Day 56- Waterworld

There was a rather boistrous thunderstorm last night, and when I initially woke up at 5 PM neither it nor the heavy rain had subsided, so I went back to bed for a few hours. When I got up the second time it was still raining, but it was time to suck it up and hit the road.

It ended up raining the ENTIRE day, varying from a light rain to a terrential downpour, but never relenting. The winds favoured me for most of the morning, but I was soaked all the way through, and so was my gear, so I was having a pretty rough day. It honestly rained more during today's ride than the rest of this trip's biking time combined. It should be said that today was the closest Ive come to swimming in months. Despite the strong winds and continual downpour, I was in surprisingly good spirits as I cruised along steadily, up and down the large series of hills to Woodstock. After a while I became desensitized to the rain and wind howling at me, so it didnt bother me as I plowed along through the torrent; people looking at me like I was crazy. Rarely have I felt as hardcore as I did braving this weather for 170 KM. The last 50 KM were the hardest, as the winds changed and opposed me and the rain reached a fevered pitch. It felt like I was biking in a hurricane as I nearly blew off the road.

It was an exhaustive and waterlogged day, but I steadily plodded along, and hours later I finally reached the Ketch's house in Woodstock. The Ketchs are good friends of our family, and we first met when we lived in Meaford before eventually ending up in New Brunswick near by each other. I was good friends with their son, Adam, who is my age, but I hadnt seen any of them in a while, so I was quite happy to be there.

My parents were anxious to see me, and I was staying with family friends, so mom, dad, and Matthew came up to visit me and take my gear home, so I will have a light day tomorrow. They even met me on the highway and took the gear for the last 5 KM.

I was pretty shakey when I arrived at the house, so I was happy to relax and talk to my parents and the Ketch's. It was a nice evening after a tough day.

Tomorrow I will finally reach my parents house in Haneytown after nearly two months on the road. I plan to stop into Fredericton for a while to visit friends before heading on my way home.