October 24, 2016
Paris to Mississauga: A mixed day for my last day
Okay, let's get this over with.
Not a great attitude for my last day, but I was sick of the wind. At least it would be slightly behind me for part of the day today.
I looked around Paris a bit, which is nice in the way that Ontario rail towns tend to be, then took the rail trail to Cambridge. Cambridge was a mess of impatient drivers, so I didn't stop there. The road out of town was a bad one, too many construction trucks for the first section. There was a small shoulder for most of it, too small, and the wind made things awkward. Once again, I was so glad I didn't have my panniers.
I passed a sign stating I was in Hamilton again, which was shocking if you look at the map. I was nowhere near Hamilton! Watch out people, that city has ambitions.
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At this point, I don't think there are any good route options so I went with Google for today, reasoning that I'd at least get a fairly direct route. Bad roads alternated with reasonably quiet ones, and before long I was in Milton and it was only noon.
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Wow. Guess I have time for a real lunch today.
Milton has some bike lanes and a lot of bad drivers, but all in all, it was fine. Google wanted me to take Derry Road all the way to Mississauga, but it was under construction past Milton, so I took Britannia, which wasn't under construction but was no better.
No shoulder, lots of trucks, lots of traffic. And the wind, which was a crosswind gusting over 50 km/hr. Panniers or no panniers, that is not a safe situation. I almost couldn't do it, had to get off the road a couple times, and even tried biking on the gravel shoulder without success. With all my gear, I would've had to walk all the way to Mississauga. Definitely a stressful conclusion to the tour.
The urban areas around here are working toward becoming bike-friendly, but the spaces in between are definitely not, and the closer you get to Toronto, the more traffic there is on the rural roads. I wonder if it's any better on the weekends.
And that was it, the tour was finished. Despite my efforts to not go directly from Buffalo to Mississauga, it still felt like Buffalo was the last destination and Ontario was an afterthought.
Wish I could end the journal on a more interesting note, but it is what it is.
I arrived, changed out of my cycling clothes and put on my jeans, which had been, uh, snug six weeks ago. They were loose. How did that happen with the ridiculous amounts of food I was eating? Well, that might help explain some of the leg fatigue.
I'm happy with what I accomplished, disappointed that my sleep still sucks, amazed that I now feel so comfortable on a bicycle I could barely ride a few months ago. Or maybe not, now that I think about it... I almost fell over many times during the past three days. I guess some things never change.
Today's ride: 90 km (56 miles)
Total: 2,591 km (1,609 miles)
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