I grew up in the Greater Toronto area in Ontario. I moved to the West Coast right after I finished college and have lived there all of my adult life. While in many ways I haven’t looked back since leaving, there is still a piece of my heart that belongs in Ontario’s cottage country. I come back year after year to reconnect with my family. I know if it wasn’t for this place the connection we share would not be what it is today. Two of the four of us siblings live many miles away, and all of us have busy lives. Each year we come back to the cottage where we laugh, play and EAT!
I had originally planned on doing a multi day ride from the cottage through Muskoka while visiting for the summer to finalize this past year I have spent in the saddle, biking and blogging. Recently I realized spending time with my family is more important than spending days out on the road laying down pavement. Taking time away from the people I love most in the world. My parents would worry, and I spend so much of my life alone these days the whole venture seemed a little fruitless. If there is anything I have learned in the last few rides it is that home is important, and today this place is most like home for me.
Instead I decided I would do a series of short rides on my Mom’s 1970’s Sears brand “Free Spirit” speed bike. Last year I had borrowed the bike while visiting and training for a triathlon. It was on that bike that I realized that time spent in the saddle for long periods of time was more than a mode of transportation or athletic training it is a way to relax and let my mind really clear and process my thoughts and feelings.
One of my favorite cottage day trips is driving the 50 kilometres to Port Carling. It is a historic Muskoka town, known as the Hub of Lakes, where today manned locks join Lake Muskoka and Lake Rosseau. It was a summer settlement for the Ojibway Indians in the 1850’s but by the 1870’s it was booming from the newly forming tourist and logging trades. Today it is best known for it’s older architecture and muskoka charm. As a child, I remember family trips to the mahogany boat show and picnic lunches at the locks. Today it is more of a retail town, with shabby chic cottage housewares and muskoka branded sweatshirts. I decided I would ride there for my first Muskoka tour.
I mapped out the route at an ambitious 100K of two lane highway and country side roads. There are roads on the route that I have driven many times and there was some that I have never seen. 
I must admit in my arrogance when my Dad mentioned that the route might be a little hilly, I discounted it, instead thinking, I ride on Vancouver Island. In BC I spend a good proportion of time riding uphill, Muskoka has nothing on the coast.
My total climb that day was 1379 metres. In spite of some navigation errors, my ride was 100.3 km, my exact goal. I was sore and tired by the time I peddled back to the cottage. I had a few bottles of water, but am not used the heat and humidity. I had a touch of heat stroke and struggled through the last 20km. The days since that ride have been getting hotter and hotter.
I had set out on this trip to do three 100k rides and blog about them as I rode. This is my first ride report which is being posted almost a week after the ride took place. I have found a few challenges with these goals and I look forward to seeing how much I can accomplish while on vacation.
We are in the middle of a heat wave, some days reaching 33° celsius. The cottage is busy, at the busiest so far in the visit there have been 18 people in the five bedroom Cottage. The famies ages range from 8 to 75, and finding balance between family time and cycling time has been and will continue to be a difficulty.
The Solo Cyclist 