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Saturday, August 5th Port Dover to Niagara Falls,
Ontario, 72 miles
I awoke this day with mixed emotions. The trip had been a
joyous adventure, and I didn't want it to end. On the other hand, I
knew that my family would be waiting in Niagara Falls, and I was anxious
to see them.
As we walked into the Canadian Legion hall for breakfast, we were
entertained by a young lady in traditional uniform playing the
bagpipes. The breakfast was plentiful and filling, and the
volunteer workers even wrapped up a muffin for me to take along as a
snack. As I finished my breakfast, I realized that I was wearing my
cap indoors, which I now knew was bad manners in a Legion hall.
Corky had fun teasing me about my mistake.
After breakfast, we continued east along the Lake Erie shore,
passing beautiful homes and seeing large freighters out on the
lake. We soon passed a large, well-landscaped factory, which
appeared to be a steel mill. The factory was set back from the
lake, but had a large pier jutting into the lake. At this pier a
ship was unloading, and two others were waiting offshore. A long
conveyor belt passed under the road, apparently to carry coal from the
pier to the factory. It was similar to the belt that we saw on the
St Clair River, but was located in a quiet rural area.
As we rode along, I had the words to "Oh Canada" in my
handlebar bag, and attempted to memorize the words to the song. I
especially liked the words "Oh Canada, God keep her glorious and
free".
We stopped to replenish our water bottles, and Corky mixed himself
a bottle of very concentrated energy drink. Continuing into Dunnville, we
crossed a pretty bridge over the Grand River. About 20 yards
downstream from the bridge was a small dam. I was amused to see that
there was a sign on the bridge that warned against jumping into the
river.
As we approached the 50-mile mark for the day, Corky's saddle
became very loose and he stopped to repair it. He was able to fix
it, but ended up with a saddle that sloped upward, which was not a
comfortable condition. He toughed it out until lunch, and then
repaired the saddle. However, the concentrated Gatorade gave him a
severe stomachache, so he found a ride with Bob Leone for the last 15
miles into Niagara Falls. Bob and his wife Nora were making the trip with
their three daughters, and took turns driving the van for the day.
As Fr. Jim and I pedaled on, we rode down what appeared to be a
dead-end street. As we approached the end, we saw a ferry
landing. We had reached the famous Welland Canal, which enables ships
to bypass Niagara Falls and travel from Lake Erie to Lake Huron. A free
pedestrian and bicycle ferry quickly transported us across the
canal. We soon came to a "Niagara Falls city limits"
sign, where we stopped for pictures. Riding on, as we came up
behind another rider from our group, a wild turkey ran across the road
and narrowly missed being run over by his bike.
We soon came to busy Lundy's Lane, which we cycled into the heart
of town and to the school where the riders were staying for the
night. After helping Corky to set up his tent, I rode back to a
hotel on Lundy's Lane, showered, changed into a bathing suit, and settled
in a chair by the indoor pool. A few minute later, my wife Shelly pulled
up in our van with our two daughters (Angie and Emily). Shelly's
parents, Jerry and Mary Steiner, followed close behind, with our son
Alex.
We stayed at Niagara Falls until Monday, and had a great time
seeing the sights. It was the first international trip for our
children, so it was a treat for them.
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