Day 1: One Down, 30-something to go

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So maybe 30-something to go is not very inspiring, but this was a pretty inspiring and crazy day. We made it from Toronto (ok, we technically started in Pickering) all the way to Brighton, Ontario, a good 130 km away from our starting point.
Our original plan was to make it to Cobourg today (90 km), then go to Belleville tomorrow, and Kingston on Wednesday, but when we got to Cobourg it was only 3 in the afternoon or so, and we figured we were still feeling pretty good, so why not push on? A quick look at the (google) map told us there was a fairly well reviewed motel in Brighton, and that if we finished that today, we might be able to do 110 km tomorrow, and make it all the way to Kingston in 2 days, so fuelled by our excitement, some first-day adrenaline, and a lack of worry-about-burn-out (plus lots of good food along the way), off we went.

Now we're here, and we're exhausted, sore, and sunned-out. Its almost 9 pm, and the plan is to be asleep by then - as long as this post is done by 8:59, we should be fine (one of us is snoring right at this moment...)

Over the course of the day, we had some ups and downs - hills of course! Mostly down actually, but there were a few bad inclines. We also had pretty much constant sun all day, which was not as nice as it might sound, it was hot and dry and tiring. We saw a lot of roadkill, much of it in surprisingly good condition from being in the bike lanes instead of on the road, and we had a lot of fun!

Some awe-inspiring (we hope) statistics: (these were recorded from the bike-computer on Therese's bike)

Departure time: 7:30 am (only half an hour after our intended departure time)
Arrival in Brighton: 5:30 pm (for those of you who are worried about us, most days will be shorter, don't worry)
Total time on bike: 6h 22m (ya, thats a lot of breaks!)
Total distance travelled: 129.53 km (if only the motel was half a km further...)
Average Speed: 20.3 km/h (pretty good, we think)
Top Speed: 52.5 km/h (broke some speed limits, thats for sure)

Anyway, off to bed, hope you all enjoy this, see you tomorrow,

- E and T

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Photos

Brighton
Whew, that was a loooong day!

Cobourg
At this point it was less of a long day.

Comments

[Shira Hart]

July 4
Way to go!!! If you can do Kingston in two days, I can do past Kingston in one, right? I hope day two isn't too hard. The heat here is supposed to be bad. Love ya.

[Alex Leonard]

Day 1
For a 130-km ride, an average speed of 20.3 km/h is very respectable. I'm sure you had your share of breaks in between, but if Therese's bike computer is anything like mine, then elapsed time is only recorded when the bicycle is in motion. I don't know about cycling through the countryside, but I know that when I bike through the city, time accumulated at red traffic lights can really add up. All in all, good first ride! I hope you aren't too stiff for Day 2 - I know I would have trouble matching my speed and endurance after such a long ride.

[Mom]

Good job you two!
Wow, I'm so impressed with your blog , your determination, your strength and stamina. I hope you're able to keep it up for the next 29 or so days. I'm sure you will. I loved reading your blog. Can't wait for the next one! Love yaXXXOOO!

[EandTbikeblog]

Stops included
Thanks for the encouraging messages everyone, keep them coming! Alex: Yes, our computer automatically discounts time stopped :). Our total break time was 3h 38m

[EandTbikeblog]

Way to go!
Hey you two, that was a wonderful start to your trip! Thanks for giving all your fans such great details. I can almost feel the blisters. (This message submitted by Uncle David)

[Shum]

Wow!
Wow guys, that's awesome... +50km/h speeds!!!!!! and not to mention biking (which I prob couldn't do 20k of in one go....)... I cheated on the scroll down and saw that you guys made it to kingston in two days... nuts!