It's been a wild few days. After I nursed the crippled bike into Belleville, my bad luck was offset by getting to enjoy a semi-rest day at my parents who live nearby. In the end I had to buy a new wheel and then spent the afternoon working on the bike and doing a couple short test rides to make sure everything was working. Yesterday, it was back on the road, restarting where I left off in Belleville.

A long, hot 186km ride into Toronto in 8 hrs 44 mins (with another flat... but just a nice normal one) got me home just as a bbq to celebrate my progress so far was getting started. What a great evening with so many friends. I think I may have re-hydrated with a few too many beers!

I want to thank everyone for coming. It's been lonely out on the road, and admittedly, I was pretty down after all the problems the other day, so last night was a real pick me up. Special thanks to Marie, Phill, and others who helped Carmel with all the cooking and other fussing while I lazed around.

Now I have to get back on the road before I get too comfortable here. However, after the late night and with all this heat, I'm definitely going to be dialing my effort back a notch and taking a few easier days to recover before the next big push into northern Ontario. From here I head towards Tobermory and the ferry to Manitoulin and on up to the Trans Canada.

Totals to date... 14 days of riding from St John's to Toronto...2,338 km (avg 167 km per day)... and I'm now basically 1/3 done.