Aug 11--Day 60--Working My Way Around the End of the Lake

I tried to be as quiet as a mouse this morning to not wake my dorm mates. I think I was successful, as they were all still asleep when I left the room. I loaded all the bags into the elevator, then dropped them off in the lobby. I went up to the 5th floor to retrieve Tilmann. The door to the patio was locked. Back to the lobby I went. The gal came up and unlocked the door. I brought Tilmann down on the elevator. I noticed his rear wheel seemed a little wobbly. Still, I loaded the bags onto Tilmann. I didn't wait for breakfast. In hindsight, I probably could have spent the few minutes it took to tighten the pitlock skewer there in the lobby, then it might have been time for breakfast. But, no...instead I headed out without breakfast. 

 

There was already a fair amount of traffic at 7:15, but nothing like yesterday. That was good. I headed down the street that had a separate bike lane. I saw a Subway, and headed over there for breakfast. I've actually never had Subway for breakfast. Since I don't really do eggs, I just had my usual turkey sandwich. You know, it was pretty good! It also kept me full for a longer time than my usual breakfast of oatmeal. 

 

I continued down to the water, and voila, I was back on the Waterfront Trail.

Back on the Trail at the Harbor

There were many cyclists coming into town. It was cool to see so many cyclists commuting to work. While the Waterfront Trail continued out of Toronto, the number of cyclists dropped off after about 5 miles. 

 

I stopped after the trail cleared a bit and got out my pitlock key to tighten the skewers on the wheels. Because the rear skewer was quite loose, I also retensioned the belt. I have periodically checked the various rack bolts and whatnot, but I haven't thought to check the skewers. 

 

The trail was, once again, very easy to follow. This end of the trail is much better signed. It also stays much closer to the water. It was overcast all day with a lot of fog on the water. The humidity was pretty high, so it wasn't cold. 

Cool bridge for cyclists and pedestrians

Dirt path detour

 

 

Not too long before Burlington, I could actually see land on the other side of the lake! Lake Ontario was finally looking like a lake instead of an ocean! 

Land Ho!

 

 

Throughout most of the day, numerous cyclists had been passing me going the other direction. Many of them waved and said hello, or good job. I could see that some had a sort of singlet type thing on that had the symbol for the Waterfront Trail (the full name, I've discovered, is The Great Lakes Waterfront Trail). In Burlington I came to where a tent was set up--actually, they were taking it down. I stopped to ask what the ride was. They said it was The Great Lakes Waterfront Trail Adventure, a 7 Day 500km ride from Windsor to some distance east of Toronto. I don't know how many riders there were total, but quite a few. The guy at the tent gave me a couple of little bicycle pins. 

 

Last night I sent a Warmshowers request to a gal in Beamsville (part of Lincoln). I'd also sent a request to a guy in Port Colborne for tomorrow night, but he was busy. In Oakville, I stopped at a Starbucks and checked my email. Lorraine was available, and just asked me to let her know what time. I emailed her back saying between 2:00 and 3:00. That would prove to be somewhat optimistic.

 

From Burlington, there was a path (and a bridge over the Burlington Canal) all the way to Hamilton around the end of Lake Ontario. Once I got around the end, it felt a little weird to be going east with the lake still on my left. The wind was a wee bit better, but then it was spitting rain off and on (as soon as it would be raining enough that I wanted my jacket, I would stop, put it on, and then it would stop raining). 

The freeway bridge

The bridge sidewalk of the not freeway bridge

 

 

In Grimsby, I finally had to stop for a break. I stopped at a Tim Horton's so I could check my email again. I had forgotten how worthless the wifi is at Tim Horton's. My email wouldn't even load. I wanted to send Lorraine another email telling her it might be 3:30. Oh well...I had a short break and a snack.

 

Garmin led me to Lorraine and Doug's house. They have a beautiful house, and a sweet dog named Jazz. Lorraine and Doug are very nice, and I've really enjoyed the evening. Dinner was superb. 

 

 

I've decided I am going to cycle the Welland Canal to Port Colborne tomorrow. Lorraine gave me a map and a brochure with info about the canal. It might make for a few more miles, but it will be an interesting ride. Since tomorrow is Saturday, there will likely be a number of cyclists. Should be fun. I cycled with this little buddy for a number of miles today.

Or maybe I should say, little buggy!