July 9, 2018
St Catherines, ON to Mississauga, ON
Day 4
Weather: Hot & Windy
Today can be described as; hot, headwind, traffic, long miles.
I woke up around 6:30 and started to get ready. Breakfast of pastries and juice was served at 7 a.m. so I walked over to the small breakfast area and brought them back to our room.
I thought we were all ready to go at 7:45 a.m. then I discovered my back tire was flat. A new tube in and we finally left at 8:15 a.m.
We rode back into Port Dalhousie and immediately found the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail closed so we back tracked and left town on the main road.
After about a mile on Lakeshore Rd we meet up with the QEW Service Road which we would follow for about 25 miles. This is where the ride got the least enjoyable due to riding right next to a expressway, but there was a good bike lane. Occasionally the trail would divert into neighborhoods but generally we were right next to the noisy QEW expressway. In the interests of time and miles we would sometimes skip these diversions, however during those times the service road would sometimes loose the bike lane.
Overall the route was fine and was in my mind a better option than heading inland and climbing up the Niagara escarpment which the Adventure Cycling route follows.
As we rounded the lake we found a nice bike trail that skirts the lake through the city of Hamilton.
Just before the Burlington Canal Lighthouse we stopped for our meal break. With most of our remaining food gone we made a note to start looking for a grocery store.
Burlington Canal Lighthouses
Built on a low sand bar that separates Burlington Bay with the rest of Lake Ontario the Burlington Lighthouses mark a channel cut through the sand bar to allow shipping into Hamilton.
In 1824 construction begun to cut the channel through 540 feet of sand and was officially opened on July 1, 1826. However due to delays and poor workmanship the channel was not fully operational until 1832.
A wooden, octagonal, fifty-four-foot-tall lighthouse was erected in 1837, however in 1856 while the steamship Ranger was transitioning through the channel a spark from the smoke caught the pier on fire that ultimately engulfed the lighthouse.
A new redbrick keeper’s house was built in 1857, and work begun on a building a lighthouse with the tower constructed of limestone.
The keeper’s house was moved in 1896 so a swing bridge could be built for the railroad.
In 1905 a front range light was added and this metal tower was replaced in 1910. Both lights were electrified in 1922.
The present pierhead light on the south pier was built in 1939.
The 1858 lighthouse was decommissioned in 1961 and replaced by a light mounted on the south tower of the railway bridge.
The keeper stayed on maintaining the lights until 1987, when the station was automated.
There are plans to restore and open both lights for visitors.
While there, the drawbridge was raised to allow boats to enter the harbor.
Once in Burlington we followed Lakeshore Drive which occasionally had a shoulder but for most of the way we took the lane. Traffic wasn’t to bad but once again the trail would divert into parks that had less than desirable bike paths. So mostly we stayed on the road.
Finally, we spotted a grocery store so stopped and loaded up on supplies. Right across from the store we found a park and took a late lunch break.
Our next stop was Oakville Lighthouse.
Oakville Lighthouse
The Oakville lighthouse was built on a pier and completed on November 1, 1838. The lighthouse was a wooden octagonal tower with a height of thirty-six feet.
A storm in April of 1886 destroyed the pier and lighthouse so a temporary light was erected on the beach.
Once the east pier was rebuilt in 1887, the temporary light was moved to its outer end until a new light could be built. This new lighthouse, a hexagonal wooden was lit on June 4, 1888.
In 1960, the tower was relocated to the grounds of The Oakville Yacht Squadron and replaced by the current concrete tower.
Then the final haul to our Warmshowers host Andrew.
Today's ride: 55 miles (89 km)
Total: 161 miles (259 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |