I will be leaving on a six day, fully loaded, tour from Windsor, ON to Niagara Falls, ON on Sunday 8-10-03. I need a free, safe place to leave my car in Windsor. Any suggestions?

Try hospitalityclub.org. Plenty of people on there willing to help you out. Otherwise, best of luck finding someone.

I second that recommendation. I just found that site tonight, had a quick browse and just signed up.

Thanks guys, i signed up yesterday, and it looks like Windsor has one member. I may consider the train or bus station if they have free parking like they do here in metro Detroit. Any more suggestions out there?

Chris - What do you reckon? Its a good idea, isnt it

Thanks again, a friend had the hook-up at the Comfort Inn in Windsor, they will let me leave my car in their lot til i return

What route will you be taking?

Route: Highway 3 out of Windsor to Shedden, then on route 42 along the lake Erie coast to Port Colborne, then work my way up to Niagara. Camping out each night. Will stay at the hostel in Niagara Falls. Looks like about 260-280 miles. My plan is to catch the train back to Windsor

Please keep us posted on how the trip goes. My wife and I would like to ride from Detroit to Boston next summer and haven't decided if we will go through Canada or go down around through Ohio and then up to Buffalo. Please let us know how the ride through Canada goes.

Thanks for the interest. I will keep u posted. Hope 2 b leaving Windsor about 9:30 today

Bykemaster. I second that.. I used to live near Ann Arbor. My ancestry is Canadian. Used to love to go down Hwy.3 and spend time near Leamington, Point Peelee and take boat over to Put in Bay. Been so long can't remember how much shoulder Hwy 3 has.
Anxious to hear how your trip went. In fact a trip I would consider doing myself.

Hey guys, i'm here in Niagara Falls, nice roads, nice weather, nice camping, i'm staying at the Hostel International (interesting people). I skipped the first part of Hwy 3 and took a more direct route. i will fill you in when i get back.

I am really interested in the route you took. I have a daughter who moved to Buffalo, NY. Earlier this year you e-mailed me about getting together to help me ride self-supported. Would like to meet sometime. Have fun. I was wondering if you had anything to do with the Niagara power failure.

Looking forward to hearing about your trip. Please keep us posted.

Hey guys/gals sorry i haven't gotten back with you sooner. That blackout threw me off. So much to process and tell about the trip but for now i will give you the route i took

Route: Traveled by car across the bridge and kept straight on to Church St. which eventually turns into Hwy 3. Left my car at the Comfort Inn Parking Lot (pre-arranged) and started riding from there. Instead of taking Highway 3 toward Lemmington I got on Route 42 (Cabana Ave.), which connects with Church St., and headed east riding past the airport. 42 runs right into Route 8 and stayed on 8 all the way into Blenhiem. Taking Route 11 out of Blehhiem and worked my way down to Rondeau Provincial Park where I camped the 1st night. About 60-70 miles. Leaving Rondeau, by way of Morpeth, I took Hwy 3 all the way to Wallacetown then dropped down to Route 16 into Fingal then taking Route 20 over to 24, over to 42, and into Port Burwell Provincial Park where I camped for the evening (65 miles). Following 42 and hugging the lakeshore I found myself on Route 3 (not HWY 3) into Selkirk Provincial Park where I camped for the third night (55 miles). Out of Selkirk I made a beeline to the Falls Following Route 3 into Dunnville, picking up Hwy 3 again to Route 23, turning north in Dain City, up to Hwy 58A east its turns into 525, then north on 84, east on 27 (Schisler Rd), north on 98, east on 47 into Chippawa, turning north on the Niagara Falls Parkway(60-65 miles). Mostly flat with rolling hills when hugging the shoreline. I will talk more about riding conditions in the next post. Thanks for the interest and questions. I had a really good time.

Thanks for the update, looking forward to hearing more about the trip. My wife just had to have major surgery and our riding season has come to a halt. We still plan on making a major unsupported trip next year along with our regular 6 day Michigander ride.

Hey Fleetwood sorry to hear about your wife, hope her recovery goes well. A little more about the trip: Starting the trip on a Sunday helped to avoid a lot of traffic leaving Windsor. I rode much of the time on rural country roads through farmland and small towns. Corn, tobacco, asparagus fields, and peach orchards made for pleasant days of riding. Traffic and truck drivers were courteous. I enjoyed trading stories with the locals when stopping for meals and breaks along the way. I seemed to miss the early morning rains; they were always in front of me. The heaviest traffic was as I approached Niagara Fall on Wednesday about 3:30pm. This was a real nice 5 day tour topped off with an interesting stay at the Hostel International where I talked with mostly European and Asian travelers during the blackout. Ironically the lights did not go out where we were.

Outashape: email me at bykemaster@aol.com and we can set up a time to meet, maybe bike to a central location

bykemaster. As I recall this area, lots of small township roads. Probbly you could find ways to route yourelf in this agricultural area and completely ignore major provincial trunk roads and its related traffic. August probably lots of vacationers on the Lake Erie beaches. You did not mention all the fields of tobacco. Must be still there..

Thanks for the kind words for my wife. The operation was sucessful and we look forward to our riding again.
How about a run down on your bike and equipment? Panniers or Trailer? What would you have done different if you were going to go again?

I ride a Cannondale t400, a set of large rear panniers, a REI 1/2 Dome tent (3 season), sleeping bag rated to 25 degrees F. Instead of a handlebar bag I use a mini-cooler I found at K-Mart. If you go to my website, www.guidesforbetterliving.com click on "pepe's diary, u can c a similar set up I used last year riding through the mountains. This time I didn't use the front panniers. The things I would have done different are training more (riding with a load couple weeks before I left), and purchase a new seat (the saddle I have has seen plenty of miles and the cushion is worn out-Specialized with the grove in it).

Thanks for the info. I've been on vacation up north and just got back and viewed the updates.