Our alarm went off at 1:30am this morning at home in Newmarket, as we went home from Niagara in order to attend our Canadian citizenship ceremony on Monday in Barrie,ON. Kobie did sleep for 4 hours, but I never went to bed as I was uploading photos on my blog, enjoying the fast internet at home. On tour I learned to count all these taken-for-granted conveniences, and I vowed to never complain so easily about things! We got on the road just after 2am to join up with the tour at 6am in Byron. I slept most of the way.It would be the first time we use our citizen cards to cross the border, and we were amazed at how quick and smooth it went. Two questions only, and in 3 minutes we were on our way again, in stead of being pulled over and having to enter the building to buy I 94's because of our SA passports. The wonder of being Canadians has not properly penetrated to our minds yet!
We arrived at camp at daybreak, but many were already up and moving. I felt very tired and slept in the car for another half an hour. No need to pack lunch because it would be provided 90km into the day, and we had a breakfast sandwich at Tim Hortons earlier before crossing the border. It was quite and cyclists wore long sleeves. I set out at 7:45ish at a calm pace into the beautiful morning. Gradually it heated up, and the ride became one of the loveliest on the tour. Green fields, lush farms, quaint little villages with century homes, and roads that were in fair condition for the most part! I happened to ride behind Nathan Beach, and we started chatting about South Africa after he congratulated me on becoming a Canuck. Keeping up a fair pace, we discussed current and historical poverty issues there and the numerous contributing factors that keep people poor, as well as famine challenges in the third world.
At about 40km we went through the town of Avon and saw that the coffee shop there had swallowed up dozens of cyclists. I stopped for a break, and soon suffered from an intense cramp in my right foot, which took the best part of an hour to go away! Outside of Avon I came across a striking memorial for a loved one that died on his bike at that spot. The cyclist's jersey was there, as well as a small cross and a road bike painted white, with a message of caution attached. Striking!
The lunch catered by East Palmyra CRC was great - sloppy Joes with lots of salads, fruit, ice pops and pop. Some,like Gayle, jumped on the trampoline in pairs with lots of fun. Some cyclists were sighing because of the many sharp hills we had to climb today. I hardly notice these climbs anymore, as I just gear down, stand up and get them over without any fuss. After Geneva the road went along the shore of one of the finger lakes, Seneca. This was a day without haste, full of moments that will last a lifetime in my spirit! At peloton, Pastor Len asked us to start formulating and share in the small groups what the tour meant to each of us. A difficult assignment... how can one capture 9 amazing, life changing weeks in a sentence or two?
Kobie was already back and I was glad to catch a quick nap in the car again. Tonight a great surprize awaited us at dinner. The kitchen ladies were so very, very kind to celebrate our citizenship with the whole group. They decorated the wall with balloons, a "Proud to be Canadian" poster, an "I am Canadian" T-shirt, and delicious cake for us all. One cake said: "Congratulations, Kobie and Marti!". We were blown away! Thank you Ladies...you're the best!!! We feel humbled by the affectionate response of the group....What a great community we are having here....so sad that such great things need to end too!We sure hope to keep in touch with the great friends we were privileged to get to know on the fabulous Sea to Sea tour of 2008!
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