Days 31 to 33: Three More Rest Days in Toronto

I stayed at Don’s house for three more days since my last blog post.

On Tuesday, the new wheel arrived at the bike shop. Since Thomas doesn’t deal with tubeless tires I had to put on the tire myself. Taking off the tire from the old wheel was painless, but putting it on the new wheel was not. In the end, Thomas helped me put on the tire with a tire lever. He made it look so easy. I was able to install a different valve stem since the one I had before was faulty and leaked air. The handlebar was also out of alignment due to the accident and Thomas was able to adjust it. In the end, my bike was revived. Serendipity rides again!

In the late afternoon, the hooks for my Ortlieb panniers also arrived. The website indicated a shipping time of 3 to 9 days, but it arrived the next day after Don ordered it on Monday. I was so surprised. Now everything is fixed and I’m very glad.

I told Don that I’ll leave on Friday morning to Whitby since I have everything I needed. He said that I can stay an extra week if I want. I feel if I stay here any longer I won’t want to ride my bike anymore so I must get going. Don joked that he can adopt me so I can become a Canadian citizen and have free healthcare. I don’t know about that since I’m a 41 years old grown man.

That afternoon, Don’s friend Linda came to the house and we had pasta for dinner on the front porch. Linda was Don’s student when Don was a high school French teacher. She has traveled to over 70 countries and her favorite place that she’s been to is Papua New Guinea since it’s so different from any other place. Linda works as a manager in compliance at American Express. Very smart and easy to talk to. We had a great time chatting about traveling and she gave me some recommendations for Türkiye.

On Wednesday, Don drove us to his niece’s farm in Springwater Township. The ride was almost two hours by car. I enjoyed sitting in the open top convertible, watching the farm fields go by, and listening to a mix of Don’s music in the car.

I met Don’s niece Donna and her husband Harry, along with their friendly dog Susie. Donna and Harry live on a 100 acre farm. I think that’s the largest farm I’ve ever been. We all had sandwiches for lunch. I ate the most since my body was still craving for food even though I had stopped cycling a few days ago. I might gain back the ten pounds that I had lost during cycling if I keep eating like this.

Harry gave me a tour of his farm. The farm has four horses, two small ones and two big ones. They grow soy beans and wheat, with some hay for the horses. I told Harry that I can never own a farm since I’m such a minimalist and I was impressed by Harry’s skills since he built a barn and another house on a different property all by himself. He reminded me of Dan from Portland, PA, whom I had met earlier on my trip. I feel people who are self-learners like Harry and Dan are very rare and they are very interesting to talk to and learn from.

When Don and I came back to the house that afternoon, we had Domino’s pizza for dinner and chatted with Don’s neighbors, Judy and Doug. I realized that Don has many friends indeed. There’s always someone he can talk to and his phone rings all the time from his friends. Judy also gave me a bag of snacks for the upcoming ride and some vegetables for me to eat. She’s so nice!

Yesterday, I didn’t do much since it was raining on and off. I thought about going to downtown Toronto to explore more since I’ve only been there for one day, but I decided to hang out with Don during my last full day.

We decided to watch the movie Forrest Gump since Don thinks I remind him of that character.

In the late afternoon, another one of Don’s friends came by. Her name is Susan and she has known Don for over 50 years. Don cooked some honey garlic sausages, vegetables, and fish for dinner. I can see that Don is never lonely. Old yes, lonely no. I hope I’ll have that many close friends when I get to be 83 years old.

Today, I’ll be leaving for Whitby in the morning. I feel like I could spend an extra few days here in Toronto, but I’ll most likely be bored if I stay in Don’s house.

Don had asked me what’s my weakness. I told him that I get bored easily. Maybe that’s why I enjoy bicycle tours because everyday is different.

I hope to return to Toronto in the near future to visit Don. Don invited me to The Philippines since he’ll be there seven months out of the year, but the road infrastructure isn’t good there for cycling. Anyway, I’ll have to see.

Overall, I enjoyed my time here with Don. I couldn’t ask for a nicer person to be hit with a car. I’m just glad I’m fine and Don’s OK, too. Very happy to see an unfortunate event turned out well.

I buried the dead sparrow, hoping that it went to bird heaven.

A blue jay also likes walnuts.

Don and Linda

Harry and Donna

Me and the two small horses

Donna and her dog Susie

Harry showing me his farm.

Don's neighbors, Doug and Judy

The bruise on my leg turned darker.

Susan and Don