Collingwood to Owen Sound: Safe Harbor - Underground Railroad Route (Northern Half) - CycleBlaze

June 24, 2011

Collingwood to Owen Sound: Safe Harbor

Once again the weather was cool, windy and damp. Quite different from the record heat from three weeks ago.

We climbed the escarpment twice. It reminded us of the Burren in Ireland except here we were on only paved roads. I named today's route "Into-the-Teeth-of-the-Wind Road".
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Looking back to the climb, it doesn't always look as steep or as long as it felt while toiling up into the wind.
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Outside of Owen Sound we visited a local museum. True to our luck throughout the tour, their Underground Railroad exhibit was not currently on display. However, the Grey County Archivist sat down and reviewed some interesting documents with us to give some local background. Note the flags showing the wind we had plowed through all day.
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Francis Molock and his brother George came to Owen Sound via the Underground Railroad, led by Harriet Tubman. Francis built this home in 1870.
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After a little searching in Harrision Park we found the Black History Cairn which is the official terminus of the Underground Railroad route. We corralled a couple to take our picture. We were pretty cold, so taking our jackets off to show our Underground Railroad shirts was a hurried process.
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The Cairn included symbols of fugitives efforts to find freedom in Canada. Black settlers and their decendents from the Owen Sound area have celebrated freedom every year since 1862. Not for the first time, we marveled at the courage and tenacity shown by those escaping from slavery.
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Today's ride: 46 miles (74 km)
Total: 1,147 miles (1,846 km)

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