The BLO+E: Week 3 Day 5

What a difference today! The roads were just as hilly as yesterday. Though the early wind was mild and the temperature was cool, as the day progressed the wind picked up and eventually I was able to strip my upper dress down to my tank top. I covered almost the same amount of miles as yesterday, at a leisurely pace. The whole day was enjoyable, perhaps the best so far on the BLO+E. The difference from yesterday was the road. Smooth with wide shoulders.

I began my day with coffee and work at Tim Hortons. Sarah Bickley, from my Daemen College days, says she's going to buy stock! Sarah, please don't. All I do is buy a cup of coffee. Otherwise I'd feel guilty using the free wi fi for work.

Early morning work at Tim Hortons

I've been reading Life Is a Wheel by Bruce Weber, the obit writer for the NYT. It's about his bicycle ride across the US. One of the things he mentions is how, after an arduous moment--a stiff hill, an unrelenting headwind, a weaving RV--a sight can lift your spirits and make any negative thoughts fall away. I felt like that today when I crested a steep bridge and there at the bottom was a street festival in Trenton, ONT.

Bridge into Trenton, ONT

At some point today I decided I should slow down. Toronto's ahead, I don't want to be biking through on Friday, so if I slow down a bit, I can be in the eastern suburbs tomorrow and Saturday, hopefully when traffic is more merciful, I can bike on to the west. Or maybe I decided to slow down when I stopped at a country fruit stand and bought these strawberries.

Strawberries from Cheery Farm

What says summer better than fresh strawberries? What better says the days are slow, they are meant to be savored, even the green leafs? Just past the farm stand was Grafton, with a picture perfect small town park, A gazebo! a lovely spot to eat my baggie of trail mix and tray of strawberries.

Village Park, Grafton, ONT

I was in hills today, but at the top, when I peaked, I could see, in the distance to my left, Lake Ontario.

Vista

Maybe by late Monday, Tuesday at the latest, I'll have completed the BLO+E. I hope that the remaining days are as pleasant as Today. I've camped in Cobourg. If you're looking for a summer vacation, consider coming here. It's smack on the lake, with eateries, cafés, and bars. It's a childhood memory type of place.

Victoria Municipal Park, Cobourg, ONT

In a tent next to me are Roland and Francesca, here in Canada, traveling and camping for three months with their kids. Their son has a little bike, and he's fallen twice. He gets up, cries some, and five minutes later he's off pedaling. He's wearing a helmet. Long may he ride.

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The BLO+E: Week 3 Day 4

I'm surprised I biked the 57.8 miles today from Kingston to Belleville, ONT. I .got on my bike early, but I went back to the Starbucks I found yesterday and, being such a beautiful morning, tarried there far too long.

Starbucks: Princess and Wellington, Kingston, ONT

I'm also surprised because the headwinds were strong. It seemed I was barely moving forward and my legs were working much too hard, I probably got some windburn, my lips feel chapped. Once last summer on the BALM, there were similar but rainy winds that forced an early stop. I wanted to stop today: I'm surprised I kept going. Maybe I continued on because in Loyalist I saw this sign. It was funny and energetic. It was refreshing.

Hey, NSA, from Loyalist, ONT, Long live the Queen!

I'm surprised I covered the distance because I stopped to work for a couple of Hours at a Tim Hortons office in a small town somewhere in Canada. I had discussions to read, journals to grade, email to answer. The great thing about technology is that it enables work on a trek like this. And sometimes work can take your mind off the grind of pedaling into the wind. Stopping to work can also slow you down!

At work: Tim Hortons

I was surprised today that HWY 2 is a lousy road. No shoulder. Busy traffic. Cracks. Potholes. There's a lot of discussion about bad roads in the States, but I think HWY 2 today is the worst road I've ever biked on, and I've been on a lot of roads all over the States. And Canada! Today, I would have preferred the worst washed-out section of the Katy Trail. So I was surprised when I topped a hill and rounded a curve and saw a First Nations stop.

First Nations Stop on HWY 2 between Kingston and Belleville, ONT

I love waterfalls. Not big ones, necessarily, like Niagara Falls, but little ones on creeks and streams. Waterfalls where you can walk across them or sit in them and let the water fall over or flow by you. Waterfalls that are for summer play. Today I hadn't seen water (that's a surprise) for some miles, so I was surprised when, nearing Belleville, I came upon this waterfall. It was peaceful and quite. It was summer and I was like a barefoot boy.

Waterfall off old HWY 2 west of Belleville, ONT

A bike ride is full of daily surprises. Are they good? Bad? Is the wind today a bad surprise? Should I be surprised that I worked hard on my bike, worked in my office(s), was lazy? Had doubts? Perhaps. But every day on a bike is a surprise.

Lodging for the night, Belleville, ONT

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The BLO+E: Week 3 Day 3

Occasionally on a long ride the days are a mixed bag. Maybe there's grueling hills with stretches of flat roads. Could be the winds swirl, at times in your face pushing you back and other times at your back, like wings. There could be the same old same old scenery, with outbursts of spectacular vistas. On a bike, day after day, you really don't have the time to consider any of this. Instead, you're attuned to the bike, listening to the chain, the wheels, the wobble of the wheels, paying attention to hydration and food for fuel, focussing on a muscle twinge or a pained nerve. But then, without announcement, you realize that you're part of the place you're in and the world is good.

