Buffalo Football Trip

Wanting to keep things low-key, a couple of guys in my wedding party decided to take me out to Buffalo as part of my bachelor party. In the end six guys made the trip including my best man Darryl, my brothers Wojtek and Greg, my friend Stuart and Wojtek's friend Mike B, who coincidentally is getting married a week after us, on Halloween night. Unfortunately, Mike K was not able to make as he had a Blue Jays game to attend that same day, as well as couple of other guys who had passport issues (as in didn't own one). Heather stayed busy today by babysitting Jolene whose parents were at the said Jays game.

Breaking from the norm, today's game was at 4pm as opposed to the usual 1pm. That late start meant that we didn't have to rush to leave. We left at 9am when Wojtek picked me up. We then picked up Mike B, Stuart and Greg. From Kitchener, all five us drove to meet Darryl somewhere around St. Catharines. There we stopped at a local Tim Hortons, changed seating arrangements and continued on our way shortly after 11am. After another stop at the Duty Free to pick up beer and a Styrofoam cooler and an uneventful border crossing, we were at Ralph Wilson Stadium at 1pm. We parked in a lot adjacent to the stadium and proceeded with tailgating until game time.

The tailgating crew: Mike, Greg, Wojtek, Stuart and Darryl.

Our pre-game food consisted of hot dogs, sausages and hamburgers. Along with beer, it made for a pretty standard, but yet excellent, tailgating experience. At some point, Darryl and I made our way towards the stadium to see what the vendors were selling. Even before we reached any vendor tents, we ran into the Buffalo Jills who were selling calendars. Darryl was kind enough to get me a calendar and take a photo of myself with the Jills.

Posing with the Buffalo Jills.

When finally finished with the vendors, I ended up with a Bills hat and t-shirt, while Darryl got a Trent Edwards authentic jersey. We went back to our group and continued partying until about 3:30 when we joined the masses of people heading to the stadium. Wojtek managed to purchase side endzone seats in the lower bowl. Having attended a handful of Bills games in the past, this was the first we weren't in the nosebleeds. What also made it different was the weather (although it rained for most of our drive, it was nothing but sunny throughout the game) and the atmosphere, which was quite different than we were used to. Both Darryl and I commented that we spent most the game on our feet largely due to the jacked up crowd.

In the end, the crowd couldn't help as Buffalo lost to New Orleans Saints 27-7. Buffalo's offense didn't do anything all day as their only touchdown came on a fake field goal. Also of note, Buffalo's stud receiver Terrell Owens didn't catch a single pass thrown his way, thus ending his streak of games with a reception at 185 (that's almost 12 seasons; 3rd longest streak all-time). Add insult to injury, the biggest cheer of the day was at half-time when a scrimmage between a couple of childrens' teams featured a 100-yard fumble return.

Half-time entertainment.

Getting out of the parking lot was challenging at best as it took well over 2 hours to get from the lot to the border. Once in Canada, we made another stop, said goodbye to Darryl and drove home. I finally got home at midnight after an excellent day of good, clean fun with great friends. Couldn't have asked for anything more.

I saw Darryl again on Monday as Heather and I drove to Brantford for supper with Darryl, Erin who were also hosting Imad and his wife, in town from Dubai for a couple of weeks.

Taking the Long Way Home from Cyclefest

It was another early morning as the Cyclefest attendees began heading home. Heather and I said goodbye to her parents then stayed behind to help with the wrap-up. As more and more people were leaving, we also rode off at 11 am. But since we haven't ridden in over three weeks we went for a short ride before getting home at 3 pm.

We rode to Guelph and down towards Hamilton where we stopped at Breezy Corners restaurant, located on Highway 6 north of Hamilton, for breakfast. From there we rode through Dundas, Brantford and Paris and again stopped in Kitchener for ice cream at Marble Slab. I should note that as we were approaching Paris, a group of five Harleys rode by and not a single one of the riders waved. While in Paris, we also rode by the Paris Fair.

Breakfast stop at Breezy Corners on Highway 6.

When we got home, my parents invited us for dinner at Del Dente in Kitchener. We went there for 6 and after a delicious meal, finally arrived home for at 8 to rest after a hectic weekend.

The family at Del Dente in Kitchener.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 170 km - 106 miles
2009 to date: 7,437 km - 4,621 miles (87.5%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 1,063 km - 661 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Cyclefest '09 - Day 3

We arrived at the campground much earlier than yesterday only to find out that we missed a great party last night with an ABBA tribute band providing the entertainment. At 10 am, Kim and Mike arrived with Jolene and McDonald's breakfast offerings for a short visit. A couple of hours later, Heather and I got pulled into a meeting with Waterloo Wings where the future of Cyclefest was being discussed. After 30 years of staging this great event, some people were getting tired and decided to hand the reigns off to somebody else. Sadly, because no other group stepped forward, this was Jolene's first and last appearance at an official Cyclefest. There still may be somebody willing to revive this Labour Day tradition under a different banner but the name Cyclefest would be retired gracefully after 30 long years.

