The Passionate Biker

 

Thurs. 3 December:  The Passionate Biker

 

 

Just one year ago, the Passionate Hiker was walking all over the place, without a care in the world.  Today, he is looking back on a year very unlike any other – and he’s not referring to the Pandemic. 

 In the middle of January he woke up with a sore back, and from that point, he has not been able to manage one hike, apart from walking to and from a procession of back specialists and physiotherapists and chiropractors and massage places, so far without success.

 Yet strangely, he found that he could ride a bike without any pain.  This turned into an obsession.  During the months of June through November, now rebranded as The Passionate Biker, he has achieved these statistics:

• Number of bike rides:  50
• Distance Travelled:     1,509.7 km
• Time on Trail:              135 hrs. 52 mins.
• Av. Dist. Per trip:         30.2 km
• Average speed:           11.1 km/hr.

These were almost without exception rail trails.  During these six months, The Passionate Biker has travelled the full length of these trails, in both directions:

• The 102 km Cataraqui Trail between Smiths Falls and Strathcona
• The 165 km K&P Trail between Kingston and Renfrew
• The 97 km Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail (OVRT) between Smiths Falls and McBride Road, north of Renfrew, plus the 17km section between Pembroke and Petawawa (and has explored by car/bike the mostly unbikeable 52 km section between McBride Road and Pembroke).
• The 27 km CN Trail between Arnprior and Renfrew
• The first 75 km of the Glen Tay-Havelock Trail, between Glen Tay and Kaladar, plus the 6 km section of road from home to Glen Tay
• The 23 km CN Trail between Carleton Place and Stittsville 

And he has repeated several sections of these routes more than once.

He also biked a 23 km circuit of the Rideau Canal and Rideau River pathways in Ottawa.

These statistics don’t include many shorter bike rides around the streets of Perth.

About half these trips were solo, but the author would like to express his gratitude to his long-time hiking - now biking - colleague D for accompanying him on many fine trips (traveling in separate vehicles to trailheads near and far), and turning this from a disaster into a memorable year.  Much good conversation took place along the way, and not a few ice creams or treats were enjoyed, from handy establishments that were encountered, and could not be resisted.

And not one single puncture between the two of us – a special vote of thanks to Heritage Bikes of Perth who worked miracles on both my hybrid and mountain bikes during the season.  They made this all possible.

So there’s hope yet, perhaps, that one day this author’s hiking colleagues will see him back out on the trails for hikes, and joining in the maintenance parties, especially when we’re all filled with anti-Covid vaccines!

Note: the author deliberately left his good camera behind, so he could be “in the moment” the whole time.  The reader may refer to earlier blog entries for some good pictures of these routes.