August 26, 2013 Whitby --> Port Hope, ON. - 46 miles
As expected, it was pouring down rain when I woke up. The forecast was 40-60% probability of rain throughout the day. After checking the weather radar maps, we timed our departure to coincide with a break between two fronts of rain, in hopes of avoiding the worst downpours. Still, it was raining pretty steadily when we left.
The Waterfront Trail was easily accessed a few streets from the motel, and ran alongside the shore. This portion of the WT was nicely paved and divided. It ran through a lot of nicely manicured city parks. As we progressed through the day, the WT took many forms in addition to paved asphalt. We road on gravel, dirt, and crushed granite. Over streams and railroad tracks on old rickety wood bridges and newly constructed sleek bridges. Through tree-lined trails and across fields on narrow paths. At times we rode on country roads, lined by wildflowers. We even rode on one country road that was lined for almost a half mile with beautiful bright colored traditional flowers that had obviously been lovingly planted by someone. There was also a fairly long stretch on the service road running alongside the equivalent of an interstate highway. And the stretch that ran by the nuclear power plant - that was interesting.
After 10-13 miles or so, the rain dwindled to a stop and the sun actually came out for a while. However, that only lasted an hour or so and the rain returned quite steadily for the final 8-10 miles into Port Hope, our destination town. The good news is that other than getting wet and dirty, the rain had little affect on the riding itself. "Drowned rat" is the term that comes to mind as we pulled in to the small, locally owned motel a couple of miles on the outskirts of town. Out in the middle of nowhere. No restaurants and the only convenience store had nothing of any substance to eat. The motel owners were from India and cheerfully greeted us. The rooms were very clean and comfortable, and after a long hot bath I started feeling revived. For dinner, Randy and I had pasta delivered from a local pizza place that was quite good. We sat on a bench outside our rooms and ate as we watched another downpour.
The good news is that the forecast for tomorrow is only 10% chance of rain.
