Hamilton to Thunder Bay. August 1st, 2008 to August 10th, 2008
Sat. August, 9, 2008
After a long 7 days, it's unforunate that I have to inform you that I have failed the 'Tour du Ontario'.
So what happened? What was the cause of the failure? To answer these questions, I present this timeline:
Day -1: Scrambling to prepare for both a 7-10 day bike trip and finish off my commitments to a project that's code name MC. As hours passed, a race condition had clearly emerged. The trip could not start unless MC was finished and a can of worms just opened on MC. The trip was optimisitically delayed to mid-day on Day 0 and leave from Guelph to compensate for the lost time, or described by a friend as "that's cheating!".
Day 0: A can of worms open in the project and the trip is delayed by a day.
Day 1: MC is completed, but with no time to spare. An attempt to recouperate time by driving to Owen Sound had ended in failure after the accomodations for the night was closing shop at 11pm. Delayed indefinitely.
Day 2: We depart from Hamilton by car, enroute to Massey, Ontario and arrive at near midnight.
Day 3: I depart from Massey, Ontario to Salut St. Marie, Ontario as my first 220KM journey, stopping in Blind River, Iron Bridge, Bruce Mines and finally Salut St. Marie. Somewhere along the way, I partially lost feeling in my hands and left foot.
Day 4: A number technical problems with the bike were found in the morning. Rubbing break pads (may have contributed to up to 15% energy lost in the day before), broken spoke and a bent rim all contributed to a delay in a delay. A smaller route for the day to Batchawana Bay was in the works but was shot down after the motels in the area were all booked for the night. With the increasing impossibility of finishing the trip within the budgetted time without creeping over budget, lack of improvement in health conditions and lack of support by those with me, I made the decision to end the trip. In an attempt to make the most of the remaining 5 days, we were to continue to Thunder Bay by car.
Day 5: Departing in the evening and no consenus on how to spend the remaining days, I decided it's best to leave for home.
The trip, although a failure, attributed to new experience and invaluable knowledge. As Sir Winston Churchill once said:
"Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm."
Thank you for your support and I'll see you at the next failure. :)
Wed. July, 30, 2008
With two days away, preparations are being made for departure at 6am. Luggage is being checked and final touches are being made. Bike rack still needs be mounted, but only creativity will solve that problem. Pictures to come. Stay tuned to this feed for day to day updates.