I jump out of bed.  I’m going to be late for work!  Wait – It’s Canada Day.  No work, it’s my day to enjoy being a Canadian.  OK, Yes, lets go biking.  An hour later I have son Aaron and his friend Jordan ready to hit the pavement for a ride through the streets and roads of our amazing Region of Waterloo, Ontario. 

Tires pumped, water bottles filled (yes Jordan you must take water with you), helmets, gloves, sunglasses on and we are ready to hit the streets.  Today, being Canada Day, we decide to start riding from our driveway and just point our front wheels in any direction and see where in or out of  our fine community we end up at.

The weather is absolutely perfect.  The temperature is a cool 17C and it is clear with a few white clouds in the sky.  What a day to be outside.  This is my first ride with my new Continental GP 4000 Force & Attack tires.  I pump the front Attacks up to 110psi and the rear Force up to 116psi.  WOW, I am amazed at how smooth the ride is.  I feel like I am almost floating.  Oh well don’t tell Aaron or Jordan, I need as much of an advantage over these two young bucks as I can get.  They will have me hurting soon enough.

So we find our selves heading away from Kitchener towards Waterloo and the thought hits me,  “We have turned down how many different roads today without even a thought or concern about our safety or whether we are at risk.  How fortunate we are. This being Canada Day, how can we not think about  Canada’s finest men and women serving in Afghanistan who can’t go anywhere without a real concern about their safety on the roads over there.  Do we truly appreciate how good we have it here in our great country of Canada!

Thank You to our fine men and women of  the military who serve us and the world so bravely, so that we can work, play and yes, even ride without a care as we go about our community in the best country in the World .  Tonight, we all should remember them and their families  in our prayers.

Every time I’m out riding I am amazed again at how much one really misses when we travel by car.  It is refreshing how really beautiful our communities are and how easy it is to enjoy and experience this when we travel by bike.  The amount of wildlife can be great to see.  Birds, little ground creatures and even an abundance of groundhogs.

A great day, a great country and a great time with my son and friend.  Isn’t this one of the important reasons why we work so hard all the other days?

Happy Canada Day!

Robert