Soccer Season Wrap-up

After 3+ months of practices, scrimmages and warm-up games, the season ending tournament finally arrived for my Under-17 team. Due to a combination of factors, such as injuries, family vacation and a lack of interest, I had to resort to asking for call-ups from the U-15 team. The coach of the Navy team (same colours as ours), Kendall, promised as many as five players but only his daughter, Shay, appeared for any games. I still thank him for trying.

We played our first game on Thursday but lost 4-1. In the process, we also lost one of our key players, Amy, to injury after she suffered a bruised ankle. She would not play in any more games this weekend.

On Friday, only eight players managed to show up but the girls fought hard and eventually came up short in a 3-1 loss. Even though we lost the first two games, I was still optimistic that we would turn it around and be one of the four teams to play on Sunday for the championship.

In an amazing turn of events, 13 players showed up for an 8:30 game on Saturday morning. After a slow start, the girls picked up the pace in the second half and scored twice to win 2-0. We still had a chance for semifinals but we needed help.

The team again played an amazing game at 11:30 that ended up 3-1 in our favour. In the end, we finished tied for third place with two other teams but didn't make it to Sunday's play on a tie-breaker. Our 8 goals allowed were more than the other two teams who had 6 & 7 goals allowed. We missed the semifinals by one goal. A very tough end to the season. However, on a positive note, we would end up, along with the eventual champion, as the only two teams out of eight to finish with a two-game winning streak.

Special thanks to Hailey, Amy, Rebecca, Alyssa, Olivia, Stephanie, Yasmin, Kristen, Nicky, Kaylyn, Isabel and Jill for participating in the tourmanent and making my first season very special. Also thanks to Shay, Jenna and Katie for helping us this weekend. And of course thanks to Heather for helping me during the season.

Home from the Freedom Rally

It was another gloomy morning in Sudbury. It was overcast and the rain was quickly approaching. Despite that, we decided not to wear our rain suits. The breakfast was identical to yesterday's and after saying our goodbyes, we were on the road at 9:20 am. Just as we were leaving, a light rain started to fall. Light rain continued to fall for about 25-30 miles to French River. After French River, the road condition gradually improved from wet to completely dry by the time we reached Parry Sound. And wherever we could, we tried to go at a very fast pace.

We stopped in Parry Sound to get fuel only and continued riding home. As we've done in the past, we exited Highway 400 at Vasey Road and continued through Elmvale. At one point for a couple of miles the road turned from pavement to gravel which caught us by surprise. Hopefully it won't be there next time.

At 12:30 we made our mandatory stop at the Midhurst Coffee Shop in Midhurst. We both had scrambled eggs with french toast and I also helped the shop turn its lights off as they closed at 1 pm on this holiday Monday.

We left Midhurst and rode through some back roads taking one detour thanks to constructions before reaching Highway 89 somewhere between Alliston and Airport Road. At 89, the traffic picked up and stayed that way as we continued on Highway 10. From Highway 10, we took a side road in order to avoid Orangeville and rode through some empty back roads until we reached Fergus. At one point we even saw three deer cross the road just as we were turning left off the road they crossed. Also, the stretch from Parry Sound to Fergus was probably the longest documented between fuel stops at just a hair under 250 km.

We filled up one last time in Fergus and arrived home minutes before 4 pm, both very tired after a long ride and a very awesome weekend.

Finally home.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 446 km - 277 miles
2009 to date: 6,850 km - 4,257 miles (80.6%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 1,650 km - 1,025 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Freedom Rally '09 - Day 3

Today's morning was very nice. There were only a few clouds in the sky and the sun was shining bright. That, of course, was going to change later in the afternoon. We were lucky enough to avoid rain during yesterday's ride although we noticed a change from clear to overcast sky as we rode through French River.

Heather and I went to the hall around 8 am for some breakfast. The choices consisted of toast, muffins, fruit cups, Timbits and so on. I especially enjoyed the strawberry-rhubarb fruit cup. We decided to go for a short ride in the morning to look for some towers. The ride lasted about 2 hours and we also stopped at Chapters in Sudbury to pick up a couple of magazines, and Canadian Tire to fuel up for the ride home. While at the gas station, we pulled up pretty much at the same time as Fred, who a couple of years taught Heather to ride, who was also at the rally. We were back at the campground just after noon. We spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing while the bike games were taking place in the background.

Resting after Sunday's ride.

At 5, we started making our way around the hall in anticipation of tonight's banquet which was happening in a big tent just outside the hall. The event was catered by a local company and the food selections included mashed potatoes, chicken, roast beef, perogies, caesar salad and cake for dessert.

The catering crew getting ready to serve the hungry bikers.

An award ceremony followed the delicious dinner. The ceremony was hosted by lovely Dorothy and included awards for winners of bike games, youngest and oldest riders, biggest club and others. Heather managed to win the youngest rider award while Fred, mentioned earlier, won the oldest rider award. Our table also swept the poker run award. Doug's wife Carol won $100 for a straight while I won $50 for getting the worst hand (a 9-high nothing). Having the worst luck finally paid off.

Dorothy with one of the many lucky winners.

The evening ended around a fire where most rally participants gathered after the banquet.

The fire.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 92 km - 57 miles
2009 to date: 6,404 km - 3,980 miles (75.3%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 2,096 km - 1,302 miles


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WATER TOWERS

Freedom Rally '09 - Day 2

With another long trip ahead of us, we woke up early and were ready to leave at 7:30 am. Just for good measure, we idled for about 10 minutes before leaving to see if our unruly neighbours would wake up but we didn't wait to find out.

Saturday morning at Oro Family Campground.

Instead of going back to 400 and heading straight up to Sudbury, we chose to continue north-east on Highway 11. When we left, we encountered more cottage traffic which was very frustrating for an early weekend morning. Nonetheless, we forged our way to Gravenhurst, where we exited on Route 169. The ride along 169 was very scenic and the road was almost empty as we travelled through such towns as Torrance, Bala, and Foot's Bay.

Our first stop of the day was in Parry Sound where we would have breakfast. We also decided to get fuel there as we would have to make one stop during today's ride. As we walked into the Visitors Centre off exit 214, the line-up to Tim Hortons was no less than 67 persons long. We quickly decided to get breakfast at the adjacent Lick's with a drink from Orange Julius. We both had waffles and I also got a breakfast wrap with veggies and eggs.

The ride the rest of the way varied between awfully slow and well-above-the-limit normal. With heavy traffic, we took advantage of a lot of passing opportunities. We pulled over a short distance from our destination to make sure our belongings were securely strapped in. We finally arrived at the Mine Mill Campground shortly before noon.

We unpacked, set up our tent, took care of registering and took it easy the rest of the day. Heather and Sandy even found some time to take care of some more wedding shopping with Heather's grandma. At 5 pm we joined the line for the poker run card draw but weren't very successful.

Our home for the weekend.

In the evening, along with Jim & Sandy and Doug & Carol, we went to Gloria's Restaurant to take advantage of a discount coupon which came in our welcome goodie bag. We went back to enjoy some entertaiment before turning in early.

SEASON STATS
Today's trip: 293 km - 182 miles
2009 to date: 6,312 km - 3,922 miles (74.3%)
2009 goal: 8,500 km - 5,282 miles
To obtain goal: 2,188 km - 1,360 miles


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WATER TOWERS