Erie Shores - Day Five

I have taken a number of trips with Cycle Canada and Bud never fails to entertain us on the final day.  How does he manage to do that when he isn't even around?  He always provides a windy day on the final day. Not sure how he manages to arrange that - but I remember riding to St. John's in what felt like hurricane force gales. Calgary - same thing - huge gusts of wind and on the way to Beddick as well.

Yesterday was no exception and guess what?  I made it worse! More on that in a bit!

It was a tad chilly in the morning when we left. Not sure what the temperature was, but I put on all the cycling clothes that I had brought.  My little jacket with only the sleeves and my wind breaker. I kept the wind breaker on for the entire day but at one point, I got rid of the extra sleeves.

While it was windy the first part was actually a bit of a tail wind or in some cases a cross wind so it wasn't really that bad. We were cycling along the lake so we had something to entertain us.

The road wasn't the best to start the day.  I don't mind riding beside the traffic if there is a shoulder, but when there is no shoulder - not my favorite. Then we had a nice paved shoulder for a couple of K and then poof - it was gone. Oh well - the joys of sharing the road with traffic.

We started to angle north and got a taste of the wind. Not fun but doable.

I was riding through Colchester which is a small town and yet has the most AMAZING bike lanes and markings on the road.  I was taking pictures of it all for later posting (I apologize to the quilters among you for boring you with the bike stories - but there are quilt stories today as well).  Anyway, we could hear this booming noise as we were riding.  As I was taking a picture a lady got out of her car and I asked her.  That would be the air cannons which are used to keep the birds out of the vineyards. Guess what time they start in the morning?   4:30AM.  Oh, God!

I got to one point in the day where the road was closed. It was right at an intersection and I contemplated my next move.  To go on the main road or find a way to get around the short construction area?  I saw that one could go through the parking lot of the building right at the corner and bypass the construction. So I did.

I'm sailing along - things are good and then when I was supposed to find the next road - well - two turns down the way, the road wasn't named what it should be named.  Oh no!!!  So I tried to look at my phone again for Google Maps - you see, I'm not just randomly riding - I do have turn by turn instructions that I'm following. Well - I turned and go to the next major road.  Consulted my phone again and made a right turn.  Facing East directly into a headwind. A fierce head wind.  I don't know how many times I stopped to check my phone and could barely make out the image with the glare. After battling the wind for a few K, I decided to stop and ask.  NO WAY!!!!  I was going in the wrong direction and had been struggling into the wind for no reason.  I backtracked and where I turned right, I should have turned left and within minutes was back on track.

Now I have to digress here for a second.  There is one thing I'm doing when I get home and that is to find something to put on that screen to cut the glare before I ever venture on a bike again. I even have an indicator on my bike computer that tells me what direction I'm riding in. Why was I going east?  No idea - it was one of those moments when common sense and my sense of direction went out of the window.  That normally doesn't happen.  But I did realize why I was struggling with google maps - I had somehow turned on that function that rotates  - there is a name which I don't know  (3-D??).  Anyway - since I was always turned in the wrong direction when I was trying to look at the phone, I thought I was going in the right direction.   The end result - I lost one hour and rode an extra 14 KM.  No big deal - I'm laughing now, but I wasn't yesterday at about 12:30!!!!

As a result of my own pity party, I decided to have a chocolate milk and a chocolate bar for lunch. It was the best lunch of the trip and brought back a lot of memories!  So it all worked out in the end!

There were a few bits where we had to ride into that head wind, but after my experience, this was a piece of cake. I was a tad worried as the map said we would have some navigating to do once we hit Windsor.  Lots of turns and trails and stuff to watch for.  I made out pretty good except for one spot. A very busy intersection by a rail road track. I ended up chatting to a young fellow on a bike and he got me going in the right direction (again - LOOK at the direction on the bike computer!) and all was good. The map instructions made perfect sense once I realized what was happening!

I think I made it to the hotel around 2:30?   That wind really cut into the speed at which we could travel and the roads weren't in nearly as good of shape as the day before and a lot more navigating. But the idea is to have fun and enjoy the ride and that's what I did.  I do have to say that after I turned around on my little detour - the wind was fully at my back, there was a paved shoulder and I sailed along to make up for lost time!

