Fifty Plus (50+) - Along Lake Erie Trip

I just returned from a week long tour along the Canadian shore of Lake Erie. We (6 riders and 2 SAG drivers) loaded the trailer and van early Saturday morning and finally arrived in Windsor, Ontario early afternoon after a longer than usual delay getting through customs at the Canadian border.
We had planned to ride 50 miles the first day but cut it down to 30 after the delay at the border.

We pretty much followed the Adventure Cycling maps and only resorted to the GPS when we missed a couple turns. We also took a detour from the route to visit the Niagara Falls area.

Day 1 – 2
There wasn’t too much to see on this section of the ride except corn fields, soy beans, churches, windmills and the occasional general store. The terrain was flat and we had great tailwinds.

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Day 3-4
The winds and the terrain changed these days. We were now cycling into a 10-20 mph headwind and there were HILLS! It seemed every small town was located at the bottom of a nice downhill with a steep climb to get out of town. One of the worst was in Port Stanley. Everyone ended up walking this one. One consolation was the fabulous restaurant we found in Normandale. The food and service was great and we lingered way too long. We did have some nice views of the lake on day 4. We also found the “Funny Farm”.

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Day 5
Although we still had the headwinds the hills disappeared as we hit the Friendship Trail in Port Colborne. We had a slight but interesting delay here as we waited at the drawbridge while a freighter entered the port. We also watched kids who were diving off cement piers near the bridge. The trail was paved and a welcome change from the hills.

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Day 6 and 7 in next post............

Nice pics and report, Beverly. Sounds like you guys had a great trip. Looking forward to second post.

Did they allow you to ride miles up in Canada? I thought you had to ride kilometers or some other form of weird measurement.:D

Day 6
This was a fantastic day. We rode the Friendship Trail into Fort Erie where we picked up the Niagara River Trail. The traffic was light so we rode the Niagara Parkway until we were about one mile from Niagara Falls. The scenery is fabulous. We ended up walking the bikes about two blocks from the falls. There were too many people for riding at this point. Here’s a picture of the 520. It did great on the trip especially when we encountered those gravel roads in the parks. It also survived the 350 miles without a flat or any mechanical problems.

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Day 7
We reentered the US today. We had planned to ride from outside Buffalo to the next camp grounds but decided to take a day off and relax. We found a nice restaurant along the beach, enjoyed a good dinner and a beautiful sunset.

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Day 8
At this point all of us were extremely tired and decided to make it a short day then load the bikes and head back to Ohio. The headwinds were at their worst this day and I called it quits after 15 miles. A couple of the fellows rode 30 miles and the others called it a day at the 22 mile mark.

It was a great trip even with some of the primitive campsites and one of the noisiest I've ever seen. We had I-90 just over the fence, railroad tracks with trains running every hour within hearing distance and fire/emergency building close-by. They didn’t have the usual siren but something that sounded like a moose in distress.

Well done, Beverly. I've been waiting to hear your report.:thumb:

Funny you should mention “Funny Farm”...and then post a pic with John S. in it. :roflmao2::innocent:

Looks like you guys had a great time. Did you camp exclusively or motel it too? I knew you would enjoy the new 520 on this type of ride.:thumb:

Looks like you guys had a great time. Did you camp exclusively or motel it too? I knew you would enjoy the new 520 on this type of ride.:thumb:

We camped every night. We used several of the Ontario Provincial Parks and a couple private camp grounds. It never rained but it sure got cool a couple nights. Next time I'll pack my long johns:eek:

Sounds fabulous. Everyone should do something like this.

It sounds like you had a good, and challenging, time. I've never ridden that far north, and it looks real pretty. Thanks for the ride report and pics.

Good job on finishing your ride! Will you do it again next year?

Sounds like you had a good trip. How were the roads/traffic for cycling? Were you on Highway 3 much of the way?

Most excellent.

I laughed just a wee bit in your mention of the GPS. There were times when a GPS would have been most helpful while touring. Today's younger riders just don't know how good they got it when it comes to the level of equipment available to them.

Sounds like you had a good trip. How were the roads/traffic for cycling? Were you on Highway 3 much of the way?

The roads and traffic were great for cycling. We rode Highway 3 quite a bit. When it went away from the shoreline we were on roads closer to the lake. We rode Lakeshore Drive quite often.

Our favorite part of the trip was the Niagara Parkway. We didn't ride the river trail until we were closer to the falls. We did this to avoid the pedistrians and driveways on the trail. Not once did any driver honk or tell us to get off the road onto the trail. I imagine they're used to cyclist on the road in this area.

Great report and pics Beverly, thanks for sharing.

I know what you mean about the border crossing. It's gotten so bad
that I absolutely refuse to go into Canada any more. Two to four hours
waiting in line to cross into or back from a FREINDLY neighbor on the same
continent? Gimme a break!

Here’s a picture of the 520.

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c30/uowenba/DSC01636.jpg

Seeing pictures of Lake Erie brings back some visions of growing up in the Cleveland area. It sounded like a great trip and nice report.:thumb:

About your bike...this is an observation and not a criticism. It may be the angle of the shot but it looks like the nose of the saddle is titled slightly up. The other thing is that it appears that you are using a zero offset seat post and the seat is all the way forward on the seat rails. It looks like the tip of the nose of the saddle is over the centerline of the crank axel. Is this true and do you want it this way? We engineers cannot help ourselves from commenting on details.:D

Seeing pictures of Lake Erie brings back some visions of growing up in the Cleveland area. It sounded like a great trip and nice report.:thumb:

About your bike...this is an observation and not a criticism. It may be the angle of the shot but it looks like the nose of the saddle is titled slightly up. The other thing is that it appears that you are using a zero offset seat post and the seat is all the way forward on the seat rails. It looks like the tip of the nose of the saddle is over the centerline of the crank axel. Is this true and do you want it this way? We engineers cannot help ourselves from commenting on details.:D

Yes, your observations are correct:) All my bikes have the nose of the saddle tilted slightly upward. I seem to sit back farther on the saddle than most as it seems to feel better on the sit bones.

The original seat post and stem on the bike were changed to give me a fit closer to my Madone WSD which is the most comfortable bike I've ever owned. Unfortunately the 520 didn't come in the WSD model. The changes have made the 520 just as comfortable for me.

Looks like this was a great trip. Thanks for sharing.

Glad the 520 did such a nice job...