Omaha to NYC Day 25
Animated map: https://www.relive.com/view/vrqo7ke4JKq
I woke with the pleasant feeling that I don't have to hurry out of camp. Yesterday had been one of my highest mileage days at 83, but also my highest average riding speed, a whopping 12.2 mph! Today was half the distance.
I woke up to the sound of a flapping tent fly. This was the forecasted wind. I was actually surprised how well the trees in this flat area blocked the wind. The fly was just fluttering. I hung out and did the 21st century things one does in their tent: Wordle, Connections, checked emails, the usual. When I got out the wind was pretty mild. I was assuming to be at a coffee shop and bookstore at 9 when it opened. I opted to eat at camp since I didn't have other plans. I was flying dark because cell reception was so poor, Google search wasn’t working. Jesse was my phone-a-friend to find a place that might have isobutane canisters.
Left about 9:00. even later than planned. It was a lazy day. I got to the coffee shop at 9:30. There was one person inside waiting in front of an empty counter, an older guy with two CDs of kids songs. I stood there and he stood there. Finally, I asked if he knew where the starter was. He shrugged, but then asked if I could give the CDs to the owners. Strange store. He left. I sat and waited for the staff to appear. I took off jacket and began the blog about yesterday. A young woman opened the door. “Do you work here?”, I asked. She was just looking for coffee and didn’t want to stick around. I waited for about 15 minutes before I looked up and saw a breakfast place across the road. I wandered over for a place with people. It was more your Folger’s and pull tabs sort of place, but I enjoyed chatting with people and finishing the blog entry. I even got an invite to go on a commercial fishing boat from a retired fisherman!
The time came to pay, but no wallet! Then I realized I had no jacket either. I ran back to the ‘closed’ coffee shop to find it open, with real people behind the register. I asked if they forgot to lock up last night. They weren’t quite sure. They seemed like a couple. The woman was wearing a hair covering and I wondered if they were Mennonite. I bought a couple of yummy homemade baked goods and paid at the pull tab place.
Do you realize, I haven’t even started the ride yet? Good thing for you, it is a short one. Most of it was heading straight down Ontario Route 3. I realized the great shoulders I identified on Google were, in fact, gravel. You might thing that’s not bad because I often ride gravel roads, but a gravel shoulder is a different thing. The gravel can be soft, meaning your tires sink in and your tire wobbles. Not what you want when a semi is about to pass you. Luckily, hardly anyone was on this road and it was all very mellow.
The cycling was pretty, but a little monotonous. I passed more huge greenhouses. I started to catch views of Lake Erie behind homes The houses started as modest farmhouses, but about a third of the way in, I started seeing the occasional manse. I pedelled on toward Blenheim. One of the more interesting sights of the day was a tree growing out of an old silo. Don’t ask how or why it just is.
I got off the endless Ontario Route 3 because 1) it was getting busier and 2) I’d struck out on isobutane in Wheatley. Blenheim had a bigger store that probably had what I needed. It did. Yay! On the way I passed some huge mounds being worked by big trucks and bulldozers. Apparently, this is the terminal moraine for an ice sheet and a great source of sand and gravel which maybe is what was going on there.
After Blenheim, I cranked a backroad to my campsite at Rondeau Provincial Park. It only took an hour but it felt longer. The person at the check-in was very friendly and got me a good spot. It was 4:00 and I had more time than usual. After setting up camp I rode to the end of the bulbous Rondeau Peninsula to another wonderfully deserted beach where I risked big waves to soak myself and then ate cheese and crackers. Somewhere over the horizon was Cleveland.
The rest of the evening has been the usual shower, eat, get bitten by mosquitoes, and write this blog. It’s supposed to rain tonight and maybe into tomorrow. I’ll have to decide if I want to camp again or get a hotel in Port Stanley. The camping is inland and doesn’t really grab me. Something to ponder.
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