Have you heard of Matthew Hunter, the Nova Scotian swimmer? Well, he’s going to be competing in a triathlon in Nova Scotia next month and he’s asked us to ride with him as part of his training when we come through.
Who could say no to such a request, even if it did fall on a precious rest day.
Matthew and Jol, his dad, (One of Charlie’s 3 brothers) had stayed over at the Bembridge’s home, crashing in their sleeping bags on the couch and floor of the living room. We breakfasted together, Matt practiced on his imaginary bike, 
then we all rode to McDonald’s to meet up with Maura, Jol’s wife, and Carl, a co-worker of Jol’s who were also going to ride. 
Emily, Jol and Maura’s younger daughter and Chantal, Adam and George also came, Chantal acting as the official photographer. Sackville has some lovely trails to cover by bike including the Sackville Waterfowl Park and the Tantramar Marshes. They are mostly flat, a fact I especially appreciated on a rest day. One after another, me bringing up the rear, we wheeled through the parks, marshes and fields, admiring the spectacular sunshiny day and bucolic scenery. 
It was very pleasant except when Matthew fell off his bike, grazing one knee in two places. He was very frustrated and it took some time to encourage him to get back on his bike. It was only last year at an Easter Seals Camp that he learned to ride a bicycle and now he’ll be in a Down Syndrome triathlon, (swimming, cycling and running) in Halifax this August. Admirable! Little George did a little cycling with us too, occasionally needing a “little push”.
We returned to McDonalds, said goodbye to all except Matthew and Jol, stopped at the grocery store to buy groceries to make dinner for the four of us and returned to the Bembridge home. Charlie and I cooked what appears to have become “our specialty ” this tour, spaghetti, salad and bagett. We supplemented this liberally with some of the food Maura had sent along with Jol; cinnamon buns, banana chocolate chip muffins, energy bars, (2kinds!), salads. I’m probably forgetting something too, there was so much. When it was time to say goodbye, Jol left us with all this food. Charlie’s going to have to do some serious chewing down!
Avon, William Bembridge’s mother lives about 10 minutes away and has been coming by to feed the cats. She asked about them and I told her that I’d already fed them and that all three were in at the moment. “Three!”, she chortled. “Carolynn only has two!” The neighbors cat slept in bed with me the night before and seems to want to live here. As I type this she is once again curled up at the foot of the bed. 
Last night though she was out and the other two were inside. At some point I moved my foot and one of them bit it, puncturing the skin on the sole. It looks ok right now and there’s no pain, but I’ll have to watch it.
Memories! When Jol and Matt left, Charlie and I wandered around the town and he told me stories. “See that tree over there….” “When Chris and I were Dons……” “That ridge over there was where a student……”. He was impressed at how nice Sackville looks these days, the pretty plants and flowers, the children’s water park, the many planted trees, the art sculptures, the metal bicycle shaped bike racks. There are also numerous new restaurants and bars. We walked through all of them, eventually going to “Ducky’s” and sitting at the bar. It was pretty empty but several people recognized Charlie and came over to talk. Around 11:40 the place started to hop. Suddenly there were animated people all over the place, and we both, but Charlie especially, enjoyed engaging them in conversation. There’s a blond, blue-eyed Iranian student who wants to meet us for coffee tomorrow. I’d never have guessed his heritage from his appearance. We’ll see if he calls…..
Wendingourway:Across Canada by Bike 2017 
Leave a comment