Bummed out

I find myself bummed out , I had booked a trip to Cuba with Evelyn , Lisa and Max , a nice family vacation,  and had to cancel because of conflicts at work.

As a young man I had always thought that working hard and sacrificing to get ahead would reap rewards later in life , and while it has in some ways in other it has made me a slave of my work and it disturbs me.  

It was a good week till then , beautiful autumn weather all week and Saturday I finally got the road bike out !!!!, long overdue it was !!. It actually felt kind strange sitting on the 520 which is weird since I spent two and a half months sitting on it this summer . 

I waited for the frost to lift and around 10 I headed out towards the Marsh all bundled up as it was only 7 degrees !!!, I came to the first hill and my suspicions were confirmed , I am out of shape !!!, I was huffing buy the time I got to the top !!!!. Sadly at my age conditioning disappears quickly , my body has forgotten it rode across the country and it’s like I’m starting form scratch again , my own fault for not riding sooner !!!

It did turn out to be a very enjoyable ride , I mainly doodled around the Marsh checking out the work done on the South Canal that now no longer runs beside the road , instead there is a stretch of dirt that eventually will become a berm ( hopefully with grass and trees to replace the beautiful willows that once lined the canal ). 

And I discovered that the unusual building I watched go up this spring is a winery !!!, “ Holland Marsh Wineries “ reads the sign in front of it. Closed and deserted now , can’t wait till they open to go a savor some of there product as I ride by next year !!! , it has the potential to becoming a favorite stop !!!

My ride lasted for just over two hours and I covered 41.7 km , by the time I got home it had warmed to 12 degrees . Now I’m left with the want for more but it’s impossible to get out after work now with the time change as the sun is already setting around 5 PM. Oh well, maybe next Saturday and if not I’ll have to go back to the Gym for spin classes !!!!, at least I’ll be in shape once March rolls around and I can get back on the road. 

Self portrait on my ride 

The top of Pumphouse Rd, the last time I was here was with my fellow TdC riders way back in August. 

 

The Canal moved away from the road with the start of a berm.

The only part of the South Canal left untouched , I loved riding so close to the water !!!

The evolution of the Marsh, a winery , could be very interesting !!!!

 After getting home Evelyn and I continued on our goal of hiking all 17 Tracts of the York Regional Forest , after a stop at Tim Horton’s for a much needed coffee and donut we went to the Bendor & Graves Tract on Kennedy Rd just north of Davis Drive . We found it to be a very pleasant forest , the dogs loved it and except for the fact that I stepped in dog pop as I was leaving ( smelly ride home in the car ) it was a great hike.

Hiking on the Bendor & Graves Tract of the York Regional Forest

Big old pine 

Re comments :

Andy , great to hear from you !!!. It was a long way we rode!!!, and we did it km after km !!!, and like you I find some people that don’t understand it , but thats ok , we understand !!!.