We started wondering ourselves if we would have been such good friends if it wasn't for the tour- and I would say the answer is "YES" because these are seriously beautiful people with beautiful hearts. We really lived as a cycling family and looked out for each other. I was so touched the time I saw Matt bike over to a homeless man and give him all the food he had on him. And every time I arrived to camp and saw my tent had already been set up for me by Karyn, Zack, or another teammate. When you're living together in a community 24/7, you really expose yourselves and see a person's true colours shine.
There was so much anticipation and build up for this tour, I had no idea what to expect. Every day seemed to go by slowly, but the weeks flew by in the blink of an eye. And now suddenly it's over :( It really was bittersweet for the tour to come to an end. My first day at home I quickly became depressed as reality set in. My friends and family were all at work, it was raining, and I had nothing to do. For the past 9 weeks I had been surrounded by people all the time and we had a set routine to follow. A coworker from Bayfield called to see if I was ready to come back to work and I eagerly accepted a shift for that day from 3-10pm. The overnight staff called in sick and I eagerly accepted that shift too. I didn't want to sit at home all alone. Since coming home on Monday, I've already worked 5 shifts, and am heading back today for my 6th.
We've been warned from other cyclists to watch what we eat AFTER the tour ends- that's when you gain all the weight. All summer we've gotten used to eating anything and everything because we feel hungry all the time. We hardly felt any guilt taking seconds or thirds of deserts because we knew the calories had already been burned. I wrote out a meal plan for myself and hung it up on the fridge. Nothing too strict, but a lot more strict compared to how I had been eating. It feels good to eat normal portions again, and to get back into running. The first time I went for a run, I could only do 7kms and it felt awkward - using muscles I hadn't been using all summer. Each day I continued doing 7kms and I'm gradually building up to a faster running pace. I plan on still biking as well, but maybe only once a week. And definitely no more 100 mile rides any time soon!
What intimidated me the most about signing up for the tour was the fundraising. Each cyclist doing the full tour needs to raise $10, 000. In Edmonton when I signed up for the Underwear Affair (running 10km in my underwear to raise money for prostate cancer), I only had to raise 300$. I was able to raise 250$, and covered the final 50$ myself, because it's so hard to ask people for money. However, my church community, friends and family were overwhelmingly generous though when I found the courage to fundraise for this tour, and I ended up surpassing my goal and raising $11,740! I'd like to thank EVERYONE for their prayers, donations, and support.
Now that the tour has come to an end, my "traveller's itch" has been temporarily scratched for now and I am ready to settle down. My sister Bethany is pregnant with her second child and alone (hubby is overseas), so I'm going back to Edmonton to help her out. I will never forget the summer of 2013, or the generosity of my community here in Ontario. I hope you enjoyed following my blogs and facebook photo albums/updates. I would strongly encourage anyone and everyone to participate in the next Sea to Sea tour. Thank you and take care <3
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