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Adventures of a Global Wanderer
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Location Date South America 1487289600 Asia 1475362800 North America 
1466636400 Europe 1443826800 Africa 1253833200 -
Location Date British Columbia 1466636400 Ontario
1438383600 California 1343430000 Illinois 1313103600 New York 1311980400 -
Location Date Niagara-On-The-Lake 1438383600 St. Catharines
1438383600 Markham 1383350400 Brampton 1344985200 Mississauga 1344898800 Niagara Falls 1344034800 Toronto 1223247600
Having left Fort George I was looking forward to strolling thru Niagara-on-the-Lake and finding some ice cream to cool down and replenish my energy. NOTL is very touristy, hard to find parking if arriving by car, so easier to navigate on bike.
Most of the stores were quite crowded but towards the end of the retail strip the crowds were lighter. I managed to get a double scoop cone and cool down in the shade for a bit.
At this point I could either turn round and go back down south along the Niagara River where I came from back to the Falls. Or I could continue biking to St Catharine's to see the Welland Canal. I decided to continue biking to the Welland Canal which didnt end up being a good choice.
The biking map said there was a waterfront trail all the way to St Catharines along Lake Ontario. I couldnt find it as there were waterfront homes blocking public access. Eventually I had to find my way out from the residential streets back to the main public road heading to St Catharines.
This road was meant to be a secondary bike trail to St Catharine's. It was a quiet route but mixed in with local traffic. It was probably another 15kms to St Catharine's after the 25km ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake. I still had to bike back to Niagara to complete the loop at the end.
The road seemed to go on forever and I felt I made the wrong choice taking this route. There were two passing brief rain showers but I managed to find shelter.
As I finally arrived at St Catharine's I could see a steel bridge at the mouth of the Welland Canal. However a massive rain storm now hit and I had nowhere to shelter out in the open
I only made it to about the 2nd lock and my shorts and shoes were completely soaked thru. The rain was not letting up so my abort plan was to catch a return GO bus home from St Catharine's. I had to find my way to Fairview Mall where the bus terminal was.
I had to ask locals for directions as I didnt have a local street map having not planned on ending my trip here. Eventually I found the mall and shelter from the rain. My other worry was trying to get my bike on the bus.
The train back from Niagara was at 7.30pm arriving 9.15pm at Toronto. I didnt want to cycle home in the dark. The alternate was an hourly bus to Burlington from where there was an hourly Lakeshore Line train to Toronto. However there are only two bike racks on the bus so no guarantee I would get on.
As I waited for the bus two more cyclists arrived, so the three of us trying to get the two spots. Also the two spots could have already been taken at Niagara. They were a friendly couple as I was worried they might try to jump ahead of me.
When the bus arrived both bike racks were empty. We asked the driver if there was storage below. There wasnt but he said we could store one bike inside the bus.
At Burlington I went to the platform with my bike but forgot to tap my card at the station so had to go back thru the tunnel to tap it. The Lakeshore train does not have the bike carriages the Niagara train had this morning.
Back at Exhibition Station the weekends Caribana Parade had ended and crowds were still lingering. As I reached home my odometer read 62km.
On a scale of biking trips this probably wasnt one of my best ones. All my other trips I was able to get bikes on site rather than having to transport it. I thought it would be fun to take the train but it was very industrial and not scenic as I had imagined.
The two north-south trails of the Niagara Parkway and Welland Canal are 15km apart from each other. It probably would have been better to transport my bike by car between the two trails if I wanted to do them together. Otherwise separate them into two different trips. I didnt even get to see the Falls today.
It was an interesting day but quite intense heat and severe rains by the end. If I took my bike again next year I would try things differently, try to see more of the Falls Tourist District, and the Welland Canal.
