We left a bit later than normal. 7:20 thanks to yours truly. I overslept til 6:00 am. Stayed up too late blogging I guess. Getting to the canal was uneventful. We rode the pathway one more day. In describing it as packed sand in an earlier entry was not a good description. It's a typical hard packed cinder/sand/dirt path. Better for running than biking. Glad it wasn't raining. Anyway, the wind was very light but still in our face. The temp was perfect for riding, in the 60s. It was toppled off with a bluebird sky.
We eventually departed from the canal. In doing so at Lockport, we climbed parallel a series of locks. The path we were on was reminiscent of the final pitch of that Bitchin climb in VT, but shorter. I had the energy to stand on my pedals the whole way. I'm disappointed that I didn't have the energy to stop mid climb for pictures. From there we had our navigational challenge to work our way through town. We only missed one turn and was able to use the maps app on my iPhone to get us reoriented. It compliments the hard copy pretty well.
As we bugged out of town, we followed a road through the more rural areas. It could have easily been the clone of the Creeds ride in VIrginia Beach. The farms and houses were kept up. Lots of space. And flat. Very flat. This 20 mile segment was pretty and pastoral.
Next up, Canada.
At the end of that road, we were headed into the border. Getting there was another matter. The first ramp we came to is the one we were supposed to take. But no, we couldn't. On bikes we could probably have easily worked our way through but given the location, we followed the car route. Go up. Make a U turn. Go up the overpass and take next cloverleaf right which leads to another flyover which takes you to the right exit towards Canada. Sheesh.
Right before we went over the Peace bridge, I pulled over to speak with my bride. I didn't have international service and wanted to talk before the few days with limited connection. I also talked with my dear mother to let her know what's up. Even when you're 60 you are still your mother's son. I have an awesome mom. Awesome. Ok. Contact made. Time to enter Canada. We rolled up to the immigration officer. She quizzed us after looking at our passports. Where. Why. How long. Itinerary. That sort of thing. After a while, she just seemed to want to know more about our adventure.
We had to pay a $1 toll for the 2 bikes on the bridge. Cars=$4.50 I think.
We next got onto Niagra Falls Parkway or so such name. Soon we stopped at a tourist trap for lunch. You know the place, it has cheesy props to take pictures beside fake waterfalls.
Falls were cool. You've seen the pics before. Spectacular!
No buts today. Fred and I decided this was the best day of riding so far.
Gotta cut it short rode @64 today. Stayed in Fort Erie.
Will catch up on Saturday as it's Friday now. Big weather coming in so anticipate hunkering down depending on the conditions.
Cheers! KPW
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