Today was sort of like that. When I left my camp,this morning, the sky was overcast, and I was biking along, with a drizzle starting and the sky getting dark. I was in Watertown, New York, about six miles off course (I had made a wrong turn), when the sky opened up. Luckily, a Dunkin Donuts as nearby, a good shelter to wait out the storm.

Shelter at Dunkin Donuts in Watertown, NY

I was there for more than an hour, waiting for the rain to let up, then my Garmin led me to my course, 12E, and though it was still spitting rain, you could tell that the weather was starting to clea. Still, I was hearing my chain, which was gritty. Was my gear all wet again? Would my wet socks lead to a cold? Would my tires slip on the wet road?

Back on Route with 12E

I suppose these are concerns people have wherever they travel. If so something happened in a car, you'd call AAA. On a bike, in the middle of nowhere, you'd fix a flat yourself. You'd pull out your first aid kit to clean a cut or scrape. You'd get off your bike and wait out a cramp. These are things you think of while rolling along. Then a view like this:

Lake Ontario on my Left

When you're on a bike, you're also concerned about direction. Perhaps you've learned that I'm not good at left and right, even when Garmin shows me left and right. I often take unintended side trips, like the one today to Watertown. So I'm often surprised whenever I see that I'm where I'm supposed to be, like Cape Vincent and the ferries across the St. Lawrence River to Wolfe Island and Kingston, Ontario.

Lake Ontario on my Left

Where I Want to Be

Ferry to Wolfe Island, ONT

Wake

Wolfe Island, ONT

Ferry to Kingston, ONT

Kingston waterfront

Upon landing in Kingston, the weather had cleared and the sky and water were a brilliant blue. I had stopped thinking and worrying about wet gear or mechanical breakdowns of the bike or body. The two are pretty much the same. You are the bike and the bike is the body. But a new place brings it's own set of problems, mainly directional, that is, getting oriented and determining the layout of roads. What better place, even more so than Duncun Donuts and Tim Horton's, than Starbucks.

Starbucks, Princess and Wellington, Kingston, Ontario

The familiar can make the strange familiar. There you find the same coffee, the same people, the loafers, the busy bodies, the homeless, the beggars. This corner in Kingston, Ontario--Princess and Wellington--could very well be the UCity Loop. The sky is the same in both places. You are two places at once, in parallel worlds, and they're all one place. You've had that feeling, eh? Here but there, there but here, here and there, at once.

Today I bikes 53.94 miles from Westcott State Park to Kingston, Ontario. The weather--the drizzle, the downpours, the spits, the blue sky--was wonderful. The chain was wet, full of grit. The tires often slipped in cracks on the road. There were occasional aches and twinges. It's was a wonderful day to bike to my Warmshower host for the night. In the end, at the end of the day, after a perfect ride, it all is worthwhile.

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The BLO+E: Week 2 Day 2

Today I biked 64.4 miles from Port Burnwel Provincial Park to Silkirk Provincial Park. The ride today, much of it in rain, was framed by some fine folk. In between I was able to catch views of the lake, pick cherries from trees, and work at Tim Horton's the BLO+E is, after all, a working vacation.

Last night it stormed and poured into the early hours this morning. Port Burnwel is a beautiful park, the sites are secluded, but the ground is hard packed dirt. As such, the ground doesn't absorb water very well. In other words, everything was soaked. I dragged it all to the washrooms, so I could pack out of the rain. That's where I met Ron and Dave, who invited me, once I had my bike packed, to their camper for coffee.

Once I started riding, the weather was mostly damp and cool, at first flat, then through bluffs, some with stiff grades, one that I had to walk, mostly because I came upon it on a curve and didn't have time to downshift properly.

All along the way were vistas, farms and orchards, a lot of cherry orchards, which I couldn't resist from picking some.

When I hit flat land again, I sweeping views of the lake, but never could get close enough to soak my feet, not that needed to, my socks were wet already!

By the time rode into Silkirk Provincial Park, the sky had cleared, the sun was out, and I had time to spread my stuff out to dry.

Just in time, too. While I was taking a shower, the rain fell in torrents, but by the time I had dried off, the rain had stopped. I had a good weather for a supper of hot chocolate, trail mix, and terriaki chicken and rice.

While I was eating, Duffy, Marie, and Ann stopped to chat.

They were traveling from park to park in Canada. They were on their own sort of trek.

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The BLO+E: Week 2 Day 1

Today I biked 82.77 miles from Rondeau Provincial Park to Port Burwell Provincial Park. This long day put me on schedule to return to my starting point but Wednesday afternoon. I'll then have circled Lake Erie as well biked both shores of Niagara River from Niagara Falls to the lake. The BLO+E will be half over.

