Wednesday October 12th – Thursday October 13th
On Wednesday we awoke in the pouring rain but figured since we were camping 45 km from our start point we might as well drive to our marker and see what the weather was like closer to the 401. It turned out to be a good decision as we soon drove out of the deluge and had reasonable skating weather from the get go.
Mark had a very difficult morning, after many days of skating in a row since our last break in Ottawa his body was worn down and his spirits were low. Adding to his misery the Lakeshore Road had turned to a very rural, very rough road that made every stride difficult. We took a mid-morning break and re-examined all options, and ultimately decided to cut back to the north side of the 401 where we found much better road.
Despite feeling worn down, Mark knew how close we were getting to the finish line and how tight the time frame was getting, and toughed it out and pushed on to skate a very good distance with Cam for the morning session into Bowmanville. We only took a quick break as we knew it was supposed to start raining in the early evening, and after a quick bike Mark and Matt hopped out and continued skating on a bike trail through Bowmanville and then back out through country roads, and across the 401 for the final time to the south side where we cruised through Darlington Provincial Park to the outskirts of Oshawa where we called it a day.
Despite feeling worn early on, Mark managed to battle through and put in a very solid day to get us to our destination. Wednesday we got inside the final 100 kilometers to Weston Lions Arena which is definitely a cause for celebration and yet another marker showing that the trip is coming to an end.
The Oshawa Best Western was kind enough to sponsor us with 2 nights accommodation, and invited us for a spaghetti dinner as part of their guest appreciation night – thanks very much for the support!
On Thursday we again awoke to rain but waited it out until 10:30 am and we were rewarded with clear skies and even some sun. Mark and Cam strapped up to get us started for the last full skating day for the campaign, and Mark was feeling much more energized this morning knowing we were on the outskirts of Toronto.
We wove along the Lakeshore Bike Trail that followed the shore of Lake Ontario and provided fantastic views as we travelled through Oshawa, Ajax, and Pickering until we finally crossed into Scarborough and officially entered the GTA. It was a fantastic skate from the outskirts of Oshawa to the end of Lawrence Avenue, and the familiar sights of the TTC buses and the City of Toronto emblem on various signs made the team feel like we were truly home.
Since we were in Scarborough we were able to stop by Matt’s grandparents house to say hi which was a great surprise visit. Matt’s Nan has only recently purchased a computer and has been enjoying following the campaign through this blog – so she was very excited to meet Mark and paraded him around to her neighbours.
We had to cut our visit short as were invited to dinner by the North Oshawa Lions Club. The Lions made the team a nice dinner, and then Mark spoke about his story, the campaign, and Courage Canada and the Lions made a generous donation to support the cause – thank you very much it was a wonderful evening.
We returned to the Oshawa Best Western where we again had our room sponsored for the night, and did some work but headed to bed early with a big day tomorrow. Mark and the team will be up bright and early heading to our lead sponsor Accessible Media Inc’s offices where we will be doing an event with their staff and students who are visually impaired from the Toronto District School Board.
The Toronto media has really started to pick up on the story and Mark is also swamped with interview requests so look for him on the news, and then we will have to get to some skating in the late afternoon so we are all set for Saturday’s arrival at noon at the Weston Lions Arena. It’s been a busy 48 hours, and the next 48 promise to be even busier as we wrap up the Courage Canada Halifax 2 Toronto Campaign.
Stay tuned…
