After reviewing the maps and assessing the best approach to Toronto, we decided to head for Burlington, on the shores of Lake Ontario approximately 35 miles away. This would leave us with another 38 mile ride to Toronto following the Water Front Trail.
We left Cambridge at approximately 11 am. Thankfully, Randy mapped out our exit from Cambridge so as to avoid the congested and dangerous roads on which we had entered. Within 4-5 miles, we were on a beautiful, paved, two lane road to Puslinch - some 9 miles away. The forecast was for 30% chance of thunderstorms and it was a little overcast and quite humid. But no rain in immediate view. The scenery was similar to that yesterday. The road was bordered by gorgeous wildflowers (a lot of purple these days) and leafy green cat tails. I saw more and more evidence of the beginning stages of the turning of the leaves. More interesting houses, farms and complexes. We began finding more and more frequent rolling hills, some with quite severe inclines to climb.
At Puslinch, we road briefly on Hwy 6, a very busy road. However, we quickly navigated over to Centre Road, which more or less ran parallel to Hwy 6 the remaining 10 miles or so to the outskirts of Burlington. Centre Road is one of my favorite rides to date. The scenery was fantastic and the road was a joy to ride - even the occasional climbs. Traffic not too terribly heavy. One noticeable feature was the abundance of horse training and equestrian centers, as well as boarding facilities. My sister would have loved this ride. I resisted the urge to stop and take a picture every few feet or so, and tried to just take it all in.
Once on the outskirts of Burlington, we then had to navigate through neighborhoods and traffic to get to the Motel 6, a newly renovated facility where we had reservations for the night. Navigating the traffic is the hardest part of daily rides that end up in towns or cities of any size. At one point, we were treated to a gorgeous lookout over the city, followed by an exhilarating downhill stretch of several miles where we were cruising 20-25 mph. Then began the negotiation of traffic to the motel.
We were cheerfully greeted and checked in at the Motel 6 by a delightful young lady named Alaukika. She noted that she had lived in Corpus Christi for a while when she saw that I was from Texas. Alaukika bent over backwards to make us feel welcome, and to meet our requests as to room locations and for old rags we could use for our greasy bike maintenance. Alaukika was very intrigued with our bike ride and asked many of the now familiar questions we get when people see the loaded bikes. How far have we ridden? Where did we start? Where are you going? How many miles do you ride each day? I spent some time answering her questions and told her that I was doing the ride as a fund raiser for the ALS Association. I gave her my bike "business card" so she could access my bike blog. Alaukika told me she had been on some walking pilgrimages in her native India and so sort of had a feel for what we were doing. I told her about my friend LaDonna who recently completed a 500 mile trek across Spain on the El Camino Santiago - which many undertake as a sort of pilgrimage. I asked Alaukika to let me take a picture to put on the blog and she graciously agreed - so, here it is.
After dinner, Randy and I spent some time performing basic bike maintenance. There was a lovely grassy area behind the motel with some picnic tables that provided the perfect location. Calm, quiet and peaceful. We had once again skirted any rain and thunderstorms, and early evening was sunny with a pleasant breeze.
Tomorrow we head for Toronto, where we plan to spend a couple of days.
