We left today with a little bit of concern as to whether or not we could make it to Kingston. We told ourselves that if we were not up for it, we could stop someplace sooner. The weather did not help, as it started to rain as we were packing up our panniers and making some minor adjustments to the bikes. Fortunately, the rain stopped just as we were heading out. It was 10:45am before we were packed and ready to leave.
Riding in light rain isn’t bad. It seems like it would be uncomfortable, but if the temperature is right and you have the right gear, it is actually pretty pleasant. I’m finding that I am very happy that the bikes have fenders. It certainly makes riding in the rain more pleasant. In the end, the day turned out to be overcast with a few spits here and there but not really any rain.
We instituted a new routine / ritual today. We now ensure that we get off the bikes at least once every hour (it turned out more like 30-45 minutes). When we get off the bikes, if we do nothing else, we must walk around the bikes once clockwise and once counterclockwise. Getting off the bikes tells us if we have any specific muscles that are unhappy and need attention. It seems to help keep our bodies happier.
We arrived in Kingston at about 5:30 pm, and found the bakery that Scott remembered at about 5:50 pm. [Pan Chancho is something of a RLCT cycling tradition, so it seemed wrong not to go there on this bike trip – scd]. We had enough time to grab some take out and head across the street to the coffee shop with Wireless Internet (this is where I did my quick post). At 6:45 pm we headed down to the Wolfe Island Ferry (“The Wolfe Island Ferry is a very nice ferry, it’s a very nice ferry it’s the Wolfe Island Ferry” – thanks to The Arrogant Worms for putting this song in our heads – one of the main reasons we planned our trip via Wolfe Island).
We spent the night camped out in Nancy and Frank’s back yard. Nancy and Frank are a delightful couple and members of the Kingston Unitarian Fellowship. They have a very neat house which has grown from tiny beginnings many years ago to a very unique structure, with lots of little nooks and crannies. Frank has been updating it since they moved in a few years ago, and continues to modify it, with the latest addition being a big skylight.
We had a nice evening chatting about life on Wolfe Island, issues with the planned wind farm (among others – 86 towers in a fairly confined area – Wolfe Island isn’t that big!), and the ballet that is racing sailboats (Nancy races sailboats, so we could share stories).