Pedalling from Kitchener to New Brunswick
By Marnie Callaghan
We met Ted and Katie Hannah while they were taking a break on an unfinished section of trail between Hastings and Campbellford. My husband, friend, and I were on a day trip. The surface was rough and it was tough slugging for us on our unloaded bikes. The motivation for Ted and Katie’s trip was just to have “a break” from Ted’s career as an engineer. Also, as a triathlon competitor he wanted to strengthen what he says is his weakest discipline—cycling. Hoping to find a companion for the journey, he looked to his five children, and twenty-three year old Katie, a student at Western, rose to the challenge. This is the first cycling tour for them both, and an ambitious one. Sticking to trails as much as possible, they hope to cover 1,500 kilometres from Kitchener to New Brunswick in three weeks.
For the most part they are tenting and will take advantage of Provincial Parks when possible. They have enough food packed for two weeks, but are happy to have the comfort of a restaurant meal occasionally. They have already put on a lot of miles and were really impressed with the condition of the trail from Manilla to Lindsay to Peterborough. And they were thrilled with the newly finished section between Keene and Hastings. “It was fantastic!” Katie said.
It is for amazing people like Ted and Katie that we need to rally together to complete the unfinished sections of the Trans Canada Trail. Let’s connect the dots and make journeys like this more appealing to more Canadians and tourists, too.
After a short visit we said goodbye and headed on our way, feeling sorry for the duo loaded down with so much gear. But about five minutes later we had to pull over to let them pass as they powered along leaving us in the dust!