Had a shower, loaded my bike in the car, grabbed my keys and I was off to the quilt store.  I went to Quilting Confections.  Oh my - if EVER you are in the Windsor area - you MUST stop to visit this store. I missed the owner by about 30 minutes, but the entire staff was as friendly as can be.  I mean this is the kind of store you want to be close to your house.  Their block of the month (designed by the owner) was amazing and a very unusual setting. Kits were beautifully packaged, lots of bright fabric (which is probably why I liked the place so much). And the string quilts made by the owner are to die for.  They were BEAUTIFUL.  I'm now on the mailing list and must find an excuse to come back to Windsor!  I could come and visit Celeste!

I also visited Ella Quilts shop in Tecumseh. This is the one that I was hoping to hit on my bike on the way out.  It's a small shop with a lot of batiks and 30s but I managed to find a few things.  The owner also gave me a small gift because it was my first time in the shop. That was a very sweet thing.

There is a shop hop happening next weekend in this area - so if you're in the area - I would suggest doing the shop hop.  There are some amazing stores here!!!!

I was getting hungry by this time and so I took off on my own to find a place within walking distance of the hotel.  Again I got messed up with Google maps on my phone and when I finally arrived at the pub, it was there that I realized the setting on Google maps had changed.  DUH!!!!   I had forgotten that you could do that and so my day was topsy turvy!  

Two things I must note - the traffic in this town is CRAZY.   I was in the car and on my way back to the hotel.  We were on a relatively quiet street near the hotel. A guy on a scooter is wanting to cross the street and I stopped.  The woman behind had her windows open and was screaming at the top of her lungs because I gave scooter guy the right of way.  Seriously????   And there were other instances where when I was on my bike, I actually walked across some streets as I didn't feel comfortable on the bike. And then to top it off, I'm walking back from the pub and almost got taken out by a guy on a bike. I was just turning to cross the street (still on the sidewalk) and whiz!  Literally millimeters from me!   Another fellow on a bike was behind him and said, "I'll go slower - he almost took me out too!" Yes - a crazy town - so Ronda - you do NOT want to let your daughter have a car in this town!

The second thing is talking. I should be more specific - women who talk a LOT.  I was sitting in the pub and noticed a couple sitting two tables over. They were finished when I arrived and I had taken my book to read.  Well - this woman (they could have been university students) talked for at least an hour SOLID!  I don't think the guy got in two words.  She just babbled and babbled and oh god - give the guy a chance to say something!  When the waitress went over to ask if they needed anything else (they had already paid before I got there), they finally left. Thank god!   Well, next thing I knew - another couple came in and again - the woman was bubbly and yak yak yak.  At least the guy got a chance to say something.  The first conversation was 100% talk time for her and 0% for him.  The second couple was 80% for her and 20% for him.   Yikes!   OK - I ever I do that - tell me to shut up!!!!

So when I had arrived in my room in the afternoon, there was a very strange noise above my bed. It sounded like water gurgling through the pipes or something very weird. I'm usually pretty tolerant of stuff like that, but I thought - if that continues through the night - I won't be able to sleep.  When I came back from dinner, it was still there.  Hm - what the heck is that?  I finally went to the front desk and asked to be moved. Sorry - we're sold out!  ACK!!!  But the front desk clerk came to check it out.  Well, I woke up in the middle of the night (yes - I did get to sleep) and the first thing that came to mind was the noise had stopped!  I did hear it for a few minutes this morning but nothing else.  I've no idea what it was, but thank god it has stopped!!!

On that note (yes - I write like the woman in the restaurant!) it's time to get moving. I'm splurging this morning and having breakfast at Tim's. I only went in once all week and I deserve a good cup of tea. Then a couple of stops on my way home and then back to work.  I've got a lot of stuff to get done this weekend.

I feel great - it truly is fun to get away and I love my cycling trips. Wish I could do more. Then I could justify eating more butter tarts!

Have a super day!!!

Ciao!!!

Erie Shores - Day Four

I slept very well last night - yeah!  It's all that fresh air and the wind!

It was a short day - I was up at the same time and left at the same time and I was at the hotel before noon!  The distance was 83K although my distance was a wee bit shorter since I took a short cut!

