Thanksgiving Day

Today is Thanksgiving Day. I am thankful for so many things -- family and friends, a job I love, good health, a great country to live in, and of course ... the plethora of wonderful places around here where I can ride my bike.

Yesterday we had most of the family over for Thanksgiving dinner. Little Granddaughter, at 9 1/2 months, is walking everywhere and she is, of course, absolutely adorable. She loves our dog, Maggie, but Maggie does not share those feelings of affection. Normally when Maggie sees Little GD approaching, she runs. Yesterday we managed to hold Maggie in place long enough for Little GD to pet her, so maybe there is hope. 

We had a great meal, but I still had my cold, and after dinner when everyone was getting ready to play Jackass, I opted out and went upstairs to lie down. Now, I love playing games with my family, and Jackass is a long-time favourite, so you gotta know I was really feeling lousy. I actually fell asleep for about an hour. After that, I felt pretty good and after everyone had left, I even went for an evening walk with Hubby and Maggie.

I wanted to make the most of the nice weather and do some cycling this weekend, but I didn't feel well enough the first three days. Today I woke up feeling much better. For the first time in three days I didn't have a sore throat. 

My original plan had been to ride to Drayton Valley, about 106 km from here. Hubby was driving down there to pick up Youngest Son and his friends after a three-day canoe trip, so I thought I could meet them there. But after my three days of not feeling so great, I questioned whether such a long ride would be a good idea, and we decided on a Plan B. I would leave at the same time as Hubby; he would go to Drayton Valley and pick up the boys, and then pick me up on the way back. That way I'd end up riding about 2 to 2 1/2 hours, not too strenuous for someone just getting over a cold.

I set off as planned. The wind was from the southwest, which just happened to be the direction I was headed. It wasn't too strong, but was pretty relentless, so it was a good workout. I rode along Parkland Drive and turned south on Highway 770. The road is not bad, although the shoulder is narrow and traffic was fairly heavy, but I felt comfy and safe. It's a pleasantly winding road with small hills, so not boring. I rode past some nice lakes and of course some signs that tickled my funnybone. Like Cross-Country Overhead Doors. I can just see those doors on their treks across country -- or not. Then there was the community hall that proclaimed "Perogy Supper Today - October 4." 

I rode and rode, knowing that at some point I would come to this sign:

Genesee Hill

The hill was not quite as advertised -- it was so windy going down that I couldn't really get up any speed, and in spite of the headwind, uphill on the other side was not hard at all.

 

The River Valley here is quite bleak. Looks like the wind and frost have already robbed it of all the autumn colours. It was a gorgeous warm day -- about 13 C -- with a brilliant blue sky, and there were some people fishing along the shore, but it was nothing like the riot of colour along the river in Edmonton. Shades of Grey comes to mind.

After I crested the hill on the other side of the river, I rode for a few kilometers, past Genesee Lake and a sweet little picnic ground, and then I started to wonder about Hubby and the boys. I had been riding about two hours, so I thought maybe they were on their way back. I sent a text giving my location and received a text in reply: "Can't find the boys. Construction preventing river access. Not sure how long we'll be."

I stopped and called to ask for more details, only to learn that they still hadn't found a spot to get down to the river. They hadn't seen the boys. They had no idea when they would leave Drayton. I decided to turn around and start riding back. I had forgotten to put my computer on the bike, so I wasn't sure exactly how far I'd ridden, but I thought it must be about 50 K. It looked like I was headed for an unplanned metric century.

I had one bottle of water -- enough for 2 hours, but not really adequate for 100K. (Just last week I had read about how cyclists should down a bottle of water every hour.) I also had a tiny bag (maybe 1/2 cup) of trail mix. And that was it.  

When I rode past the perogy supper sign for the second time, I was really wishing it actually was happening today! And I don't even particularly like perogies.

I kept calm and pedaled on, thinking that Hubby would surely overtake me at any time. But I came to the turn for Parkland Drive and still no sign of him and the boys. When I came to Blueberry School, I decided that would be a good stopping place, and pulled over into the parking lot of the church across the way. I was just contemplating a tour of the cemetery when Hubby drove up. 

Upon my arrival at home, I mapped out my trip on Map My Ride and wasn't sure whether to be pleased or disappointed when I saw I had ridden about 93 km. Of course I was proud of myself for riding that far, especially when I had a cold, but I was also a little disappointed that I hadn't continued for another 7K. Oh well, there will be plenty of nice days, and at least I know now that I can ride 100K on one bottle of water and a little bag of trail mix.