See also some of my other biking adventures
Budapest Biking (Hungary)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/27/1379795268 /tpod.html
Biking Ankor Wat (Cambodia)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/19/1328610050 /tpod.html
Biking Sun Moon Lake (Taiwan)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/24/1360093943 /tpod.html
Biking Ganghwa Island (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/1/1336934645/ tpod.html
Biking Gyeongju (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/1/1369688935/ tpod.html
Biking Seonyudo Island (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1348493001/tpod.html
Biking Mt Palgong - Songnimsa Temple (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1342987463/tpod.html
Biking the Geumhogang River (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1347207943/tpod.html
50km Ride for Heart (Toronto)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/28/1401739817/tpod.html
Most of the stores were quite crowded but towards the end of the retail strip the crowds were lighter. I managed to get a double scoop cone and cool down in the shade for a bit.
At this point I could either turn round and go back down south along the Niagara River where I came from back to the Falls. Or I could continue biking to St Catharine's to see the Welland Canal. I decided to continue biking to the Welland Canal which didnt end up being a good choice.
The biking map said there was a waterfront trail all the way to St Catharines along Lake Ontario. I couldnt find it as there were waterfront homes blocking public access. Eventually I had to find my way out from the residential streets back to the main public road heading to St Catharines.
This road was meant to be a secondary bike trail to St Catharine's. It was a quiet route but mixed in with local traffic. It was probably another 15kms to St Catharine's after the 25km ride to Niagara-on-the-Lake. I still had to bike back to Niagara to complete the loop at the end.
The road seemed to go on forever and I felt I made the wrong choice taking this route. There were two passing brief rain showers but I managed to find shelter.
As I finally arrived at St Catharine's I could see a steel bridge at the mouth of the Welland Canal. However a massive rain storm now hit and I had nowhere to shelter out in the open
I only made it to about the 2nd lock and my shorts and shoes were completely soaked thru. The rain was not letting up so my abort plan was to catch a return GO bus home from St Catharine's. I had to find my way to Fairview Mall where the bus terminal was.
I had to ask locals for directions as I didnt have a local street map having not planned on ending my trip here. Eventually I found the mall and shelter from the rain. My other worry was trying to get my bike on the bus.
The train back from Niagara was at 7.30pm arriving 9.15pm at Toronto. I didnt want to cycle home in the dark. The alternate was an hourly bus to Burlington from where there was an hourly Lakeshore Line train to Toronto. However there are only two bike racks on the bus so no guarantee I would get on.
As I waited for the bus two more cyclists arrived, so the three of us trying to get the two spots. Also the two spots could have already been taken at Niagara. They were a friendly couple as I was worried they might try to jump ahead of me.
When the bus arrived both bike racks were empty. We asked the driver if there was storage below. There wasnt but he said we could store one bike inside the bus.
At Burlington I went to the platform with my bike but forgot to tap my card at the station so had to go back thru the tunnel to tap it. The Lakeshore train does not have the bike carriages the Niagara train had this morning.
Back at Exhibition Station the weekends Caribana Parade had ended and crowds were still lingering. As I reached home my odometer read 62km.
On a scale of biking trips this probably wasnt one of my best ones. All my other trips I was able to get bikes on site rather than having to transport it. I thought it would be fun to take the train but it was very industrial and not scenic as I had imagined.
The two north-south trails of the Niagara Parkway and Welland Canal are 15km apart from each other. It probably would have been better to transport my bike by car between the two trails if I wanted to do them together. Otherwise separate them into two different trips. I didnt even get to see the Falls today.
It was an interesting day but quite intense heat and severe rains by the end. If I took my bike again next year I would try things differently, try to see more of the Falls Tourist District, and the Welland Canal.
See also some of my other biking adventures
Budapest Biking (Hungary)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/27/1379795268 /tpod.html
Biking Ankor Wat (Cambodia)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/19/1328610050 /tpod.html
Biking Sun Moon Lake (Taiwan)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/24/1360093943 /tpod.html
Biking Ganghwa Island (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/1/1336934645/ tpod.html
Biking Gyeongju (Korea)
http://blog.travelpod.com/tra vel-blog-entries/londone7/1/1369688935/ tpod.html
Biking Seonyudo Island (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1348493001/tpod.html
Biking Mt Palgong - Songnimsa Temple (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1342987463/tpod.html
Biking the Geumhogang River (Korea)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/1/1347207943/tpod.html
50km Ride for Heart (Toronto)
http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-en tries/londone7/28/1401739817/tpod.html
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