The directions have been very easy to follow although there was one turn this morning that wasn't marked. Our map was marked, but the road was not and that resulted in a slight detour, but no big deal. There was a lot of wind.  Which fortunately for us was a tail wind. And there weren't really a lot of places to stop and take pictures so I sailed along at a great speed.

In a couple of places we turned direction and had to face a cross wind - a strong cross wind, but I was still sailing along at a good clip. I remember when we did the cross Canada trip - my riding buddy was a sailor and we talked about how we could hook up a sail to the bike to enjoy those winds!

There is a lot of tomato farming in this area. We've seen the fields of tomatoes and yesterday I saw them being harvested and in one field there were huge carts - a lot of carts that were ready to take the tomatoes to the factory for processing.  I did see a plant in Leamington so I'm not sure if the tomatoes are taken right from the field to the plant?  I would suspect so as they are relatively fragile even if they are destined to be made into sauce and ketchup. When I was in Leamington I did see a tractor pulling two carts of tomatoes to the plant.

The odd tomato falls off the cart and was laying by the side of the road and more often than not, the crows or ravens have picked the inside clean.

As I got closer to Leamington, the wind was quite strong and I noticed on the map that we had to take a trip down to the lake past the Point Pelee National Park. Then it meant turning around and coming back into the wind to the hotel. I had also seen a sign that the road was closed??  Not one for taking chances - I headed straight into town and missed that last part.

The room wasn't ready yet so I headed across the street to this little restaurant. It's like a bunch of kitchen tables in one spot! I had breakfast for lunch and I was good to go for the afternoon.  I decided to walk to the quilt store which was 3 K away.  Straight up the road, past the tomato factory which used to be Heinz (the name was incorporated into the bricks of the chimney), but is now owned by another company that also starts with H, but is not Hunts. I don't remember those kinds of details.

I had never been to A Stitch in Time but very familiar with the store as I see them at the Creative Festival all the time.  A big store with all kinds of stuff in it. Lots of sewing notions and other fabrics. It must have been a sewing store (home dec and clothing) at one point. Anyway, I managed to do some damage at the store and had to walk my purchases back another 3 K to the hotel. Let's just say that I'm getting some exercise on this vacation!

I could have ridden my bike, but since I had forgotten to bring a lock, I wasn't going to be comfortable leaving the bike unattended in downtown. It's not like I was pressed for time and the walk was nice.

We are very close to one of the ferry docks for Pelee Island.  It would be fun to take a trip over there one day, but this dock is closed for the season.  All ferries are out of the next town - Kingsville.

I took my book down to the water to read for a bit but I must confess that I was falling asleep and must have looked like a derelict along the water with my hair blowing everywhere and probably drooling at the mouth!

Back to the hotel where I had arranged for a massage. Ah - that felt good but let's just say that there are a few tight muscles. Must get in some stretching!

After the massage, I went back to the water front to read. It was glorious just sitting by the water's edge with nothing to do!

This is the first trip where I've stayed in hotels which means that we are in a town. Which means that if you want, you can do a bit of browsing or whatever.  When your end of the day is a camp ground there are fewer options unless you want to get back on your bike and ride into town.  While I miss the camping, this is pretty civilized! So civilized, I might be spoiled for camping in the future.

We had dinner at the pub downstairs and then it was back to the room where I confess I tried reading my book again and my eyes would not stay open.

I confused the heck out of myself this morning. I heard an alarm go off and shut if off without looking at it. My alarm is set for 5 AM.  I know - it doesn't have to be that early - too lazy to change it. When I looked at the clock and the clock said 4:30 AM.  What???  How could that be?  Was there a time change and no one told me?  Ah  -  no it appeared that I had set an early alarm for last Friday and I forgot to cancel it!  DUH!!!!

Wow - the sun is getting up later and later.  It's 6:35 and looking pretty dark outside still!

We didn't have rain yesterday although it was cloudy and looked like it might.

On that note - I might have a quick 20-minute nap before breakfast as I pretty much packed everything up last night.

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!!!

