Heavy Ride

I didn't buy my first bike until I was about 35. Before then, I had bikes that my parents had given me when I was younger or I borrowed my father's bike.

While DW and I had been dating, we wanted to go on a bike ride but I was living on my own by then and I didn't have a bike, and I didn't want to borrow my father's. DW's dad collected old bikes and took parts from one to improve another, and he built me a bike that I could use.

It was a mountain bike but also used parts from road bikes. I called it a Frankenbike because of how crude it looked, but it worked.

I still have that bike to this day.

The problem in cycling with DW and the Frankenbike was that she had a light, though antiquated, road bike. When we rode together, she often left me in the dust.

The Frankenbike was so heavy that in the early 2000s, I decided to buy a new bike. I think I might have hurt DW's dad's feelings, as he went to the trouble to build me a bike, but it was just too heavy to ride, especially on my commutes to work. I'd be so tired by the time I reached the office that I felt sluggish the whole day, and then I had to ride home, where I was done for the day.

My new bike was a hybrid: it was strong enough to go off-roading (like I ever did that) but light enough to ride to work. It had shock absorbers in the front forks and in the seat stem, affording a comfortable ride.

Rather than retire the Frankenbike, DW started using it when we'd ride together on trails. While she acknowledged that it was a beast of a bike, it was rugged on paths that made her road bike, with its thin tires, a challenge.

We also hooked a trailer hitch to the back of the Frankenbike, when the kids were too young to ride bikes of their own, and I'd pull them in a rear stroller. Let me tell you, that was one incredible workout!

DW and the kids, with the Frankenbike on the grass.

I rode my hybrid Schwinn to work a couple of times a week during the summer months. In 2008, I even used it for a Try-a-Tri event, where I swam 100 metres, cycled 12 kilometres, and ran (if you want to call what I did "running") three kilometres.

Try-a-Tri with my Schwinn, 2008.

I didn't break any speed records in that event but the bike was reliable and comfortable.

I didn't buy my road bike until 2011 and it was a game-changer. Light and fast, I started riding longer routes. I participated in four Rideau Lakes Cycle Tours and joined the Ottawa Bike Club. Over the past few years, I have a regular, 42K route that I refer to as my "short ride."

At the start of the 2014 Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour and my road bike.

In about a week, DW and I will be joining some friends on the Petit Train du Nord route, a 200K cycling route through the Laurentians, following an old rail line from Mont Laurier to St. Jerome, just north of Montreal.

The trek will take us four days, and DW and I have decided that we will carry everything we need on our bikes. There's an option to have your luggage shuttled from one rest stop to another, and our friends are doing that, but we want to put everything on our bikes.

We've had racks for the back of our bikes for years. I've had a rectangular case that I've strapped to the back, in which I've carried everything from snacks to rain gear to camera equipment. I'll be taking it on this trip.

We've also bought panniers that will clip to each side of the rack, and we also have clip-on baskets for the front of the bike. It's a bit of a PITA to get on, with our front cables in the way, but once it's on, there's no issue.

To test our packs and see how our bikes handle this rigging, DW and I went on a short ride (shorter than my "short ride") and packed like we were on the Petit Train du Nord ride. We stuffed clothes, rain gear, shoes, and toiletry bags into the panniers; I packed my camera gear and chargers into the rear pack; I placed my drone, controller, and spare batteries in the front basket; and I clamped my Insta360 camera and selfie stick onto the handlebars.

Thus loaded, the bike the Frankenbike seem like a featherweight.

We cycled from Barrhaven to Bruce Pit, testing roads, paved cycle paths, and gravel trails. On the return ride, we cycled up a couple of hills that were about as steep as any rail trail would get—though, not for nearly as long as what we anticipate we'll encounter in the Laurentians.

The bikes handled well and we didn't have any issues on the climbs. We'll do a couple more of these rides before we head out with our friends but we feel confident that we'll be able to ride with all of our stuff.

At Bruce Pit.

Stay tuned.