Day 46 – Fly Away Home (Alliston, ON – Nestleton, ON)

Today, since we were riding sweep, we could take our tome along the route and stop whenever, and wherever we wanted to sightsee. We were not disappointed.

Great roof profile

I started out at the Sharon Temple – no, not a monument to the Israeli Prime Minsiter Ariel Sharon, but a temple built by a Quaker Sect in the early 1800s who split from the mainstream Quakers because they wanted more music in their lives. The temple itself was an architectural masterpiece both inside and out. It was difficult to believe how they could have constructed it in the 5 or so years it took.

Steepest climb so far!

Here is a shot of me at the bottom of Jacob’s Ladder, used to get musicians and their instruments to the second floor for their performances.

Each silo holds a different type of grain

In the afternoon, rode with Kelly and Judy from Great Slave Lake. Having passed by hundreds of grain elevators in the prairies without dropping in, I couldn’t resist an impromptu visit to this one in central Ontario – it can store 60,000 tons of various grains, mainly corn, soy and wheat.

We even got a chance to weigh ourselves on the truck scales – I weighed in with my bike and full gear at 100 – 110 kilos or 220 – 242 lbs (I am thinking the former).

Largest scale I have ever weighed myself on!!!

Mud cakes!!!

Along the ride, we passed a section of road under construction – wonderful, after having cleaned up our bikes on the rest day!!!

Into the woods, much like Avatar.

Towards the end of the ride, we visited the homestead/atelier of Bill Lishman, a famous Canadian who, among other things was the inspiration of the film “Fly Away Home” in which he re-taught geese how to migrate south by flying beside them in his ultralight plane. His property was adorned with sculptures from his Vancouver Expo ’86 exhibit as well as ongoing works.

Artist by his self-portrait and his home

As we were looking around, he came out to greet us and explained a bit more about his work and his property – his house is built into the top of a hill, complete with a sod roof, and spectacular views of the valley to the north. When I mentioned that I thought he didn’t have to replace his roof every twenty years or so, he replied “No, but I have to mow it weekly.” Unfortunately we couldn’t get more of a visit because he had to get into town to get a new battery for his old Triumph motorcycle before the store closed.

Out towards the road appeared to be a wpork in progress, and probably one of his largest sculptures to date.  He had the framework assembled for a dog, about the size of  the barn next door!!!

A truly fascinating individual, and a highlight of the trip so far.

Fun at 71!!!

At Simo’s request, Bill flew his ultralight to our camp that evening just before sunset, and “buzzed” the sight. Quite the sensation!!!