Erie Shores - Day Three

I should be very careful what I write.  I've had two great nights of sleep and then last night - well once I got to sleep I slept well.  I think it was too much pasta at dinner.  Lighter dinners - please!

Or maybe it was too much visual stimulation in my hotel room.  Wait - I mean the decor!  Wait for it.

The day started off gorgeous.  Not too hot, not too cold.  I wasn't looking forward to riding out of Sarnia as I wondered if it was going to be complicated.  Nope - it wasn't too bad and I did notice at one point the railroad tracks in down town had a very steep angle that you didn't want to ride over them for fear of the wheels getting caught. Just like Jane (who is from here) had warned me. There's even a sign.

I had no idea, but there is a lot of oil and gas production in this area?  I don't  know much about it but we rode beside some pretty complex looking industrial area. And then within 10 K, we were in the country. Not only the country but we rode beside the St. Clair River for a long distance and it was gorgeous.

The river was fascinating to watch - the big industries right beside the houses. That was on the US side of the river.  The "back yards" of these houses which were on the water.  For most of the way we traveled beside the river, there were houses on one side of the road and the river on the other.  Some of the houses had docks on the river side. Some were just a dock, but others were very elaborate affairs. Some were far apart and some were so close.

But I bet there is NO swimming in this river. At one point I did see a sign that said KEEP OUT. Toxins, pollutants in the water.  That was on a smaller creek near what looked like a small tract of First Nations land.  I'm only guessing at that.

Passed the ferry to the US in Sombra.

And there was pretty much a bike path the entire length of the river.  Where there wasn't a bike path, there was a dedicated shoulder. It couldn't have been a nicer ride. Even though I had gotten an 8 AM start and the distance was just under 100K for the day, you couldn't help but sail along this road. Trust me I stopped for a LOT of pictures.

Again the route is super flat and I was sailing along close to 30K at some points.

Then we left the river and started towards Chatham which was our stop for the night. I had lunch in Wallaceburg.  Again not wanting to eat at a chain, I turned the corner onto the main street and the waitress was just putting out their sign - Open for lunch.  It was 11 AM.  A bit early, but there was nothing else after Wallaceburg and I was a tad hungry.  As I was waiting for my food, the owner came over and we chatted.  He has had cyclists in all summer comes from various places.  A nice guy.  Food was great - James Street Eatery if ever you are in Wallaceburg!

Then I hit the first of two detours for the day.  A bridge that we were supposed to take was closed.  Couldn't even talk my way across.  Drat!  A man happened to be walking by and I asked him where the next bridge was.  He pointed me to a foot bridge that was a block away.  That was easy and once I got to the other side, I found my way to the intended route and I was good.

While we were on the lesser traveled roads, they were in good condition. No shoulders, but it was easy to make good time and again I was sailing along between 25 and 30 K.  I was back in Chatham and almost at the hotel.  If I hurry, I can make it in just under 6 hours (including my lunch stop and all my picture stops).  Drat - the last bridge is completely closed!!!   A quick peek at the area and I backtracked so I could cross a different bridge and made it to the hotel with one minute to spare!

It was only 2 PM so I had the entire afternoon to check out Chatham.  I love that - would rather that than have a late start.

My room wasn't ready so I headed off to the quilt store on my bike.  Oh, my - what a cute little shop.  Put it together Quilt Shop.  It's in a big building with another vendor.   I spoke to the owners for quite a while and they were showing me all the cool things they do at their shop.  I was very impressed and I found a few things to buy. But not too much since I was on my bike!  And they did NOT have the Barn Trail book - they were sold out!!!  If every you are in the Chatham area - check it out.

Back to the hotel (Retro Suites) which was so much easier to get to on the bike now that I know a wee bit where I'm going.

Thanks to my connection through Susan, all of our rooms got switched at the hotel.  I was in the Easy Rider room.  OH MY GOD - this room is so cool.  Harley Davidson theme which is neat since my brother drives one.  The ceiling fan is HD (even makes revving noises if I turn that function on), rotating signs, a neon sign which works, an old motorcycle hanging from the ceiling.  It's a very cool room and perhaps that is why I couldn't sleep although I did turn everything off before going to bed. There are switches everywhere to operate all the cool stuff!