The ride today began on a great note. As Imwas riding out of Rondeau Park, I ran into three bikers:

Geniveve, Luke, and Nicole were biking to Montreal. They were French, with wonderful accents. They thought mine was odd for someone from the States. I guess they're accustomed to accents along the border. After talking with them, I went ahead, but I'd see them again as they were biking into St. Thomas, while I was biking out.

One of my favorite rest spots was along a road beside a cafe that was busy with motorbikes.

It was so crowded inside that I sat in the little outside space. A few others eventually came out, I don't think they were bikers, bikers have never shown much interest, they're too cool, they don't even wave as they pass me on the road.

I have pretty much been following three roads, with numerous connectors: HWY 3, Talbot Trail, and Waterfront Trail.

I though it was pretty good that there was this spot when the tall merged. But somewhere past these three signs I followed the Talbot Trail sign, there wasn't any other signage that said the other two roads went another way. The bad news is that the Talbot Trail took me way off track and to return to the right road I had to climb hills while riding into a stiff headwind. But the good news!

First, I saw the monument to Jumbo the Elephant, who was killed in St. Thomas on September 15, 1885, when he was hit by a train. The monument is enormous.

Look how big! But my point is that if I hadn't made the wrong turn, this serendipitous moment would have never occurred. Nor would I have see my three French friends again. As I was biking southeast to Port Burwell they were biking into St. Thomas because they didn't want to bike another 35 miles to camp. They were going to find a hotel. I suggested that they go see Jumbo.

Whn I finally made camp in Port Burwell, I was tired and sweaty.

I was thinking that from our mistakes we should look for something positive. Often the mistake is for the good. Jumbo was worth the extra miles, the hills, and the wind. Sometimes good things don't come the easy way, they aren't expected. Sometimes it's better to go the wrong way.


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The BLO+E: Week 1 Day 7

Today I biked 3.1 miles from my camp on Pelee Island to the ferry, crossed Lake Erie to Lemington on the Canadian mainland, and then biked another 57.22 miles to my camp in Rondeau Provincial Park.The lake today seemed to have more swells. The boat rocked and dipped more so than yesterday.

But that might have been a trick of mind. I was sitting in the snack bar, charging stuff, so I was closer to the water where I was closer to the water than yesterday when I was sitting on the upper deck.

Do you know one of Kemington's claims to fame? After the ferry docked, I got my bike, pedaled into town, and found a bank to exchange money.

 

Afterwards, at a Tim Horton's where I was sitting on the curb drinking my coffee and talking to some locals, I learned that Heinz ketchup was made in Lemington. Two kinds: a sweet version for Canadians and a more bitter taste for us Americans. "Don't you get lonely," they aske, "riding like you do."

"No," I said, thinking of "A Blessing," where James Wright says of two horses in a field: "There is no loneliness like there's."

The 57.2-mile route from Lemington to my camp here at Rondeau Provincial Park was mostly along the lakeshore, along farms and through small towns, with several graveyards.

The ride is starting to get more scenic. Maybe I'm just starting to get into the flow of the ride. Today marks a full week. A little less than a few more to go.

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The BLO+E: Week 1 Day 6

Today was an easy 12-mile ride from my camp along the Huron River to Sandusky, Ohio, and then a ferry to Pelee Island, the southernmost point of Canada.

While crossing the Huron River, when I stopped to take a picture, I met Clint, who was out for a recreational ride.

I was in no rush, due to the fact that I didn't know the ferry schedule. If I had to wait in Sandusky, I'd just wait. Plus, my legs were needing a rest, after five days of riding into moderately stiff winds. So I stood on the bridge and talked with Clint, who used to travel to St. Louis for business and now lives in Hudon because he likes the slow lake life.

When I did reach Sandusky, I found the Pelee Islander ferry and learned I would need to take two: one to the Island and another to the mainland.

 

The first didn't leave until 2:30, so I had time to wander around town. Lucky me! Because I found Tony's Hotdogs. If you're ever in Sandusky, be sure to find Tony's. Delicious hotdogs! Footlong dogs, either fried or boiled, skins that crack when you bite, on a soft roll, with spicy chili, mustard, and sauerkraut. Or you can have them your way.

Pelee Island is an interesting place. 140 people live here. Some work on the ferry. There's one teacher for the one-room school, grades preK to 8th grade. Higher grades have the option of eLearning or going to the mainland. The island is like a throwback to an earlier era.

Summers here would be slow and relaxing, probably boring at times until you became accustomed to the solitude, though there are bars, B+Bs, a restaurant, and a bakery that cater mainly to tourists.

I'm thinking that before the US and Canada were good neighbors, these Erie islands between Sandusky and Canada were points of conflict. Whoever held them would pretty much control travel from the upper Great Lakes to the Atlantic. That's something I'll look into.

So, in short, today was a beautiful day of spectacular weather, perfect for an easy ride from one country to another (that's a first!) and a camp on a lazy island in the middle of a Great Lake.

Tomorrow I'll cross to the mainland and, hopefully with the wind to my back, begin the return ride to Niagara Falls, USA.

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