Mike, Jolene and Kim visiting Cyclefest.

Kim and Mike had already left by the time the meeting wrapped up so we took Sandy and rode closer to the covered bridge for some photo ops.

In front of the covered bridge in West Montrose.

The afternoon continued with the annual Bike Games. I even participated in the balloon toss but came up just short. As the games were going on, we also helped with the preparations for tonight's banquet which was catered by the Grand Valley Golf Club. The Waterloo Wings provided cakes afterwards for those in need of a dessert option.

Wendy and Todd at the dessert table.

At the conclusion of the dinner, the evening moved onto the award ceremony. Heather and I were chosen to present awards for the observation run. The proceedings turned very emotional as the Waterloo Wings proclaimed an end to Cyclefest. There were many tributes throughout the night with a special award presented to Kevin and Maysey who have spearheaded Cyclefest for all of its 30 years.

Kevin and Maysey being awarded for the services.

The night concluded with a slide show and a gathering by the campfire. There were already some ideas being discussed for the next Labour Day weekend but everyone was still sharing their memories of previous Cyclefest.

Cyclefest '09 - Day 2

Heather and I slept overnight at home since we wanted to properly prepare ourselves for Dennis & Diana's wedding today. We showed up at the campground at 10 expecting to go for breakfast with Heather's parents. However, they got pulled into leading a group on the poker run so we'd have to do breakfast alone. After mingling with the rally-goers for about an hour we left the campground and went to the Black Forest Inn in Conestogo. It's worked many times before so why change now. The brunch was great as usual.

We arrived at the Blessed Sacrament church in Kitchener well before the 1 pm scheduled start of the wedding ceremony. Regardless of our early arrival, we found the groom and his groomsmen already waiting in the lobby. We chatted with Dennis as well as Remi for a while before proceeding to our seats. Since Remi was also in the wedding party, he asked that I hold on to his camera for the duration of the day. I agreed and decided instead to use his camera all day and then just have him send me the photos. Remi owns a Canon that is at least a couple of steps above what I use.

The ceremony started pretty much on time and lasted about an hour. Afterwards, the wedding party assembled outside for a group photo and a receiving line. Somehow, Heather and I ended up right at the front of the line to congratulate the newlyweds. Since the reception wasn't until 6 we went to visit Kim and Mike in Cambridge for a couple of hours. We stayed until 5:20 before leaving for the Armenian Hall in Cambridge. We found ourselves sitting at a table with Remi's parents, Dennis' friend Justin and his parents and another couple.

The reception started right at 6 but because there were nearly 300 guests, the party didn't start until 10. In the meantime, we enjoyed the various food that was put in front of us. That included a soup, salad, fish with rice, steak with potatoes and dessert. There was also a midnight table loaded with seafood, cakes and other goodies but I decided against it. Heather and I partied until 1 in the morning. Congratulations Dennis and Diana!

Cyclefest '09 - Day 1

Today was sort of a special day for us as we finally decided to get a marriage license. After doing some price shopping last night, we settled on the town of Ingersoll which is just under an hour away from our home. What's amazing is that the price of a marriage license varies from town to town and my survey of prices from about 10 local towns showed that only two came in under $100, Ingersoll being one of them. That is in comparison to $130 asking price by the City of Waterloo.

Unfortunately, since I had to work, Heather took her mother to Ingersoll. I found out later in the afternoon that Heather had no problems obtaining the license. She even said that the clerk mentioned that a lot of people from our parts make the drive to Ingersoll to save $30-40 on a marriage license.

I finally made my way to the West Montrose Campground, only about 15 minutes away from home, at about 6. My first job was to help out the registration table with t-shirt sales.

Wendy, Mitch and Maysey at the registration table.

That lasted about an hour since we all left for the Robinsons' annual Friday night dinner at the Gorge Restaurant in Elora.

After a great meal, we went back to the campground where we stayed for a short time before heading home. Heather and I decided to sleep home since tomorrow we were going to a friend's wedding.

On the eve of Cyclefest 30

Tomorrow marks the official beginning of another Cyclefest. This event started out as a gathering in a backyard in 1979 with the name Cyclefest starting in 1980. Heather's first Cyclefest was in 1982 when she was just in her second year. She missed a couple more along the way but this year's will be her 26th. 2009 will be different for both of us as for the first time we will be involved in running this great event. The club organizing this event, the Waterloo Wings, was gracious enough to adopt us as members and we were more than happy to help stage Cyclefest.

Since we both had plans in the evening, I quickly went after work to set up our tent in our usual spot next to Heather's parents who had already arrived. I stayed for only 20 minutes or so before taking off for Mississauga where me and eight other guys (including a phone-in from Dubai) had our annual fantasy football draft. Heather was busy this evening with yet another fitting at Taylor's in Elmira. I left Mississauga after 9:30 but didn't arrive home until midnight from what usually is no more than an hour-long drive. We decided to stay at home tonight since I was working tomorrow and Heather was running some out of town errands.