After my shower, I popped down to the Dutch market to check out what was there. Bought a teeny pair of wooden shoes.  There were so many different kinds of licorice.  Wow - I was going to buy some but didn't in case it was really icky!!  I love licorice, but this was all black and sometimes black can be almost bitter.

I also went to the thrift store and back to the book store where I did find a book.  I'm reading a book on True Murder Stories by Frank Jones.  One of the murders mentions an author - Anne Perry who murdered her mother or her friend's mother. She became a famous author under a pseudonym. Well - I had to read one of her books.  I found the first one in one of her series at this book store.  Perfect!  First time I've bought a novel in ages.

We all went our separate ways for dinner last night and I went to the Italian place.  Food was excellent, service was a bit hit and miss.

On my way back to the hotel, I could hear something and realized there was another foot bridge very close to the bridge that was closed. I scooted across the bridge and there was a concert in the park.  It was the Chatham Concert Band playing so I sat down and listened for a bit.  It was a fun way to end the evening. As I sat there I noticed another barn block on the Cultural building. I wandered over there for a photo and then back to the hotel as the gnats were starting to become a pain and I remember my experience in Savannah.

The little buggers followed me into the hotel and I swatted the last of them dead in my room!

Oh yes - I ran around the hotel in the afternoon and took pictures. I took lots of pictures. This place is absolutely amazing!!!

I forgot to mention that we had no rain yesterday, but apparently there was flooding in Windsor (our starting point).  They had huge rainfall on Monday and Tuesday - we were lucky to miss that. The sun came out, I actually took my jacket off and put sun screen on!

On that note, I'm going to get ready for the day.  This is our shortest day but you never know what the roads will bring!

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!

Erie shores - Day Two

This hotel and biking thing is so weird!  On previous trips, I've kept my possessions limited - as I have on this trip, but before going to bed on the camping trips you made sure that everything was organized, put away or super prepped for the morning. When I went to bed last night my stuff was strewn across the entire floor of my room! However, it was a mere 10 minutes to get it all put away this morning.

Of course, it didn't help that I was trying to dry out a few things - yes yesterday was a tad wet!

The day started out dry but the sky was threatening. I had plans to stop in Dresden to visit the quilt shop which we were going to ride right past.  About 20 K into the ride it started to rain. Not super hard but enough to get dampish.  DRAT!  I'm not fond of riding in the rain, but I'm OK with it. I hadn't brought my large rain jacket - ever the optimist! My little shell that I usually wear isn't water proof. By the time I arrived at the quilt store, I was wet and a bit cool.

Oh, I should say that I was seeing these signs along the road. They were blue, had foot prints on one side and stars on the other. I stopped to take a picture. I was thinking a moon night walk?  Well - DUH!!!   Guess where we are?  In the heart of the end of the Underground Railroad, but it wasn't until I saw a sign with the Underground Railroad and the blue sign that it clued in.  I was on the right train of thought, but the train hadn't come into the station!

Uncle Tom's Cabin is in Dresden and I took a quick detour to go have a look.  I stopped to take a couple of pictures but didn't go in.  It was raining and why prolong the agony! Besides I had a quilt shop to visit.

It was a small shop but I managed to find a couple of interesting things.  I got the pattern for the row by row as well. But the most interesting thing I found was a book about the barn trail blocks that I've been seeing.  DRAT  - it's raining and I've nowhere to bring that book with me.  The trail is called the Thames River Barn Quilt Trail.  The shop is called Shelley's Painted Treasures N Quilt Shop. I might find that same book at the quilt store in Chatham. If not, I'll get this shop to send me one in the mail.

When I left the shop, I peeled off my thin jacket and put on my little jacket with just sleeves.  I know - that sounds weird, but I needed the extra warmth. It wasn't easy to put that on when my arms were wet. But the extra layer was just what I needed. It stopped raining and I ran into Megan where I had my morning snack!   As we were chatting, the rain started again and I didn't linger.

I think it rained on and off for the next 35 K until I arrived at Petrolia at the 70 K mark which was my lunch stop. The first thing I saw on the main street was a Tim's and that was it!  I had hot soup and hot chocolate to warm me up.  I was a tad wet and dripping water everywhere!  Yes - it would have been nice if my big rain jacket had of been on the truck so I could have put it on, but it would have been a pain afterward when the rain stopped. I'm glad I didn't have it with me.

