On the Road Again
Leamington ON - Shrewsbury ON - 46 miles
Average Speed - 13.1 mph
Yesterday, Erik drove us to Leamington where the ferry for Pelee leaves at this time of the year. Biking from Toledo to Canada would mean going north of Detroit to get the Marine City ferry. It would also mean biking from Toledo to Detroit. We spent the day at Pelee Island and returned to Leamington where we spent the night at the Comfort Inn, which is the closest motel to the ferry and in the perfect spot for our route heading east.
We got a late start, which wasn’t so smart considering the temperature would be equally as high as the humidity. We took it easy so as not to work up too much of a sweat. Initially, we were concerned about riding along Route 3, but those fears were unfounded as the route is not heavily trafficked at this time of the week.
Dog Attack
In our over 2500, miles, we really hadn’t encountered any dogs until Michigan and those dogs stayed in their yards. Today, on the way to Wheatley, a dog came bolting out of its yard. As always, Robert takes the position closest to the edge of the road to deal with the dog. Today, the dog dealt with Robert. The dog didn’t respond at all to us shouting at it to stay, stop or go home. It bit into Robert’s rear panniers, growling the entire time and refusing to let go. A squirt of water at him had absolutely no effect on the menacing creature.
I considered bolting myself, but reconsidered thinking that the dog might see that as a challenge to chase me. The dog abandoned Robert’s rear pannier and ran up to me and bit into my front pannier. He totally took control of my steering and I veered into the gravel driveway of his owners, where I landed hard. I waited for the dog to bite my face or another part, but fortunately that didn’t happen. My head throbbed and my arm and knee burned. The road rash looked none too pretty. The owner, who had yelled at his disobedient dog when it charged us claimed that it always obeyed. Obviously a bi-polar dog, especially considering the fact that the officer to whom we reported the incident said that the dog laid by its dog house the entire time that he was there. I am not sure if the dog was chained or not.
Riding after the incident thrilled me to no end and I had to be very careful not to touch my arm to anything, which I accidentally did a few times. This evening, my head still hurts and I notice that I also must have fallen on my shoulder as it is very sore as well. Sleeping won’t be very easy tonight as the road rash is very sensitive to the touch.
Lake Erie was in view much of the day, but it was so hazy that it often blended in with the sky. I considered taking a photo of me dipping my wheel in the lake and simply saying that it was the Atlantic. Since photos don’t have a smell function, nobody could tell the difference anyway.
Should I dip the wheel?
On one part of the road, I smelled an intense aroma of strawberries. It is strawberry season after all and we shortly came to a pick-your-own farm. Maybe we can find some berries tomorrow. It would be rather difficult to carry berries on the bike. If the strawberries taste as good as the local tomatoes(Leamington is the tomato capital), we will definitely have to stop. I never really appreciated how good tomatoes taste until I moved to New York, which is definitely not known for its tomatoes, or any other produce for that matter.
We are staying at the Lake Erie Haven Bed and Breakfast, very close to Rondeau Provincial Park, which is on the Bay. Our kind hosts drove us to a new restaurant on the bay, which we especially appreciated because it is 6-miles distant. Riding my bike there wasn’t the first thing on my mind.
Tomorrow we plan on putting in a lot of miles if the weather is as cool and dry as predicted and if we can find a place to stay. Our travel dates through the area couldn’t have been more poorly chosen. Sunday is Canada Day and many people are planning extra long weekends, which means reserving rooms for Thursday night. We will just happen to be along the lake and near Niagara Falls.