Canadian Cycling Magazine: Tailwinds by the Great Lakes

We started the day with a short ride from my pal Garrett’s place in Camlachie along Old Lakeshore Road to the starting line at Mike Weir Park. I took my phone out to take a team selfie and my screen filled with the sun rising neon orange and pink above Lake Huron. To my right, a hungry heron waded for breakfast and then took flight—portents of a great ride ahead. This past August, we assembled in Sarnia, Ont., about 100 km northeast of Windsor, for the Bluewater International Granfondo (BIG), along with 1,000 riders who signed up for the seventh instalment of the event. At the starting line, a few hundred cleated cyclists downed coffees. A few “hustles” were there—the Toronto Hustle and the Husky Hustle—along with a bunch of other clubs, and some junior cyclists from Uganda who had flown in to ride the event.