Day 1

August 2, 2023

Riding out from home

I had estimated a 6 to 8 hour day, so I was able to wake up and have breakfast in my usual relaxed manner. I eventually rolled out at 8:45am.

Starting from home in St Catharines gets the only technical parts done early (Shorthills Provincial Park and a small Bruce Trail section ). The official route starts in Dundas.

Easy part of Shorthills. No pictures taken in the more technical bits.

It was a nice cool day for a long ride, with lot of shade on the rail trails too.

I had to stop a few times to adjust the front bags hanging from the “aero” bars. The sleeping bag slipped down to rub the tire, and the small pad bag kept sliding forward. It was all good after a few iterations.

I had to wrap the bag cord around the arm pad to hold it in place. This worked fine.

I was quickly happy to have the aero bars for their intended function. I ended up being in “aero” position wherever I could. The change in position was nice. And regardless of the rest of the bike being decidedly non-aero, it still does save a few watts.

I had a bagel shop breakfast sandwich, chocolate milk, and a pastry for lunch in Dundas. There aren’t any stores or restaurants after this until Brantford. There is a Canadian Tire in the same plaza for any hardware or bike needs. I did buy a cheap hand pump here once after forgetting mine.

The route from Dundas to Waterford is mostly rail trail and quite a lot of shade. Brantford has some resupply and fast food options near the route.

I had a quiet campsite at Waterford Conservation Area. The tent area was only about 20% full and has a built up sand pad for the tents.

I had stopped just before the campsite to get a couple beers and enjoyed them with a barely edible can of Chili from the mini butane stove.

Today's ride: 172 km (107 miles)
Total: 172 km (107 miles)

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