The Home Stretch

I know Colin personally. Well, I know a Colin personally...

Yes, I'm aware that as of late I haven't been as vigilant with the blog as some of you would like. And, I suppose that's better than hearing you guys tell me that maybe I shouldn't be doing such frequent posting. But the reality of it is that the trip is winding down, and blog-fodder is becoming less and less common.

And it pains me to say that.

Not the blog part - the trip winding down part. I mean, I am at the point where I'm ready to come home, as 5 weeks has indeed been a very long time. That said, as I lay on the beach today, eating fresh baguette smeared in cheese the likes of which one could never find in Canada, drinking wine and soaking in le soleil, it occurred to me that I could probably do this for the rest of my life.

But not the blog part...

So, it is with a heavy heart that I begin to make my way back toward London and inevitability. Suzy (the one that's done every km with me) has to be returned. And an airplane fuelled by heavy doses of reality awaits me at the airport.

Suzy... she may have a little junk in the trunk, but she
was the perfect girl for me.

But first, perhaps a little reminiscing about the trip is in order. The first fifteen days were pretty heavy on getting kilometres on the bike, alone, seeing as many cities and countries as possible, and ultimately being 'productive'. The last 15 days have been spent with friends, relaxing and straight up enjoying life to it's fullest. In some ways it's been two very different trips, but as a whole it's been unforgettable, and I wouldn't change any part of it if given the chance to do it all over again.


And it's all accumulated in a little town called Saint Malo in the Northwest part of France. I knew pretty early on that I would be trying to meet up with Steph during the last week of my trip, but I never really knew where we were meeting up. I had been hoping for the Strasbourg area, and perhaps a tour of the Northeast. So when she said Saint Malo, honestly, I was more than a little disappointed. I felt like I'd already done the Western part of France, and that things would just be redundant.

I couldn't have been more wrong.

I'm not going to say that this was the best part of my trip - because every bit has been wonderful in it's own unique way - but it has been the epitome of my trip. I rode long, hard days to get here, and once I arrived, I was treated to some of the best food and friends that a person could ask for.

Huge thanks to Anna and her wonderful family.

And really, that is what this trip has been in a nutshell. I'd ride hard and meet up with Dennis and Stacey, and we'd have a wonderful time. Then I'd ride hard again, and meet up with Kenni, and we had a wonderful time. Same with Jen. So really, as much as it pains me to leave, at the end of the day, I couldn't have asked for a better send off to a great trip.