Envoi

I can’t say that I miss getting up and riding 100 k every day but there’s one thing I do miss – the sense of connection this great effort engendered, connection to other people, to the land, to the lake.

We travelled a long way through very disparate communities but everywhere received a wonderful welcome from people with a genuine appreciation for what we were doing. We were a disparate bunch of riders, ranging in age from 10 to 76, with six over the age of 70, and 14 under 18. A total of 148 completed the end-to-end and received the weighty zinc medallions bearing the bird, leaf, fish symbol of the waterfront trail.

Most of us were from Ontario, 8 came from elsewhere in Canada (4 from Alberta) and 9 from the US (5 from Texas). Toronto sent the most people with 19 and Ajax sent 12, including their mayor. For the most part we were of European heritage, but there was a fast-paced contingent of Chinese Canadians. Based on the form people filled out before the tour, 40 per cent enrolled as single participants, the rest joining as family groups or groups of friends.We all became friends along the way. Before the tour ended, some pondered what the trip had meant to them.

Antonio Siracusa, bank teller, Toronto: “I have found it an amazing experience. I have learned a lot about the communities around me. I have learned more about myself as a person and more about people in general. From a spiritual perspective, you start somewhere such as Niagara on the Lake and you end up in Quebec,- what happens in the middle is what the journey’s all about. From a responsible taking-care-of- yourself physical point of view you get tons of exercise. It’s nice to meet like-minded people who are pro-environment. I’ve learned that I can ride in the rain and that’s the first time I’ve ridden in a small storm like that. As I got going it was easier to do and I just found it fun. So I won’t be scared to ride in the rain any more. I’ve learned that I can push myself to a limit and give myself a little pep talk and keep going keep going and find another limit.”

Ian Cheah, guide:“It was a great, great adventure, because I’ve seen a lot of Canada I don’t see normally. I had two little kids in my group, they did it, they started on the longest day, 130 k, and went through to the end. For me, the main thing was endurance. Speedwise, it’s ok, no hills. So each day, over 100 kilometres, I wanted to challenge myself for eight days, no rest, just hard work. It’s a challenge that I achieved, I feel good. I’m hoping to go to South America. That’s what this test is all about.”

Marie-Claude Caplette, teacher, Toronto:“I enjoyed it very much – the scenery, the flowers, the beauty of the nature, the life and particularly, the villages along the lake which I had had no occasion to see. I’m feeling very good, each day I feel better, I don’t know why because I don’t regularly exercise but right now I’m feeling in very good shape. Each day, I just try to take it easy - a lot of stretching and trying to breathe, yoga has been helping me, so I just enjoy, and try not too much to follow the group in front. Pace yourself – follow your own rhythm.”

Geoff Kettel, consultant, Toronto (speaking at the Cornwall dinner):“We need to encourage our cities and towns and villages to get better trails. To separate the trail from the road, or to mark the trail with a white line. And we can go home to our cities and ask our councillors to make cycling and safe cycling an important thing for all of us. Phone your councillor and show up at the meetings and ask them to acknowledge that cycling is growing – it’s doubled in the last three years – more people want to cycle but they want to cycle safe. So it’s very important that we make them safe and that we do that by the trail.”

Brenda Mills, mental health specialist, Hamilton:“I think it exceeded my expectations for sure because I think that I came expecting to cycle and have an experience of seeing new places but it’s so much more about just having the experience to share with other people and then having the opportunity to do it for the first time and I think an appreciation for all the work that went into to and just seeing this is something that is possible. If you really want to make it happen, it’s really about people coming together and having a common interest. I think the common goal was to really promote community - community as in our cycling community, community as in the communities that the waterfront trail is in. And a sense of ownership into that community so that if everybody has those kinds of ideas and if they come together with those goals in mind it will have support, it will have momentum.”

With that in mind, the next lake event takes place next Tuesday at 6 p.m. in Kingston. It’s a mass swim at Richardson Park, where there’s a beach that has fallen into disuse through lack of civic maintenance. The event is aimed at building support for public water and public space in that city – exactly what our ride was about. Enjoy your swim, everyone!