Across the Border

Dunnville to Niagara Falls – 46 miles
Average Speed – 10.2

We enjoyed an egg soufflé and other goodies on the porch of the Lalor Mansion in Dunnville. We asked if there would be more to come and were relieved to hear that we had the entire entrée in front of us.
The size of servings brought up the topic of how many calories cyclists eat. For us, we don’t really eat significantly more than we would at home. Eating breakfast does add a few calories that we wouldn’t otherwise have eaten in our regular lives. But, unlike some cyclists who claim to eat 5000 to 8000 calories per day, we would gain huge amounts of weight in a very short time if we consumed so many calories each day. Many have commented that we don’t need to watch what we eat since we are cycling. That is so untrue for us. I have lost a whopping 12 pounds for doing hard exercise for at least 40 hours per week. Robert has lost closer to 20. So much for that calories in and calories out theory that does seem to work for some people.

We left with very full stomachs, which didn’t seem to matter as we once again battled a rather strong headwind. So much for being blown across the continent. Don’t know what we were thinking, although we met a guy at the ferry who confirmed that the usual winds are out of the southwest, but that lately, they have been from all other directions, including the northeast.

Our ride today should have been a simple one, but the wind easily changed that. The mileage we did today almost seemed as bad as doing an 80 mile day. We thought that we would finish early today, but that didn’t happen. Maybe it’s time to think about starting at the crack of dawn.

The highlight of today was the Port Robinson ferry, which crosses the Welland Canal and is specifically for pedestrians and bicyclists. Unfortunately, the route that we followed per some cyclist’s cue sheet left much to be desired.

We biked along the Niagara Recreational Trail, a less than ideal way to reach Niagara Falls. The path has sharp and hidden turns and is shared with multitudes of pedestrians as we appoached the Falls. Niagara shocked us. A natural wonder enhanced by hawkers and other tackiness that line the street.

I remember reading an article about somebody who found the hawkers in Saint Thomas offensive. I personally found the article offensive as I have been to Saint Thomas several times and never saw any hawkers and because some of her facts, like having to fly to Saint Thomas in an 8-seater plane weren’t entirely true. Now, Niagara Falls definitely has hawkers, who frequently have microphones with cords strewn across the sidewalk. I hoped that the weight of our bicycles would have shorted out the microphones for a minutes, but these people must have heavy-duty electronics.

Once again we are staying at a place that falsely advertises wireless internet. We can’t get a signal in our remotely located room. We do have a tv and the news just mentioned two car bombs in London. I couldn’t figure out why such a situation would happen in London, which isn’t too far from here. Duh. The news referred to that other London.

My sleep deprivation continues. Maybe tonight I will sleep without hurting my wounds or experiencing painful leg cramps. And maybe there will be a tail wind tomorrow.