Day 49

June 30 - 130km (Presque Isle)

I wanted to do big distance today. Presque Isle was 30km from the border, so I wanted to hit 130km minimum such that I at least did 100km on the Canadian route. Does that make sense? Does it? I hope it does.

Anyways, I biked hard today to reach my destination - I would be staying with my family friends. I had not seen my hometown in well over a decade and memories started to hit as I got closer and closer. This time, things were different because so many of my friends had moved out.

I got to my old house and rang the doorbell. I wanted to introduce myself to the new owners, but they didn’t answer. To be fair, I probably looked like a weirdo coming to their house in the evening with all my bike gear. I don’t blame them for not answering.

I made it to my old elementary school and just stood there. I saw the swingset that I used to play on and the hill I used to climb with friends and soaked it in. I can’t fully express my feelings from that moment - the best I can describe it as is nostalgia so powerful that it was painful.

I eventually made it to my destination, where I met Julie, Ben and Zoe. Ben made me some awesome food and we reminisced about the past.