|
Friday, August 4th: West Lorne to Port Dover
98 miles + 5 = 103
The night was chilly, and it was tough to get out of the warm sleeping bag on Friday morning. As I sat in the tent packing my luggage, I saw flashes on the side of the tent. Afraid that a thunderstorm was approaching, I unzipped the tent window and peeked out. The rising sun was illuminating the clouds to a beautiful reddish-orange color, and people were taking pictures of the sunrise. I quickly pulled on my shoes and went outside to capture the moment with my own camera.
After eating breakfast, we set off on a delightful ride along the north shore of Lake Erie. We started by cycling six miles on a quiet country road that paralleled busy Rt. 401. After a few more turns, we joined the "Talbot Trail", the name for a series of pretty roads that follow the Lake Erie shoreline. At mile 16 we passed a historic marker, which explained that the trail was named for Colonel Thomas Talbot. (Colonel Talbot was in the British army colonel from 1791 to 1803. When he retired, he settled in Canada and formed the 65,000-acre Talbot Settlement.) The roads were very flat, until we suddenly came to a downhill followed by a short, steep uphill climb.
After a water break in the small town of Fingal, we coasted down a long curving downhill stretch into Port Stanley. This was a delightful village, with a Ferris wheel, train rides, a small waterside park, many small shops, and a steel grate drawbridge. I left my bike in the middle of the drawbridge while I walked around and snapped pictures, realizing later that it was not a smart place to leave a bike. Fortunately, no boats needed to pass, so the bridge stayed down.
While Fr. Jim and I snapped pictures, Corky disappeared into a shop. When we found him, his bike sported a giant bow, made from white ribbon emblazoned with red maple leafs. The bow fluttered behind him for the rest of the week.
Much of the land along the north shore of Lake Erie is well above the level of the water, with sandy bluffs separating the water and the land. Many of the towns along the shoreline, however, are in valleys where rivers or streams enter the lake. The ride down into each town was fun, but the climb out was sometimes tough. Port Stanley was no exception, and we left it by climbing a steep hill that seemed to start on the edge of downtown. The climb was not long, but was steep enough that some of the riders seemed to come to almost a full stop between pedal strokes.
Continuing eastward, we began to see tobacco farms. Colorful drying barns complemented the large, green, leafy tobacco plants. I'm used to seeing one barn per farm in my Ohio forays, so it was a treat to see farms with many barns. The barns tended to be clustered together, and were often painted bright red or green.
Twelve miles after leaving Port Stanley, we descended into Port Bruce, where the Cycle America staff had set up a lunch in a shelter house. The shelter house was in a small park in the center of town, near the water. At the south end of the park, a pier extended into the lake and many people were fishing. To the west, a middle-aged couple was sunbathing on a grassy beach, accompanied only by large driftwood logs. As we looked east, we saw sandy bluffs rising away from the lake. Fr. Jim had heard about a restaurant in the next town that served delicious fish sandwiches, so we elected to have a snack at the picnic area and continue with our ride.
We continued for another 14 miles to Port Burwell, a town located where Otter Creek runs into Lake Erie. There is a 65-foot tall lighthouse, built in 1840, in Port Burwell. Just down the street from the lighthouse we found Craiger's Cove restaurant, home of "the best pickerel and perch dinners in Ontario." This restaurant was in an old pharmacy that had been gutted and remodeled.
|
|
