August 24, 2013

August 24, 2013 Rest day in Toronto.

Had a great rest day off. It was the first day since we started the trip that I did not get on the bike at all. The weather was absolutely stunning. Crystal clear blue skies and, although it reached the high 70's, there was just enough of a gentle cool breeze.

We took the 2 minute free hotel shuttle to the Toronto airport and caught the 152 Airport Rocket Express to the eastern most subway station to catch the train to town. I had decided that I did not want to do anything really strenuous on my day off, but still wanted to see the highlights of Toronto. So, I found one of those double decker buses that give a 2 hour tour of the high spots of the city. You have the option of hopping on or off if you want to spend more time at a particular spot, i.e. visit a museum,etc. A bonus feature of this tour was an optional 45 minute boat ride around Toronto harbor. I was a little surprised when Randy indicated that he wanted to go on the bus/boat tour with me.




The subway train let us off at the town square which bore a strong resemblance to Times Square in New York. There was a huge crowd of people due to a festival with activities and booths to raise funds to fight epilepsy. A huge billboard caught my eye - an advertisement to "Edge Walk" the CN Tower. "No Guts No Glory." The CN Tower is that space needle looking structure that you always associate with Toronto. Probably the tallest structure in Toronto. We were able to see it yesterday 25 miles out while biking in on the Waterfront Trail. For a mere $175 you can go to the top of the CN Tower, get strapped in a harness, and hang off the side. At first I thought you actually fell or repelled all the way down. But I think they only let you "walk the edge" at the top. My second thought was how "Amazing Race-like" walking the edge was. And what good practice in preparation for Amazing Race. I mentioned this to Randy and he rolled his eyes and said no way he would ever "walk that edge." The look I got was clear - he thinks I am crazy. And Amazing Race holds no fascination for him.




The bus tour was exactly what I wanted - a good overview and just the right amount of time. The guides were young college students who did a very good job of giving the basic background of whatever we were looking at, and adding in a touch of story telling and local color. I think what struck me most about Toronto was the variety of architectural styles of all types, old and new, often mixed in together or right next to each other.

Around noon, we reached the harbor and got off to take the harbor boat ride. We immediately noticed that airplanes were flying in low over our heads to land at the local airport. Only jets with propellers are allowed because of the really short runway and environmental concerns. Again, we had a young woman tour guide who did an excellent job. Just the right amount of time and information. I will note that she had a rather strange accent, or what sounded like maybe a combination of several accents. That was a little confusing to my ears. But what cracked me up was she had this habit of occasionally emphasizing each individual syllable in a word that gave it a long drawn out sounding affect. This would be followed by a hearty "EH!" for emphasis. For example, she might describe a feature of the harbor islands as "FAB -U - LUS! EH!" Or "LUV - E- LE! EH!" I caught myself trying to anticipate when this might occur, and mouthing the words with her. I could tell Randy was doing the same. By the end of the boat ride, I was starting to think in that new strange syllable language. As we got off the boat, Randy tactfully asked her about her accent, and she said she was from Trinidad. She even volunteered that she had a combination of accents as a result of living various places. We did not make further inquiry as to the strange syllable language.










After the boat ride, we had lunch at a harbor front restaurant specializing in pizza and pasta. I had this linguini dish with mushrooms and spinach, drizzled with roasted olive oil. It ranks up there with the top 2-3 favorite meals on the trip.

We climbed back on the double decker bus for the remainder of the city tour, and I started feeling a little sleepy. It was close to 3 p.m. and I decided to head back to the hotel and leave Randy to his further exploration of the city.

It was another great day, and I enjoyed getting to spend some time in Toronto. Tomorrow we resume riding along the shores of Lake Ontario towards Montreal.

August 23, 2013

On a building we rode by today..

August 23, 2013 Burlington --> Toronto - 36 miles

A magical day - one of the best biking days I have ever had.

