The Haliburton Pints Tour is Shaping Up!

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The Pedal, Pints, and Pubs tour in Haliburton is shaping up nicely!  This 3-day, 2-night tour is designed for more novice riders, aiming for a leisurely 25 kilometres per day with lots of site-seeing and tasting tours at Boshkung Brewing and Haliburton Highlands Brewing. Our two nights will be spent on the shores of Lakes Kashagawigamog at the beautiful Bonnie View Inn. Our trip to Boshkung Brewing will culminate with dinner at their Rhubarb Restaurant. Rhubarb consistently gets rave reviews for food and service, and is FEAST ON designated – meaning it is a business committed to sourcing Ontario grown food and drink. Along the same “local food matters” theme, Haliburton Highlands Brewing is situated on the Abbey Gardens property. Abbey Gardens is a super cool not-for-profit charity that is transforming a spent gravel pit into a sustainable living demonstration project with both for-profit and not-for-profit enterprises on site.  They will […]

Beyond setting goals…

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Ah, the New Year, and its barrage of advice on resolutions, self-improvement, and goals… I apologize for jumping on the New Year’s goal-setting bandwagon, but it is as good a time as any to get some things off my chest on this subject, particularly about some the more nuanced concepts of mastery goals versus performance goals (aka ego goals), and a perhaps more important piece about using metacognition (planning, monitoring, and evaluating) to ensure you actually attain your goals. Mastery versus performance goals An example of a performance goal or an ego goal is “I want to be the fastest rider at our club” or “I want to win this race” or “I want to get an A in calculus”. By contrast, mastery goals would be “I want to ride the Rosseau Lake loop 5 minutes faster this week” or […]

Switching to Ski Season

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Despite the Mister’s regular hints that he “needs” a fat bike, we remain devoted skiers in the winter. We usually move indoors to various forms of stationary cycling about mid-November, and hit the slopes by Boxing Day at the latest. The first day of cycling in the spring is always a challenge – my bike is usually not yet tuned, and the bike shop has a several day wait since I have left it to the week in which every cyclist except the most organized brings in their bike. So I give it a quick onceover on my own – my skills are pretty much limited to air in the tires and lube on the chain, but it is enough to get rolling. I change the cleats on my shoes, as those I use for winter spin class are a […]

Launching Humdinger Bicycle Tours!

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Humdinger Bicycle Tours has been in the works for several years now.  It is the result of a passion for cycling and traveling, and also a deep love for Central Ontario, particularly the ancient, exposed rock we call the Canadian Shield and all the waterways that fill its crevices. I have been fortunate enough to have traveled to many beautiful places around the world, and now I aim to show the world Ontario’s beauty. My travel experiences have been mostly self-guided, but  I have also had the benefit of outstanding guides from time to time.  I dearly love to wander and putter and discover on my own, but nothing beats the depth of knowledge of a passionate local. Who else knows the dives that have amazing food, how to avoid crowds and traffic, the best swimming spots, and, most importantly […]