That was awesome.
The ride ended up being 545 km / 339 miles. The longest day was yesterday at 117 miles from Sandbanks to the Oshawa Go Train station (which I took the rest of the way home). I was on a bike for 32.5 hours over 4 days. I climbed close to 4000 feet and dropped the same (according to Google Maps). I made some peace with hills, but would still take a flat and steady ride over ups and downs any day. I got extremely lucky with the weather: never got more than a few drops of rain, and every day except one was sunny. Yesterday was particularly and unseasonably warm.
It was Thanksgiving up here so on Sunday Karen and I had a really nice meal which she had mostly prepared in advance. We had a relaxing day sitting on the beach. You wouldn’t even realize it was a lake given how large and wavy it is. There were a number of kite surfers and even a few swimmers (Canadians are nuts). I put my hand in the water and that was plenty for me. Our tent was pretty luxurious and cosy which justified carrying it several hundred kilometres ;).
I think the ‘Waterfront Trail’ and ‘Greenbelt Route’ terms are marketing gimmicks. I am only half kidding. I appreciate that the government has taken the time to map a long and decent path along the northern shore of Lake Ontario, but a waterfront trail it isn’t. There are some nice, purpose built trails along the way, but they are pretty short and can be difficult to find and follow. I spent a lot more time on country roads (many of which were great) and some on highways (sometimes without a paved shoulder) which were part of this trail. I also toured more industrial areas (water treatment plants, nuclear power plants, etc.) than I’d like to have seen. Again part of the trail. I never expected a perfect, dedicated biking route along the water all the way, but I did expect a bit more of it. All the same, I’d do it again and just plan better.
And someone really needs to clarify that more than half of the Millennial Trail is inappropriate for biking unless you enjoy extreme head rattling. When it was smooth though it was some of the nicest biking I did. The only accident I had was entering this trail and slowing down to read the sign. It was deep gravel so I came to a dead stop and simply tipped over. My feet were straps so I couldn’t get them out fast enough to break my fall. Fortunately I couldn’t feel anything at that point anyway so I just carried on.
I think I was about a week too early to see the trees in full fall colours. I saw a fair bit of colour, but even yesterday on the way home the difference was huge compared to when I started.
There were a few very cute towns along the way too. Especially Port Hope and Coburg. I only rode through, but they were very pretty. I don’t know why it is but little towns always mean big hills. Always. I’d still take that over the jaunt I had on a freeway service road in Oshawa though with its very badly damaged shoulder and lots of transport trucks. Yikes.
I loved it and will be doing more trips like it.