2020 Adventures

On March 20, 2020 we were scheduled to drive to South Carolina and Georgia with our bicycles.
That trip had to be cancelled due to COVID-19.
Fortunately we have been able to re-book the one week on Hilton Head Island for next year.

We had hoped to get lots of biking over the 2 weeks away, but we won’t let our weather here stop us.

The curling season is over, the gym is closed and the walking track is closed as well.
So Judy & I have decided to get out walking and biking as much as we can – keeping 6 feet away!
We will post our results as we go along.

Thursday May 7:

Our granddaughter Faye showed up on our deck after walking from downtown Kitchener.
She was going to pick up her bicycle which was stored in our garage.
She said it was nice out. We decided to ride with her back downtown.
As we did, the wind picked up, the temperature dropped and the clouds gathered.
We stopped at her apartment and felt raindrops. She decided to bail.
Judy & I decided to carry on – through Victoria Park onto the Iron Horse trail.
We saw a train go by at the IHT crossing.

We stopped at the Tim Horton’s at Glasgow. They still serve takeout inside.
Bought breakfast sandwiches and coffee and went back to the IHT and sat and had lunch.
By then the sun was out. This spot sheltered us from the wind.

We continued north into the NE wind, then over and down the Spur Line. From here we had the wind with us to get home.
https://ridewithgps.com/trips/48431749

 

Tuesday April 28:

Another ride for essential food supplies – this time to Bulk Barn.
The route was north on the Iron Horse to Waterloo City Hall. Behind city hall onto the Laurel trail, over Erb, along the creek, over Bridgeport to Weber, down to mall.
Riding past Walmart saw the long line. Bulk Barn had no line outside. One person in line inside. You got a personal shopper who scooped out stuff for you. It worked well

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/47902498

Saturday April 25:

This was a short bike ride for essential food supplies. We were planning to have Indian food for dinner. But, we had no papadams! So I biked over to our nearest Indian food store on Hazelglen. There was a short line outside but it went quickly. I bought some cilantro as well. Only 7km but better than driving. Here is link to the ride:

https://ridewithgps.com/trips/47750066

Sunday April 12:

After a virtual family egg roll, we decided to go for a bike ride. My father started the egg rolls years ago. He was quite an artist. Here is a picture of eggs he had decorated (Painted) in 1994.

We left around 4pm. It was sunny and 15C – almost balmy! Wind was 16km/hr out of the SE. We decided to avoid going north on the Iron Horse as we figured it would be busy.
So we went south on the Iron Horse trail to Borden Ave. We biked over to the Tim’s at Charles. The drive thru was busy and we didn’t want to wait in line sucking up exhaust fumes. So, we headed up Charles.

Tuesday April 7:

It rained mid afternoon and the clouds moved away, so around 5pm we out for a bike ride.
It was 11C with 15km/hr SE winds. But is was bitter. We biked to the library to drop off a book. Then biked over to the Greenbrook water treatment plant. Greenbrook Dr has a lot of potholes especially near the curb.

We headed north through Lakeside Park, then back along Queen St. There was no line up at Superstore, so Judy went to see if they had Tide powder detergent. No luck, but fortunately they had not run out of chips.
It started to drizzle so we made good time getting home.

Saturday April 4:

The family decided to have a video conference. So our daughter-in-law set up a ZOOM meeting for late morning. This worked really well. The moderator needs an account with Zoom (free). Sets up a meeting and gets a link. Participants are sent an email with the link. One click on the link, and few more clicks on the page and you are in! Highly recommended.
A mild day with temp 14C and not a lot of wind. Judy decided that it was time to get some seeds for the vegetable garden.
The stricter rules on essential services meant that hardware stores were going to close tonight. So we biked over to Swanson’s Home Hardware. There was a line up 2 meters apart outside the store. So Judy lined up and I went on a bike ride round and about.

Swanson’s were allowing 5 customers in the store at one time. When you went in there was an employee there to show you where the things were that you wanted. Our “personal shopper”! Judy her seeds,  planting soil and some bleach. I got some metal braces to repair an extra dining table. A very pleasant ride.

The temp had gone up to 16C so, we had drinks on the deck! Very pleasant. Watched as people walked by on the path behind our house.

Friday March 27:

It took a while for the temperature to warm up, so late afternoon we went out biking when it hit 10C. The wind was light and the sun was out.
It was a beautiful day for biking. Many other thought so too. So we had to weave our way to keep 6 ft away from folks.
We did our usual Iron Horse/Spur Line route. https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32166764

 

Thursday March 26:

Again partly cloudy and around 11C – but quite windy. Judy had gone for a walk in the morning. (while I slept in). So I went out for a walk in the afternoon while she had a nap!
This one took me on some nearby streets which I had not been on for a while. I was a little lost for a while. There were a few people out. I walked on the street when needed to keep the 6 foot distance. What a different world we are living in!
It was 3.6 km today: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32197112

Wednesday March 25

It was partly cloudy and around 11C – a little windy when we started biking mid afternoon.
Our plan was bike up to McPhail’s in Waterloo to get a new tube to replace the one we used last Thursday.
We took Queen St again using the separated bike lanes. No glass this time!
Lot’s of people out. We stopped in Waterloo park and ran into a couple from our bike club. We had a nice chat for a while then headed over to McPhails.
Here we ran into another couple from the bike club. They were dropping a bike off for a tune up. By the time we got away, the wind had picked up.
We decided to go home via the gravel paths through Filsinger park.
There were a few wet spots, but it was OK.

At gas station corner (Fischer & Highland) the gas prices were at a price not seen for a while! 63.9.

 

Tuesday March 24

The snow was pretty much gone It was +7C!
This was all that was left of the 3 snowmen from yesterday:

Judy had gone grocery shopping for our 2 daughters and was tired out so I went on my own.
It was quite pleasant with very little wind. I decided to buy a lottery ticket and found a number of shops in the Driftwood plaza were closed.
it was a shorter route today at 2.4km: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32184485

Monday March 23

It snowed last night and during the day. It was quite wet – great for making snowmen

It was +1C and snowing with little wind so we got out for a walk.
Again around the neighbourhood streets.
We cut it short as there was some snow on the sidewalks and the snow got a little heavy.

We walked 3km: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32178068

 

Sunday March 22

Out again for a walk mid afternoon.
It was +1C but windy.
A lot of people out walking.
We did 4.8 km around some different local streets.

https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32172391

 

Saturday March 21

After yesterday’s high winds and dropping temperatures, today is sunny and crisp.
Crisp means OK for walking but not biking.
So we bundled up and went out mid afternoon with the temp at -1C.
We walked around several of our local streets, covering 3.8km!
I bundled up a little too much and was quite warm near the end.
(Let’s hear it for Sear’s long johns!)

Here is our route on Ridewithgps: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32166733

Great walk.

 

Thursday March 20:

Judy got me out biking today.
The temperature was just below our threshold of 10C. The wind wasn’t strong so we went anyway.
We used Queen Street’s separated bike lanes to safely get to Belmont.
After 5km we stopped to blow our noses (it was cool) and found that I had a flat tire! Grrrr!

After a tiring repair, we decided a coffee was in order.

Tim’s was open for take out. Their washrooms were closed, so they let me use one of their sinks to wash my tired dirty hands.  Had to drink & eat outside. Used the salt box as a table!

We finished the ride without further incident.
It got a little chilly as we headed home. The wind had switched so that it was against us going and coming.
Nevertheless, it was great to get out.

Here is the route: https://ridewithgps.com/routes/32166764