Day 3 - Beautiful Teamwork

miles today: 93 total miles: 175
km today: 150 total km: 292

Hey, so I thought that I should probably start contributing to this story since we are after all on a TANDEM bike ride and it is already DAY THREE!

First off, an extra special thanks to Jason and Jovo! During our Grand Canyon rafting trip (February 2022), all 20 of us melded into a Grand Canyon family. The Alaskans are lucky enough to be close enough to gather, but the rest of us haven’t seen the GC family since the trip. Jason and Jovo were two of our favorites on the GC trip, and it was such a joy to gather again, reminisce, compare memories, laugh, and just hang out enjoying each other’s friendship.

Today was a good day. As we were leaving London, the weather was slightly cloudy (in a good way), and we had a light tailwind along a beautiful (albeit very straight) route. We had some rolling hills for the first 100 km, but we still made good time at an average pace of 25 km an hour. Since neither Mike nor I had much time to ride before we left, I quipped to Mike that the goal of the trip is “training, not torture.” And so far, that has been 98% true – more on the 2% later.

One of the things that I love about these trips is how we fall into a natural rhythm. The unspoken dance that sets our pace and gearing, when to coast and when to pedal, when to back off so that we can switch gears and when to lean in to regain momentum, and when the stoker (me) needs to “go jello-legs” so that the captain (Mike) can balance us through tricky spaces. And sometimes it seems that when our bodies and motion attune to each other, our brains might also align to some mysterious wavelength. For example, today we passed a sign that said, “Organic Eggs, $6.00.” We rode past it without comment, since we are not stopping to buy a dozen eggs on a tandem. About two hours later, Mike says that we should look for an opportunity to get some Canadian cash. I said, “Yeah, I thought the same thing when I saw the sign for the eggs.” And Mike laughed and said that it was the egg sign that had him thinking about getting cash because even if he wanted to buy eggs, we only have a Canadian $5 bill between the two of us. Egg sign –> not enough money for eggs –> probably they only take cash –> we should get cash. Our thinking may not be rocket science, but it is running on the same track for sure. This happens several times a day on these trips, often becoming more prevalent as the mileage (or in this case, kilometers) pile up.

At around 100 km, the rolling hills turned into a 10 (maybe more) km downhill as we fell off the Niagra Escarpment. The Niagra Escarpment starts at the south shore of Lake Ontario and proceeds westward along the top of the Great Lakes Basin and has the oldest forest ecosystem in North America. It was pretty awesome to descend off of on a bike.

We were feeling strong and making great time, thanks to the tailwind and the downhill, until we were at the edge of Hamilton (which is where Canada’s Royal Botanical Gardens are). The Burlington Bridge leads out of town, and there’s a beautiful bike path that takes bikers and pedestrians under the highway before (we thought) leading to a ramp to get on the bridge). We rode in one direction, crossed under the bridge, and then rode in the opposite direction (think u-turn). The other side was even more beautiful with small little islands, swans and ducks, and a view of Hamilton.

However, after a km or so, we didn’t see anything that looks like a ramp that would get us on the bridge. After checking the Ride GPS route, we turned around looking for a way up. What we found was a metal staircase, 20 meters from top to bottom (that’s 65+ feet). It seemed the only way up, which we confirmed with a local. Well, with nothing to do ascend, we took the bike apart and started climbing the massive staircase. Mike sherpa-ed the loaded trailer, while I lugged the two paniers and our trunk up. We had to rest as we ascended, but I was first, thankful that Mike is such a strong beast, and second, thankful to my cousin Kerry who has been training me this past year (with the last 4 weeks focusing on arms!).


And then, Mike had to go back down and push the tandem up.

We made it, but I have an appreciation for this bridge which is a National Historic Site of Canada (due to its role in repelling US forces during the War of 1812).

Now we had just the final 30km to get through Burlington and into our first campsite at Bronte Station on the outskirts of town. Riding through Burlington was city-riding, a combination of a rolling bike lane that took us past big mansions built along Lake Ontario and sections of heavy city streets. At the top of one of the hills in the swanky neighborhood, we passed (puffing and tired) a man in his truck who leaned out and with a huge smile and a thumbs up yelled, “Beautiful Teamwork!”

Yes, today was a day of beautiful teamwork.

For me, it was also a day of gratitude towards Mike. Thanks Mike for safely captaining through some difficult route-finding, for your sherpa-like strength getting the bike and trailer up to the bridge, for letting me take the first shower, and for your delicious shrimp linguine we had for dinner.

The crickets are chirping. Fires are crackling. The campground is settling.

We look forward to a short ride into Toronto tomorrow.

P.S., During our lunch break, we decided to go ahead and have the rear wheel rebuilt during our rest day in Belleville. Although the wheel seems to be doing fine, we decided to follow the motto, “better safe than sorry” and make sure that we have a bomber rear wheel before heading into more remote territory on the second half of the trip. This will entail a bike shop converting our front wheel (which has 40 spokes) to our rear wheel (which needs 40 spokes to handle the wieght of the trailer (and me)), and then putting a new standard wheel on the front. Santana (our tandem’s manufacturer) uses a 40-spoke front wheel exactly for this contingency as such wheels are not standard and difficult to find. So thanks, Santana for thinking ahead and designing the tandem to carry its own spare, custom parts.