Day One Hundred Seventy, Date Monday, August 17, 2009
Time in Saddle: 9:04
Distance for the Day: 78.67 miles From Niagara Falls, Ont To Preston, Ont
Accumulated Trip Distance: 8058.7 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 685’/1028’, Highest: 1063’ Accumulated: 1936’
Speeds: Avg: 8.6 mph, Max: 31.0 mph
Weather: 76° clear and humid
Expenditures: $15C
Time in Saddle: 9:04
Distance for the Day: 78.67 miles From Niagara Falls, Ont To Preston, Ont
Accumulated Trip Distance: 8058.7 miles
Altitudes: Starting/Ending 685’/1028’, Highest: 1063’ Accumulated: 1936’
Speeds: Avg: 8.6 mph, Max: 31.0 mph
Weather: 76° clear and humid
Expenditures: $15C
Woke up at 4:30am, got up at 5am, and was broke down by 5:30am. I had to put on my raingear against the mosquitoes despite the warmth of the air; there was a lovely thin crescent moon with earthshine showing, and right above it shone bright Venus. It was still mostly dark, and I got out of that church parking lot as quick as I could to escape the skeeters. I rode out of Niagara, and went up PH 24 towards Guelph, when I stopped for breakfast at a small restaurant called Big Jacks (I couldn’t find any mini marts) to recharge the notebook, do some blogging, and get pancakes and sausage ($15C). I
chatted with the waitress, Laurie (LV), who was also a cyclist. She told me about her uncle – an avid 80-year old cyclist, who she once went on tour with, so she was particularly interested in my trip. She called over the owner of the restaurant, Joe, to join in the chat, and I gave them my blogsite. Laurie fixed me a “care package” of hot pressed ham and cheese sandwich, two oranges, orange slices, grapes, breakfast bar, slice of pound cake, and peanut butter cups (thanks, LV!) (The breakfast was only $10, but I tipped LV $5 after she made me that care package.) Continuing on, I later stopped at 12pm for cold drink ($2), and stopped again in
Stony Creek to just sit in some shade behind a store by a nice set of stores. I talked to a couple of folks who passed by about my trike and trip, and one of them came back later to give me a cold Fudgcicle, apologizing for the heat (not usually like this). I found and went into Wal-Mart to get an elastic arm band holder for my iPod, so I could listen to music while riding, again (before, I used my cycling vest pocket, but I don’t use that vest if it’s hot). Note on Canadian roads: they switch from great to okay, to non-existent. Not as bad as Maine’s worst, but overall, they get a grade of C-. I stopped in shade of tree on huge lawn in front of local grocery store at 3:30pm to eat the two
oranges, orange slices, and bunch of grapes that Laurie gave me (thanks LV!), and continued west into the town of Preston, where I hit a segment of the route that was under construction. It was about 7:30pm, so I took a side street into some neighborhoods to circumvent the obstruction, and had to stop in at a little girl’s first attempt at making money: an ice tea stand on the sidewalk in front of her house (cute!) Besides, I *was* thirsty ($0.50C for two cups at twenty-five cents, each). I got to talking about my trip with the parents, took their picture, and got some advice on how to get back to my route. At about 8pm, I found a church that was still under
construction with a large lot in back, but it had too much traffic in it, with vehicles, pedestrians, and kids on skateboards, so left to continue looking. It got dark as I moved through this somewhat large city, and wasn’t finding much, until I reached the northern outskirts. I took a side road and found a business at 9:15pm that had a suitable spot behind a bright sign that made things behind it invisible. There was some traffic noise, but not too bad, and I wasn’t being too picky, now. The weather was clear and dry, so I didn’t put the tent’s rain fly on, hopped in, and went to sleep. At 2:45am, it began to rain (where did *that* come from), so I got up instantly and put the tent’s rainfly on, then went back to bed. It showered lightly for a few minutes and stopped, and then started again a little later, but stopped, again – that was all.
chatted with the waitress, Laurie (LV), who was also a cyclist. She told me about her uncle – an avid 80-year old cyclist, who she once went on tour with, so she was particularly interested in my trip. She called over the owner of the restaurant, Joe, to join in the chat, and I gave them my blogsite. Laurie fixed me a “care package” of hot pressed ham and cheese sandwich, two oranges, orange slices, grapes, breakfast bar, slice of pound cake, and peanut butter cups (thanks, LV!) (The breakfast was only $10, but I tipped LV $5 after she made me that care package.) Continuing on, I later stopped at 12pm for cold drink ($2), and stopped again in
Stony Creek to just sit in some shade behind a store by a nice set of stores. I talked to a couple of folks who passed by about my trike and trip, and one of them came back later to give me a cold Fudgcicle, apologizing for the heat (not usually like this). I found and went into Wal-Mart to get an elastic arm band holder for my iPod, so I could listen to music while riding, again (before, I used my cycling vest pocket, but I don’t use that vest if it’s hot). Note on Canadian roads: they switch from great to okay, to non-existent. Not as bad as Maine’s worst, but overall, they get a grade of C-. I stopped in shade of tree on huge lawn in front of local grocery store at 3:30pm to eat the two
oranges, orange slices, and bunch of grapes that Laurie gave me (thanks LV!), and continued west into the town of Preston, where I hit a segment of the route that was under construction. It was about 7:30pm, so I took a side street into some neighborhoods to circumvent the obstruction, and had to stop in at a little girl’s first attempt at making money: an ice tea stand on the sidewalk in front of her house (cute!) Besides, I *was* thirsty ($0.50C for two cups at twenty-five cents, each). I got to talking about my trip with the parents, took their picture, and got some advice on how to get back to my route. At about 8pm, I found a church that was still under
construction with a large lot in back, but it had too much traffic in it, with vehicles, pedestrians, and kids on skateboards, so left to continue looking. It got dark as I moved through this somewhat large city, and wasn’t finding much, until I reached the northern outskirts. I took a side road and found a business at 9:15pm that had a suitable spot behind a bright sign that made things behind it invisible. There was some traffic noise, but not too bad, and I wasn’t being too picky, now. The weather was clear and dry, so I didn’t put the tent’s rain fly on, hopped in, and went to sleep. At 2:45am, it began to rain (where did *that* come from), so I got up instantly and put the tent’s rainfly on, then went back to bed. It showered lightly for a few minutes and stopped, and then started again a little later, but stopped, again – that was all.
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