Day 9

Today was a short day - only 35 miles to Picton, Ontario. We needed a laundromat. Currently, we are watching the dryer go round and round - exciting. We have been following the Waterfront Trail but we had to detour off the trail today because it was poorly maintained. It would have been slow and bumpy to ride on it due to the loose gravel on the trail. Locals told us that funding was just approved to upgrade the trail so it should be nice to ride on in a year or two. Tonight we have to study the map to see if we will spend another night in Canada or cycle back to the U.S. tomorrow. Right now the weather is nice and sunny but the weather report just said possible thunderstorm with hail later today!! Finished the wash and had a good dinner at a local restaurant - very good chili.

Day 8

59 mile day to Brighton, Ontario. A little overcast in the morning but the sun came out in the afternoon and it actually got somewhat warm - 60s. The motels the last few nights didn't have washers/dryers for guests use so we are just about out of clean clothing. Planning a short day tomorrow which will give us time to use a laundromat to wash everything. I am tired so this will be a short post.

Day 7

Woke up to a downpour but the rain stopped and the sun came out just as we were leaving the hotel. We followed the Ontario Waterfront Trail all day for 63 miles to Bowmanville, Ontario. The trail is a mashup of quiet residential streets, paved bikeways,  unpaved dirt trails, sidewalks and asphalt paths. It took us through some industrial areas and by the nuclear power plant in Pickering. However, for much of today we were riding along the shoreline. The lake is at a record-setting high level so parts of the path were flooded and parts were washed out. In one location we had to ride through water that was deep enough to get the bottoms of my panniers wet! Around noon dark clouds rolled in and it started to rain suddenly. We found shelter under a roof overhang in front of a commercial building. Just by chance it turned out we had stopped in front of a Dominos Pizza so we got a pizza for lunch. By the time we finished eating the rain had stopped. Places to eat near the motel were limited but there was a place called PJ Pita Deli next to the motel. It didn't look great from the outside but the owner was a real comedian, and the pita wraps were both delicious and huge!! After today I don't think we will hit any large towns until we get near the eastern end of the lake.

Day 6

We had nice weather today - no rain - but it was still cool. Heavy fog totally obscured the lake even when we were only a short distance from the shoreline. We started the morning on the southern shore of the lake in Grimsby and finished the day on the northern shore in Toronto. Total for the day was 53 miles. When we reached Hamilton we went onto a bike path that hugged the lakeshore for quite a distance. Eventually we came to a lift bridge across the Burlington Canal which was in its elevated position to allow a great lakes cargo ship to pass. The canal allows ships to travel between the port city of Hamilton and Lake Ontario. It took quite awhile for the ship to pass under the bridge. You could hear the ship's horn but the ship wasn't visible until it reached the bridge due to the heavy fog. During the time the bridge was elevated a large auto backup was created. And, on the bikeway quite a few bikes backed up waiting for the ship to pass under the bridge. Eventually, as we rounded the western end of Lake Ontario we passed some beautiful towns along the lake. As we got closer to Toronto traffic became much heavier and we cycled through increasingly light industrial and commercial areas - not the most scenic. Eventually, we were able to ride on a combination of bike paths and quiet residential streets along the lakefront. After reaching the city of Toronto we were able to follow a bikepath into the downtown of Toronto where we found a hotel in the waterfront area right near the CN Tower. Toronto appears to be a vibrant city which is beautifully located on shore of Lake Ontario. There were a tremendous number of cyclists and walkers along the waterfront. It was very different then the areas we cycled through so far on this trip. Toronto is definitely a city I would like to visit in the future.

Day 5 - finally some sun!

