July 12, 2018
Day 55 Peterborough
Peterborough, Ontario
Kind of a fitful night sleeping and we were up and packed in record time. We cycled to the last Tim Horton’s on the way out of town to get past morning traffic only to find it didn’t have seating. Drive through or take out only. Swell. Jon ordered his earl gray tea, which turned out to be excessively sweet. (The man has no luck with other people preparing his tea. Most of the time I only get it marginally right.) We followed a route that our host recommended and it was a good route to keep us off the busy roads. We had to take a gravel road for 4 miles, but we’d take it to avoid the highway. Unfortunately, you also lose access to services. So, when nature called, we pulled off and went into the woods. The mosquitoes swarmed. I couldn’t pee fast enough. Jon raked his shin across a barbed wire fence trying to move quickly to avoid the skeeters. That’ll leave a mark. We continued on and stopped at the Kirkfield Lift Lock along a canal system that links Lake Ontario to Georgian Bay. It was originally built in 1900 for commerce, but now is mostly for pleasure craft. It was pretty cool to check out. We took the steps up to the top and saw two boats coming in to the lock. We watched the entire process. Fascinating.
After that we cruised into Lindsay for lunch, catching a paved bike trail for a bit! Jon asked a woman who was walking her dog for restaurant recommendations. She recommended a few in the downtown area and we chose a Greek restaurant. There were even a couple of cyclists there. We placed our order, asking for water first thing and it took forever to get it. We sat and waited, catching up on emails and journals. After a while, I noticed that the ladies next to us were served even though they’d arrived after us. The waiter assured us that our order was coming. Then 2 more tables got their orders. The waiter sees my raised eyebrows, scurries off, then returns looking very sheepish. Apparently he’d forgotten to submit our order. So, bad news: we ended up waiting over 30 minutes for 2 sandwiches. The good news: they were free. That works. From there, we took the “Trans Canada bike trail” for about 10 miles. It was nice to be off the roads, but it’s a gravel trail, so with our road tires, we had to stay along someone else’s tire path. There were also occasional motor bikes on the trail. Not sure if they’re actually allowed to be there, but whatever. The only problem with this lovely trail is the dust. Our bikes, chains, bags, shoes, etc were all covered with a nice layer of dust when we were done. So Jon decided to get off the path for the last 6-7 miles of our day’s journey, which apparently meant a roller coaster of hills. Oh joy. The thighs are tired, just saying. Jon spent the better part of an hour cleaning the dust off of the bikes after dinner. Speaking of dinner, we had a wonderful Thai curry bowl, served quickly and hot (with prompt glasses of water!) at the restaurant next to our hotel. Onward towards Kingston; should be back in the good old USA in a couple of days.
Today's ride: 78 miles (126 km)
Total: 662 miles (1,065 km)
| Rate this entry's writing | Heart | 1 |
| Comment on this entry | Comment | 0 |