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Two Guys on Bikes (TGOB) was formed around a simple idea: we start at a specific location and we bike to another specific location. It is very much in the spirit of your morning commute, you start at home and end up at work. Except if you do it the way we do it, you may not make it to the office until three in the afternoon, and the office may not be the right office.
Let me explain by recapping our short history of rides...
Trip No. 1
From: The Brickworks, to: The Beach.
We started the day an hour late (I was looking at recumbent bike websites. Don't judge me!)
We met at Sean's house where he teased me for being late, because he is always punctual and on time. Not! After he got it out of his system we rode like mad down Pottery Road. Sean wanted to off-road down a rough trail along the train tracks. I followed on my cruiser weary of sharp rocks that could cause flats. Of course it was Sean who got a flat. Again.
We figured that we could fix the flat by pumping more air into it with a borrowed high tech pump with a PSI gage. It worked, for a while at least. The bicycle pump fascinated Sean, he had never seen such a device!
So off we went to Velotique - a really cool bike accessories only store. There we stood for about an hour and watched Sean drop hundreds on his new pump, polyurethane jacket, power bars, repair manuals and spoke cleaner fluid. Then we went home.
Mission Failed
Trip No. 2.
From: The Brickworks, to: Edward Gardens.
Ok ... so this time we were more serious. We were to meet at the Brickworks. This time I was up early and ready to rock! (I avoided all bike related websites.)
I arrived early at the Brickworks farmers market and readily consumed a breakfast of 5 organic mini-potatoes from a tiny coffee cup, and it only cost me 5 bucks! A steal!
I awaited the sight of my bike-pals among the many SUVs being parked by their no-doubt eco-conscious farmers market visitors. The bike gang arrived together in a mass of arguing over who had the keys for the bike locks. After some breakfast and Sean issuing a warning to a stilt-walker (don't ask), we took off on our bikes in high spirits. We traveled north along the Don River paths, the wind in our hair, the sun upon our faces, it was so sweet! We coasted in silence and just took in the ride. And then Sean got a flat tire. Again. So we walked our bikes up to a Canadian Tire to purchase a tire and the tools to repair a flat.
Mission Failed
Trip No. 3.
From: The Brickworks (oh man...again?), to: The Leslie Street Spit.
This time I opted out of the Brickworks and had brunch with a friend, Mark "The Western Canon", at Toast. This is a fantastic Queen East eatery. There Mark diagnosed me with Midway Disease, based on my fear of amusement parks. I looked for it on the Internets later that day, but could not find it. I think he just made it up.
While we were munching on home fries, the boys were in crisis. Eli, Sean's partner, fell of his bike at some speed and cut and bruised his lower extremities. After some on-site First Aid consisting of Oak Leaves and Sean's spit (ewww...) he was back on the bike and the boys continued on to meet with me at Mercury Espresso Bar, where I was onto freshly squeezed lemonade.
After some more proper First Aid on the patio for Eli, we all settled into coffee and conversation. Three hours later we remembered the Spit - our destination! We waved goodbye to The Western Canon and slid toward the lake through the old school streets of Lesliville.
The Spit was full people riding their bikes, walking, and running. Some shirtless, some not. Sean continued to point out that "we are riding on garbage" and I shared a personal hygiene story best left off this post. We arrived at the lighthouse in good spirits, watched some sailboats, and then Sean competed with other crazies on mountain bikes. We left with an unusual feeling of satisfaction pointed our bikes back toward the city for a celebratory drink and dinner. Simple.
Mission Accomplished!
And it only took us 8 hours to ride 2 KM.