As I was having lunch, I noticed that the rain slowed down significantly and by the time I got going, it had basically stopped. And it didn't rain for the last 50K.  I took some of my layers off so I could dry out and by the time I arrived at our destination, I was almost completely dry.

I know it wasn't a super hard rain day because my shoes were only dampish.  One shoe was wet inside but that was because of the spray off the road. No need to put newspaper in them so it wasn't a really bad day!

Then I arrived on the shores of Lake Huron which is beautiful and some nice paths to cycle along. And wouldn't you know it - I posted that I had 15 K left and that last 15 K was a wee bit of a challenge with the directions.  I was looking for a bike path and I didn't go far enough. So I backtracked through Mike Weir park and onto the main road - Lakeshore. Yikes - a lot of traffic which is probably why the path was created. One vehicle tooted his horn at me and that's when I realized I was going parallel to the bike path!  The first chance I got, I got on the path. I did have to check Google maps though to see what was happening.  That darn glare on those phones - there has to be a way to cut the glare. There I am trying to put my phone in my bike basket so I can see the screen.

There were a lot of twists and turns - most of them made sense, but when I got down to the waterfront by the bridge I needed to check Google Maps again.  I was in the right vicinity - just taken a minor wrong turn.  Back on the right track again and there was the hotel.  Right on the water front - well close by.

When I arrived in the parking lot, there were the others. Hmm - they beat me?  No, it appears that they had arranged for a pickup and they had arrived shortly before I did.  It's funny because on my previous trips with support levels less than this one - there was no question of calling for a pickup.  That option didn't exist and so it will never exist for me unless something very serious happens.

I have to say that the last 50K of the ride were the best. There was a tail wind, the road was flat and I was cruising along between 25 and 30 K without any effort at all.  It was the kind of day when you're glad you're outside cycling.  And of course, there was zero heat to contend with!

Cycling that kind of distance is definitely a mental game, especially when the weather is not cooperating. But this is where you learn to dig deep and find ways to keep yourself entertained or you just zone out somewhere else!  I'm careful with the zoning out because you need to be on your toes with the traffic.  Which I might add are so polite here!  But I see that today new laws are coming into play where drivers have to give you at least one1 meter space when they pass. Yeah!  And they are even waiting before they pass us.  If another car happens to be coming, they will consistently wait behind me until the oncoming car has passed. It's uncanny, but I love it and it's the right thing to do.

We had dinner at a local restaurant and there was a huge cargo ship at the dock.  After dinner, I walked over and a crew member happened to be walking down the gangplank (is that what it's called?). Anyway, I stopped and chatted with him. The ship is empty and they are waiting until September 5 to load up and then sailing likely for Europe!  I was going to ask if I could scamper up the gang plank to take a picture and say that ONCE in my life I was on a huge cargo ship, but I didn't have the courage and I figured the answer would have been know.  The gang plank was STEEP and well you know how it is with liability. although they were NOT Canadian nor American so he probably would have said yes. DARN!!!!

So that is it for another day.  Let's say that I have zero trouble sleeping these days. I'm trying to keep my regular routine and so although I wake up at five, I just lounge around in bed for an hour before I do anything!  Such luxury!

Oh yes - I have to tell you about the two ladies at Tim's.  Obviously seniors - one of them was living in a retirement home and said she LOVED it because if she wanted company, she knew where to find it and if she didn't, she stayed in her apartment/room.  I want this lady to be my mom!  But she was showing her friend all the pictures on her phone.  Holy cow - she knew what she was doing. They were in albums and she was whipping through them like she was 16.  At one point, her friend even said - wow - you're good with that!   The friend reminded me of myself. She kept saying "oh man!"   It was entertaining as I dripped water all over the floor!

I did post the stats on Facebook  - yesterday was a total of 118K and the total elevation gain was less than 100 M.  I told you - this area is flat!

On that note, I see it's time for breakfast. Even though today is a shorter day, I still like to get out at a decent time. I'd rather have my down time at the end of the day than at the beginning!

Have a super day!!!!

Ciao!