In honor of my youngest son's 20th birthday today, I rode 67 miles from Presquille Provincial Park to Darlington Provincial Park. Okay, I would have done the same ride even if it wasn't Nolan's Birthday, but I did sing Happy Birthday while I was riding today! Well...maybe I didn't actually sing Happy Birthday...I'll sing it now. Sing with me.
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday dear Nolan,
Happy Birthday to Yoooooooouuuu!
So, I just realized by the time I get wifi to upload this post, it won't be Nolan's Birthday anymore...oh well...
As for the ride today, I think I managed to outsmart the Waterfront Trail, but at what cost? I started out following it faithfully, but after two completely gratuitous loops, I decided to just stick to CR 2. I know those extra loops down to the lake, then back to CR 2 have been why my mileage is higher.
My plan was working out pretty good until I got to Port Hope. Coming into the town, I was actually following the trail signs. I never actually consciously stopped following them. They just disappeared. The last sign I saw was for the Greenbelt Route. The Waterfront Trail and the Greenbelt route had been using the same roads, but whenever one turned, there was a sign for the other one too. So, instead of turning, I continued on CR 2.
CR 2 ended up going to the other side of the main highway (401). It then ran perfectly parallel to 401. I could see on my Ontario map that CR 2 went to Bowmanville where the campground is located. The only problem was that it was a rather busy 2-lane road with mostly no shoulder (except on the uphills--at least that was nice). When I turned on Garmin, it seemed to think CR 2 was not a good idea. At every opportunity, it tried to take me off and around, which adds miles too. After the first time it did that, I ignored it--finally just turning it off.
In Newcastle, I stopped at a Subway, mostly to get water (the water at the campground tasted horrible this morning, so I left with no water, except buying one bottle from a vending machine on my way out of the park). I had been buying Gatorade and such along the way, but I really needed some water. I asked the gal how far I was from Bowmanville. She said I was only 10 minutes by car. That was good news.
Once I reached the outskirts of Bowmanville, I needed to head south to get back to the lake (and likely, the Waterfront Trail). Garmin did the job this time without any gratuitous miles.
I managed to make it to the park only doing 4 more miles than I thought I would. I'm absolutely positive that staying on CR 2 is why it was only 4. Was it a pleasant ride? Not really. Do I care? Only a little (but my butt does not care at all).
An interesting thing about this park is that it is really this forest oasis in the middle of a big industrial area. Yes, it's on Lake Ontario, but there is a nuclear power plant just down the road.
I only took two photos today--this one of Lake Ontario (from one of the gratuitous loops), and this one of downtown Coburg. Tomorrow I'll probably stick to the Trail since I'll be coming into Toronto. I hope the signage is good.
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| A gratuitous ride down to the lake |
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| Coburg |
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| Here's one of the beach at Darlington that I took after I did the blog post |
1 comment:
Looks to be a pretty ride. Enjoy.
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