Omaha to NYC Day 28
I finally had a leisurely soak in Lake Erie at the end of a leisurely ride to Rock Point Provincial Park. It was a perfect cycling day as long as you didn’t care about going fast because there was a headwind the entire day. It was the sort of day where you can bike in the sun all day without feeling cold and without breaking a sweat.
It started with a leisurely morning in the cabin. Heather invited me to have breakfast up an the main house. She doesn’t wake until 8:00 am. I didn’t text her until 8:30. I was able to finish the blog post that I couldn’t last night because my eyes wouldn’t stay open. I checked email, did NYT games, and generally dinked around.
The weather had totally changed. Soft, September sunshine appeared out the windows. When I popped the door it was warm, but with a crispness that meant fall is here. Walking to the house everything was quiet and peaceful as the country should be.
Heather is a warm, friendly, and efficient. She has Warmshowers hosting down. Breakfast was nothing fancy, just cereal again, but I was happy not to have it be a big production. We chatted more about her grandkids, Jamie’s trip to Sioux Lookout, and the fox that caught a rabbit that morning. She told me that she and Jamie had gotten to know the previous owners of the their property about 40 years ago. They didn’t want to sell to anyone except them.
I was on the road at 9:30. In less than an hour I was at Port Dover. The calm, sunny beach made me want to sit all day, at least until I saw a guy reading a book under a beach umbrella seat at a fly. I opted for a really good muffin at the Cocoa Cabana. I left around 11:00. I passed lots of nice houses strung out along the shore. Then the houses gave way to farms then then road ran along the fence of a decommissioned coal plant, then a steel plant, and finally a modern power plant with a huge solar array. They were all buffered with greenery, but I got the occasional wiff and glimpse of heavy industry. I learned that this site has been proposed for a massive redevelopment called The MZO with space for 15,000 houses spurring the No to the MZO yard signs I had been seeing.
The road bent from the shore inland. I was back with my old friend the Long 3. A nice shoulder kept the traffic from being too troubling. A little after noon I reached the village of Selkirk and The Social coffee shop / cafe. I wasn’t too hungry, but how can you pass up The Social? The make a great burger, not big, with great toppings.
From Selkirk, the route went back to the shore and a delightful, winding lane filled with summer cottages, not the “cottages” of Lake Michigan, but real ones of about 600 sqft. They went on mile after mile. The shoreline changed too. Instead of sand it was a sandstone that looked almost like slabs of concrete. In one place I saw a bunch of Canadian geese standing around on the stone looking like scalpers trying to sell tickets to a last place team’s baseball game.
I will forever be in debt to the staff person at Knight’s Beach Resort who let me use the bathroom even though they were actually closed. The leisurely ride was becoming a little less leisurely at that point. Leisure restored, I came across a great place to stop and go down to the water. I was really tempted to go in, but thought swimming after setting up camp would be better because a wet behind can lead to saddle sores.
The road turned inland at King’s Row. I love all the Britishy name here. I zigged and zagged up toward Dunnville. I hit one small dip and noticed a squish feeling that means your tires are under inflated. The rear tire was very low. Suddenly, it realized it wasn’t just a headwind I’d be pushing against. Theoretically, tubeless tires shouldn’t loose air like that. Maybe I got a puncture yesterday in the rain and didn’t notice the sealant whooshing out and plugging the hole.
Dunnville is a working class town without the tourist amentities of the other towns I’d been passing through. Food Basics was basic, but I got ramen and smoked mussels for my dinner which is all I need. The road out of Dunnville was kinda scary, very busy with only a gravel shoulder. Luckily, the scary part wasn’t too long. I’d been spoiled by the miles upon miles of relaxed country roads. I was relieved when I got to the turn off to Rock Point Park.
A scant couple of miles got me to the entrance where a friendly ranger found me a spot a Goldylocks distance from the bathroom which is good because its Friday and unlike my previous park stays, tonight is bumping.
I arrived before 5:00. The last few miles had been a grind. I probably didn’t eat enough lunch and had a minor food bonk. The first order of business after setting up the tent and downing a Clif bar was the beach. It was everything I was hoping for, warm, calm, sandy, and nearly empty. I took my food and camp chair, but first I got in the water. I waded out into the warm (ish) water soon I was up to my neck. The bay had no drop off, just a gentle sandy slope. I swam a few strokes, but found it more peaceful to just stand and let the gentle water carry my weight. It felt like I stood their for an hour but I know it was less. Finally, getting hungry again I waded back out, sat in my chair, ate crackers and cheese, baby carrots, and an apple all the while admiring the view which now includes the end of the lake and the American side. When it got chilly, I rode back to the campsite and settled in for a blissfully bugfree evening.
American shore you saw is Dunkirk, New York or thereabouts.
ReplyDeleteWay back in late 1960s when I first stood on south shore of Lake Erie at Dunkirk, only a fool would dare a dip in the HEAVILY polluted water; looked like you could walk to Canada over the surface scum. Very glad that is NOT true today!