Well, it’s the end of the weekend and I’ve put my first 75k on the big bike (not counting Chris bringing the bike home etc… just my mileage). Apart from crashing Dan’s BBQ, one of the first things I did was to go get groceries. Up until now grocery shopping by bike included me squeezing stuff into small bags or tying them precariously to the sides, top and any available edge of the bike. Once I even tied them to the children. Not with the Edgerunner. I just slid the bags in and off we go. The only thing shaky about this picture is my handling the cell phone camera (I can’t believe I got my finger in the shot…).

Our following adventure? Tree planting! A section of Greenbelt between Old Richmond Road and Moodie had suffered forest fires last year and NCC had enlisted Scouts’ help in replanting the area.

One of the shovels fit into the bag completely but the other one was sticking out a bit (you can see it in the picture). I stopped by the side of the road to re-tie it so it does not rattle and a guy sitting on his front porch gave me a bungee cord. How cool is that!

Here is one of the trees we’ve planted, the evergreen in the centre:

The forest floor was covered with trillium leaves. It would be nice to go back in a week or so to see if they are in bloom. The best part is that we were able to stay on paths or residential roads all the way to the southern tip of Kanata. I suppose I always knew it was possible but I never knew how convenient and fun it is to do it.

The bike is surprisingly easy to move even when loaded. I do have a number of adjustments to make though. Good thing I have help.

Tree planing trip was just a warm up for today; the long awaited Cycle for CHEO event!

Yes, we did the 35K route (it was actually 34k, but 35 sounds nicer and my GPS app only captured 31, shrug).

Our regular speed was just above 20km/h though we did hit 30km/h here and there and the two hills (Parliament Hill and Experimental Farm to Traffic Circle) were about 8 to 12km/h. This is only slightly worse than my unencumbered speed on the hybrid so I am pretty impressed with the Edgerunner.

By the end the boys were exhausted. Markus was particularly annoyed with being stuck in the trailer, I think we’ll attach the remaining child seat to Chris’ bike for future rides.

I do not have a picture of Chris or me, but I think we did not look any fresher than the kids.

It is ironic that half of my cycling event pictures involve the minivan, but I was too busy to take pictures while on the bike.

Apart from waving madly at Dan for a brief moment while he was speeding the other way, we did not get to hang out with the rest of the Team Awesome who did the full 70K. Hopefully next year we’ll catch up with them before or after the ride.

Our family collected over $300 which is fantastic. Thanks so much to our wonderful sponsors!