Nigeyy
Legendary Member
- Location
- Massachusetts, USA
So I've just abandoned my tour that I really looked forward to, and have been planning for months. It's not something I like to admit to, and I'm not proud to say I did but heck, I think I made the right decision. 30 miles in I'd had enough, and turned back to the airport. I had planned to cycle about 200 miles in Southern Ontario. Let me count the ways it didn't work out the way I thought:
1. heat. I've never been hotter in my life. Temperatures were 38'C, with high high humidity -in fact some towns recorded their highest ever recorded temperature. I never had a chance to cool down. As much water as I drank, it just disappeared through my pores. But it's worse: there is a complete absence of shade Windsor, Ontario - London, Ontario and environs. So while the temperature was stinking hot, it was made worse by the fact I couldn't even get into a shaded area. I boiled and the sun was extremely strong and constant.
2. and I was very concerned about getting water; I cycled close to 20 miles without a sign of a shop. I know there probably were shops somewhere -I just didn't see them.
3. head wind -sure leaving it was OK, but everytime I turned around or changed direction I was acutely aware of the strong south westerly wind. Cycling 100 miles against a head wind just didn't seem to be appealing, and it was exhausting even cycling back to the airport because of it.
4. road conditions -I thought it would be relatively quiet on the road -wrong! Traffic was constant even on the smaller roads. And pretty much all the roads were long and straight tempting drivers to put their foot down. While there was a shoulder, it was too difficult to cycle on, and at the same time I felt as though I was stuck out in the road. Some of the lorries didn't seem to want to steer around me, that's for sure.
5. Solar glare. If I was going to cycle as much as possible in the early morning cool (OK, that's relative, it's still hot all the way through the night) then I would have been cycling into the sun. A dangerous thing to do on a long, flat straight road that is relatively narrow.
6. Campground difficulty. Campgrounds are miles and miles apart, and they are somewhat of a misnomer. In fact they are caravan parks. Worse, since it's so flat with no trees and everywhere is built on or farmed, I couldn't easily find anywhere to camp without being within eyesight of a house or on private property. I ended up "emergency" camping in the corner of a field the first night, and even then I didn't dare put up my tent until it was dark -just not enjoyable at all.
7. Scenery. Wow it's flat out there -and very disappointingly, mile 30 looked exactly the same as mile 3,8, 14, 21, etc -you get the picture. I've never cycled a place where the road was so straight and it disappeared into a heat haze as far as the eye could see. Yes, given all the above, I got really disheartened -I like a change of scenery!
So there you have it: tour abandonment. I've got to admit as disappointed as I was, I do think I made the right decision. I reckon I would have got some serious heatstroke out there or -given my plans -a too high of a probability of getting hit -all for some pretty boring scenery (sorry southern Ontarians, but it is!). I've always said to myself that if I'm not enjoying it, why do it? On the bright side, the Canadians I met (very few since they were all inside air conditioning) were very nice.
Sorry, southern Ontario in hot weather not recommended
1. heat. I've never been hotter in my life. Temperatures were 38'C, with high high humidity -in fact some towns recorded their highest ever recorded temperature. I never had a chance to cool down. As much water as I drank, it just disappeared through my pores. But it's worse: there is a complete absence of shade Windsor, Ontario - London, Ontario and environs. So while the temperature was stinking hot, it was made worse by the fact I couldn't even get into a shaded area. I boiled and the sun was extremely strong and constant.
2. and I was very concerned about getting water; I cycled close to 20 miles without a sign of a shop. I know there probably were shops somewhere -I just didn't see them.
3. head wind -sure leaving it was OK, but everytime I turned around or changed direction I was acutely aware of the strong south westerly wind. Cycling 100 miles against a head wind just didn't seem to be appealing, and it was exhausting even cycling back to the airport because of it.
4. road conditions -I thought it would be relatively quiet on the road -wrong! Traffic was constant even on the smaller roads. And pretty much all the roads were long and straight tempting drivers to put their foot down. While there was a shoulder, it was too difficult to cycle on, and at the same time I felt as though I was stuck out in the road. Some of the lorries didn't seem to want to steer around me, that's for sure.
5. Solar glare. If I was going to cycle as much as possible in the early morning cool (OK, that's relative, it's still hot all the way through the night) then I would have been cycling into the sun. A dangerous thing to do on a long, flat straight road that is relatively narrow.
6. Campground difficulty. Campgrounds are miles and miles apart, and they are somewhat of a misnomer. In fact they are caravan parks. Worse, since it's so flat with no trees and everywhere is built on or farmed, I couldn't easily find anywhere to camp without being within eyesight of a house or on private property. I ended up "emergency" camping in the corner of a field the first night, and even then I didn't dare put up my tent until it was dark -just not enjoyable at all.
7. Scenery. Wow it's flat out there -and very disappointingly, mile 30 looked exactly the same as mile 3,8, 14, 21, etc -you get the picture. I've never cycled a place where the road was so straight and it disappeared into a heat haze as far as the eye could see. Yes, given all the above, I got really disheartened -I like a change of scenery!
So there you have it: tour abandonment. I've got to admit as disappointed as I was, I do think I made the right decision. I reckon I would have got some serious heatstroke out there or -given my plans -a too high of a probability of getting hit -all for some pretty boring scenery (sorry southern Ontarians, but it is!). I've always said to myself that if I'm not enjoying it, why do it? On the bright side, the Canadians I met (very few since they were all inside air conditioning) were very nice.
Sorry, southern Ontario in hot weather not recommended
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