You know the feeling when you’re dancing? You’ve got a rhythm going and you feel elated. The room is swirling; you sing to the music. Then, even after you’ve stopped dancing, you still feel high —  for a time you’ve stepped outside of your thoughts about money, work etc…

This is what a good trip does; this is what people can do for you.

Riding over 700-kms with some 250 riders, we managed to hop from moment to moment — just like dancing– for a week long trip around Lake Ontario and up the St. Lawrence River. You know it won’t last forever, this is only one spot in time, but, because it’s so temporary, you savour the time you have together.

On a particularly hot afternoon, John, Dave and I were ahead of our pack a bit. We’d been riding over a wide gravel and dust for about an hour when we decided to stop and go for a swim. We pulled off to the side of a road and waited under the shade of a tree. When Helen and John arrived, we walked down to the lake, rolled up the bike shorts, and dove in. I cooled down in an instant and came out dust-free.

Unfortunately, wearing bike shamies, much like diapers, it felt like we had sponges in our pants. Helen and I sat on the pic nic table grinding our butts trying to wring out the water in our pants. The families on the beach covered their kids’ eyes. But it didn’t matter, for this week, we were in a bubble. We didn’t notice the outside world and we certainly weren’t a part of it.

That got us into trouble sometimes, however. For those on the trip that went to bed early and were serious about riding hard, we were the class clowns. Stopping in Trenton, after we set up our tents, and ate supper, we pulled out the bevvies- boxes of wine, beer, and my fav, homemade mohitos. John crushed mint and limes into our water bottles and added sprite and vodca. Then we took the party into the dome.

Lynn from Montreal and her daughter Anna brought along a tent made for a baseball team. Sitting on a air mattress, while David played his ukulele, we sung without a care for volume: “in an Octopus’s garden in the shade.”

I will write more about the ride, but tonight, I am too tired to think. www.waterfronttrail.org

Ciao,

Melogna.