Saint-Nicholas, QC – With a blat from the engine, we were off. It was 5:34 a.m., cold, wet and foggy. It was also a sign of things to come.Already, the mist created a clear, beaded feather on my windscreen and a shiver set into my knuckles. Not once, though, did I think about scrapping the plan.
My father pulled out of the driveway behind me, having decided to ride part way – or so I thought. It was not until past Whitby, sitting in a Tim Horton’s, that he mentioned “By now, you’ve figured out I’m coming all the way, right?” I hadn’t, but welcomed the companionship. As much as riding can be a very individual experience, you remain part of a greater community.
The storm was particularly strong in Napanee and the only slight reprieve we had the whole day was between Kingston and Cornwall. With low visibility, I did not have the opportunity to see much: the sky was washed out, seemingly covered in giant scoops of paste. My windscreen had become a grey kaleidoscope of shifting, hypnotic droplets. Apart from the fossilized skeleton of the Canadian shield as you approach Ottawa, it's not like Highway 401 is the most visually stimulating of roads at the best of times.
Having had some difficulty finding a room north of Québec City, we’ve stopped at Hotel Golf Stastny, a large yellow house nestled in the trees, run by former Québec Nordiques great Marian Stastny. It’s a nice place, but I would have been happy anywhere that had a bed and a hot shower I could stand in for an hour in an attempt to finally warm up.
It was a day filled with the smell of rain, the feel of rain, the look of rain. It was my first time riding through Toronto. And Montréal. It was also the longest ride of my life.
My knuckles and knees are stiff from the cold, and I am utterly exhausted. But, in a perverse way, I loved today. Well, most of it.
The adventure is underway.
Vitals:
- Time: 14 hours
- Distance: 989.7 kilometres
- Weather: Rain, Cold
- Provinces: Ontario, Québec
- Wildlife: A wild turkey and Queen's University students
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