Day 51 – Thornbury to Collingwood (T.D.: 29.6km; S.T.: 1h47min)

Because Caroline is such a popular and well-liked lady, we had a few social stops to make as we drew nearer to Toronto. Today, for example, we would forego our usual 100km daily distance in favour of a quick 30km jaunt to Collingwood, for a visit with our friends Aisha and Aaron. This made for a delightfully relaxed day, which we began by exploring Thornbury’s beautiful waterfront. The turquoise waters of Georgian Bay got our tourist sensibilities charged, so we followed it up with a walk on the beach at Craigleith Provincial Park.

Taking things a step further, we dined in the shadow of Blue Mountain, in the heart of a ski resort. The resort atmosphere depressed us, and we realized that we were happier being cycle tourists, not real tourists, so we continued on to Collingwood.

Here we enjoyed another lovely evening among friends, in another newly-bought house (this leg of the trip felt, at times, like a “young homeowners” tour - and we’ve never felt more childish, our irreverence for the responsibilities of adulthood hung like an albatross around our necks).

Stats:

Av. Spd.: 16.5km/h

Mx. Spd.: 35.0km/h

Amount of guilt we feel for being on a bike trip and not saving up money to buy a home: Not really all that much. I was just being dramatic.