive

and especially to love the experience for ever after.

if you're not a reader but you are a listener then you may be delighted to have the opportunity to hear the first audiobook i know of that features a guy talking essentially about cycling in an urban context.

an intelligent, hip, cool, insightful, streetsmart, artsy, wish he was my friend sort of guy.

curious at all?

good, then you belong here and you should give this a listen.

like it?

wanna spend some of last weeks pay cheque on more of it?

then go here for the book or you can go here for the chapter by chapter audiobook.

cobourg to peterborough

my ride from cobourg back to peterborough was under mostly grey skies.

the weather forecast - well it's a prediction really isn't it -

"60% chance of showers late in the day in the peterborough area".

you know what that means,

i know what that means

and even though i was offered two rides back to peterborough i politely declined because -

a ride is a ride and won't be put on hold for the "chance of showers".

my approach to cycling has always been to go riding and make the best of what you're given.

here's a shot from the day before.

sunny skies - perfect for sailing, cycling, heading out for a walk, a run - whatever strikes your fancy!

so after a photograph of the bike down by lake ontario,

i headed out of cobourg and flew across the kilometres to port hope courtesy of a steady and strong tail-wind.

(this, by the way is the bike i ride to and from school every day.

i call this bike, my "commuter".

it's actually a de vinci nassau.

i've had it for four years now and i love it for its huge gear range which gets me up hills and gives me good speed across the flats. it's relatively light and comfortable,

plus, it has a blackburn rack at the back so i can carry stuff!)

it's got about ten thousand kilometres on it.

i'd thought about stopping in at dreamers for another crazy cookie and americano but i'd had a good lunch at my mum's and figured i'd just pass through.

the climb up and out of port hope is long and fairly steep. lined with old houses and little shops, the distractions are many but eventually i reached the turn for hwy. 2 north and left port hope behind.

at the point where hwy. 2 becomes country road 10, i passed through the lovely little hamlet of "welcome".

it was not long before i was riding through a very rural landscape.

many of the farmers were working in their fields. i like to wave at them when i pass by -

sort of a thankyou for their work which helps get food to my table.

many of the fields are filled with tall corn plants.

i'm not sure what's growing in all of the fields but i was really drawn to the distant hills - despite having ridden up and over the oak ridges moraine, there were many more hills yet to go.

in fact on this ride there are a dozen or so good climbs.

each has an excellent view either in front or behind.

you can see that the skies are filling with grey fluffy stuff.

i came over one hill not far south of millbrook and saw this lovely old farm.

so many farms have the most spectacular views.

as i approached cavan the skies opened up. gently at first and so i was grateful for the cooling rain, but the tempo gradually increased and then i heard the distant ominous rumbles of approaching thunder which naturally drew closer and closer until they were passing overhead.

this was the third ride i've been on in two weeks in which i've ridden through thunder and lightning!!

it goes with the time of year but there is nothing to match racing along a road with the rain pelting down and the sudden flash of a lightning bolt coupled with a grand boom of thunder to remind you of

how tiny and insignificant and vulnerable you really are.

the cows know what to do at times like this. just sit down and wait patiently.

i had about ten kilometres from here, so on i pushed.

happily i made it home in one piece, had a hot shower, changed into dry clothes, got the laundry started up and was tucking into a nice dinner before very long.

about 70 kilometres. two and a half hours of riding.

here's the google map link for my ride from cobourg to peterborough.