DAY 1: ROCKTON - CLIFFORD Relocating our gear to the large picnic shelter a little after 8am, adjacent to the Beverly Community Centre Building, we waited out the weather until 11am. We rode through the consistent rain for over an hour — I noticed that my front splash-guard directs all water (when there is a substantial amount on the road) straight onto my shoes. Needless to say my shoes filled up with water and where wet for the rest of the day. My shoes performed well, going from saturated to damp within 2-hours of riding (I was very happy!).

Barring any unforseen arisings, I will be departing on the oft-referred-to ride to Tobermory this afternoon. The late start is due to circumstance and it will make for around 90km today I guess (or less) and I expect to be camping somewhere around Elora.

With the Tobermory ride put back again, I had the time to ride out to Caledonia, see what was happening first hand, talk to people and indicate my support for Six Nations. It was my first rode-only ride of any distance of late — 30km each way. I decided to attach my fully loaded trailer to give it a good run over some distance and with the necessary direct climb up the Niagara Escarpment it would give me a good indication of how I would travel with it.

After days of strong winds alongside the intermittent rain, I was quite antsy to get on my bike. That the ride to Tobermory is looking like having a Wednesday start (the forecast is nice) I also wanted to get some kms behind me. So I went for a bit of a ride this afternoon!