What made this day special was that every single thing that happened seemed special - there was a certain positive "flow" to every aspect of the day. It started with a brilliant blue cloudless sky and comfortably cool temperatures. We had the breakfast special at a local cafe that was wonderful. Eggs, bacon, potatoes and toast all perfectly cooked, and good strong coffee.

Most of the ride to Toronto was on the Waterfront Trail, which was nothing short of magical in places. The trail itself was a flat smoothly paved path running through various parks and neighborhoods beautifully landscaped with bright happy flowers that were often accompanied by equally happy wildflowers. At other times, the trail ran right alongside Lake Ontario, offering stunning views. At one point approximately 25 miles from Toronto we were able to see and take pictures of the city skyline in the distance.







There were also little coves where swans swam and dove for fish, their butts prominently pointed to the sky. Canadian geese flew in formation over the water. Geese and ducks strutted alongside the trail. They were unaffected by the passersby, and allowed me to walk right up to them. However, they did still shy away from having their picture taken.




We stopped at a bike shop in one of the small towns to get advice and maps. I had been looking for a pair of bike socks that would stay up for weeks, and here I found the perfect pair of socks. Not only do they stay up and are the most comfortable socks I have ever owned, they came with a Canadian flag and the logo on the side "NICE SOCK, EH" makes me want to run around saying "EH" to everything and everyone like many of the Canadians we have met.




In Oakville, we stopped to talk to a woman coming from the other direction on a fully loaded touring bike. She was a German lady named Ursula who was riding solo and had just started from Toronto. Turns out her bike had been lost in transit from Germany to Toronto and she had bought a bike she was less than happy with to make the ride. Ursula's planned route would take her south to Niagara Falls; west along the north side of Lake Erie into Michigan; north to take the ferry to Mackinaw Island on Lake Huron; then north back into Canada, I think eventually ending up in Toronto . I asked Ursula about biking in Germany, and she gave a very positive review. She also told us that she had biked solo in Siberia and Mongolia, and told a story of having lost her compass which was a near disaster. She now rides with 2 compasses, one of which is on a cord around her neck. Ursula was very cheerful and seemed like an interesting person. I wish we could have had more time to visit and get to know her better.




Eventually, we reached the place near Toronto where we needed to leave the Waterfront Trail and head north toward the Toronto airport, where our hotel was located. We started on another beautiful bike trail running alongside a stream that actually somewhat resembled mountain streams. Black squirrels ran across the trail. One stopped nearby and actually posed for me to take his picture. Eventually, however, the trail took a turn and ended in a dirt and rock strewn path under a tunnel-like bridge. We were forced to get off the bikes and push. Randy kept on undeterred despite my repeatedly saying "uh..this doesn't look or feel quite right..don't you think we should...?" From there, it only got worse until the narrow path barely existed and we were hiking through these weeds with yellow flowers. As we slogged along pushing our bikes, I kept yelling to Randy that this just could not be right. He pulled out his google map and suggested we had missed a turn somewhere back in the weeds and wanted to backtrack. After checking my own google map, I vetoed that suggestion and strongly suggested we forge on as it appeared that the real road we were looking for was ahead if we kept on through the weeds. I was right. After hiking up a steep dirt hill pushing loaded touring bikes (mine weighed in at 81 pounds last summer at Adventure Cycling headquarters in Montana), we finally came out on a real road which actually happened to be the road we were looking for. I told Randy that after meeting the challenge of hiking through the weeds and finding our way, Amazing Race would be a piece of cake. Randy remained unimpressed or interested in the adventures offered by the Amazing Race.







Another 5-6 miles through neighborhoods and traffic, and we gratefully arrived at our hotel. We found a great deal on a hotel near the Toronto airport where we will spend 2 nights, taking a rest day tomorrow to see Toronto and regroup for the next leg of the ride. At this point, we are over half way to the final destination, wherever that ends up in Maine. We have several route options and are assessing. At any rate, the hotel is fantastic, and a fitting end to a fabulous day. We truly did "Live the Dream" today, and are fortunate enough to realize and appreciate that fact.