Started out with an overcast sky but no rain. We followed a nice bike path along the Niagra River but a portion of it was under construction. We followed it until it became dirt (which had turned into mud from all the rain). Our bikes could use a bath now. Eventually we rode into Niagra Falls state park where a multiuse path goes along the Niagra River. We saw beautiful views of the river just above Niagra Falls. The force and turbulence of the river current as it surges toward the falls was amazing. We had to walk our bikes along the path because of the myriad people on the path. I didn't realize Niagra Falls is such a big tourist spot. We continued into the city of Niagra Falls, N.Y. which is very touristy so we still had to walk our bikes in many places. We then crossed the Rainbow bridge into Canada. Cyclists only pay a 50 cent toll but you have to ride on the bridge with the cars. There is a pedestrian walkway but bicycles are prohibited on it. We then went into Niagra Falls, Canada which is also very touristy and very busy. It seems to be a very popular location for foreigners. Our bikes were even celebrities - someone told several pictures of my bike and a picture of Hal's bike while we were eating lunch. Once we cycled out of Niagra Falls it got much quieter. We passed a lot of vineyards which I found surprising.
We crossed the Welland Canal which is roughly paralell to the Niagra River. The canal connects Lake Ontario and Lake Erie and it allows ships traversing the Great Lakes to travel between these lakes to reach the St. Lawrence Seaway. We followed a nice bike path along the canal which took us due north to the southern shore of Lake Ontario. This was actually our first view of the lake despite several days of riding. We had planned to reach Hamilton today but due to the time we spent in the Niagra Falls area we had only covered about 8 miles by 1 pm. Finally, about 3 in the afternoon the clouds disappeared and we saw sun for the first time in several days. It actually got warm enough to ride in just bike shorts and a bike jersey for the first time on the trip. Late in day we passed a touring cyclist who was heading east to Niagra Falls and eventually to NYC where he would get a plane home to Italy. We eventually ended the day after 46 miles at a motel in Grimsby, Canada. Tomorrow we should reach Toronto.

Day 4 - only a little wet

Woke to an overcast sky but no rain so I packed away the rain gear. Of course when we started riding shortly thereafter it began to rain. It was only a light rain which eventually ended. We made it to Lockport for lunch and then decided to ride to Lewiston; and, depending on the weather and our progress we thought we would cross the Lewiston-Queenston bridge to Canada. I had trouble programming my Garmin GPS so Hal navigated with his iPhone using Google maps. I thought we ended up going a little too far South when I saw a sign for "Alabama" but luckily it was Alabama, N.Y. when we arrived in Lewiston we decided to head south to Niagra Falls, N.Y. so we could see the falls tomorrow morning. The plan is to cross into Canada tomorrow morning via the Rainbow bridge. Luckily after dinner tonight I was able to get my Starbucks "fix." We ended up doing 60 miles today and of course it started to rain just before we found a motel in Niagra Falls. Before reaching Niagra Falls we cycled through a lot of rural areas and passed a significant amount of farmland. Once we reached the town of Niagra it became much more urban and industrial. We passed a large N.Y. Power Authority electrical generation plant - it looked like a large pump-storage facility. And, you see a lot of high-voltage electrical lines which I assume are carrying power from the hydro plant at the falls.

"Wet" day 3

We woke up to lots of heavy rain - see pic from motel window below. The weather did change once we started riding - it started to rain harder. We picked up the Erie Canal bike path a block from the motel. It was easy riding because no one else was on the path. However, after several miles the path became an unpaved dirt path. In dry weather it would be easy to ride on but the rain turned it into mud which was hard to ride on. We ended up riding on the grass next to the path but that was also difficult to ride on. We were only managing about 6 mph on the grass despite a large energy output. At about 6 miles into the ride we left the dirt path near a marina located on the canal and hal got a flat. We saw a house so hal knocked on the door and asked if we could use their covered porch to fix the flat - see pic below. We decided at that point to abandon riding on the Erie Canal path which we had planned to ride to Lockport - about a 60 mile ride. Instead we headed to Batavia which was a large town with lots of motels. We passed through several small towns and lots of farmland; and, it continued to rain. I was riding in a full rain suit - pants, jacket and helmet cover - in order to avoid getting soaked and to stay moderately warm since the air temperature was in the 50s. Of course, my cycling shoes got soaked because all the ventilation holes allow in water. We rode all the way to Batavia before finding a place for a late lunch. Shortly before stopping for lunch the rain finally slowly to a light drizzle. But just as were stopping for lunch hal got a second flat. We had a nice lunch at the Miss Batavia dinner which appeared to be a new place made to look like an old fashioned dinner. After fixing the flat we rode about 3 miles to the first motel we saw and checked in. The total mileage today was 37 miles but most of it was in the rain. Hopefully, tomorrow will be drier! If the weather is good tomorrow we may cycle to Canadian border.