Tour De France.

Everyday I ride my bike there is something else to think about. Whether or not I made a significant contribution to the cause I'm trying to bring awareness too. Or whether I'm pushing myself hard enough to get home. All of these things constantly are brought up during the ride. People often ask me... "What do you think about all day?" I usually smile and think about the question. But then realize how can I really answer that. There is often 9 or 10 hours of thoughts going through my head. So, I guess it's kinda hard to generalize what I think about. The last thoughts coming into Winnipeg, were that of Tour De France and I even filled in for the colour commentary. I pretend its the halfway through the event and I'm on the 16th leg and that I'm chasing down the lead trying to make up seconds for my overall score. I spot a sign post a km down the road and do my best to chase it down pretending it's the lead of the pack.... It's amazing how your imagination takes over when you have no TV for months at a time.


One funny little anecdote from the last week was there was another crazy storm. That's not obviously very funny. But I was camped out in a park just on the Saskatchewan / Manitoba border and the storm came in fast and hard and stayed for the whole night. I tried to hold down the fort during the storm, the winds were so strong they were ripping my tent pegs out of the ground. I would have to run out side just in my shorts and try and re-peg the tent down into the ground. And then literally dive back into my tent. It was as if I was saving the sinking ship doing all I could to bail out the water as fast as I could. I could only imagine what people in the RVs watching me were thinking. Again, the Prairie thunderstorms have proven to be frightening. The thunder and lightening is spectacular, very bright and loud. Honestly, it's not the nicest type of storm to be camped in. But I would like to thank Evelyn and her parents Joan and Dermot Duffy for the rainjacket it has been one, if not the most important article of clothing on the trip. Especially in those harsh storms :)


I would really like to suggest bicycle touring as a way travelling or even promoting awareness for a certain cause. I have found alot of success in reaching individuals engaging them in conversation about disabilities. It's always interesting to see how people relate themselves to someone with a disability or share a story of someone they know. This is great to hear, it reminds me often of the crew back at Lawson Ministries and of others close to me. People often talk about how much people struggle with the disabilities at first. But usually always talk about how they have so much to offer and how much promise they have. It's great to see so many people recognizing the potential and teaching me about different situations they have encountered.

But as you can see travelling long routes cross country that there is tough days as you can see if you scroll through my blog. Especially in Canada, there is parts in the Prairies where there is no shoulder to ride on. For me to cope with the high stress environment of being on the road I try and block everything out except for the white line. The white line is like a string pulling me to my destination. I don't stray far from the white line and it's as if my bike is winding up the line on the wheels. The traffic is heavy with Semi-trucks, but the Semis are not the ones to worry because they are the "Professional" drivers. It's usually the rented RVs or people on cellphones. There has been a few close calls where I actually feel like I'm being hit with something because the cars flies so fast and only inches from a collision. The one thing I would like to do if you are a driver and see a cyclist is instead of just moving over... slow down. It only takes moments to slow down and give room to the cyclist. Because if you were in a public place like a mall, you wouldn't go up to a stranger and walk by him very closely and scream in his ear. Because that's what it feels like when a car blows by at fast speeds. I know I focused on the negatives of touring there.... but the positives outweigh the bad and you meet thousands of amazing people and see the landscape not through a small window but through a panoramic view with sounds and smells that you can't get from a car.

I have included here in the bottom of this blog my final push home. Some of the days are big and Northern Ontario is very hilly so it will be challenging but I hope I can persevere through it and get home by August. 13th. I will try and update this one last time in a weeks time.

August 1st - Kenora
August 2nd - Emo
August 3rd - Atikokan
August 4th - Thunder Bay
August 5th - Rossport
August 6th - White River
August 7th - Lake Superior Provincial Park
August 8th - Bruce Mines
August 9th - Sudbury
August 10th - REST DAY
August 11th - Parry Sound
August 12th - Barrie
August 13th - Hamilton!!!!!!!!

Godspeed :)
Matthew