Ride for Africycle 6.0 Day Five: Presquile to Peterborough

I find that the last day of a ride is always mixed in terms of emotions. On the one hand there's the ride which is itself a glorious thing. Then there's the knowledge that the freedom and camaraderie that goes with a long ride is coming to an end. Then there's the knowledge that some creature comforts which matter a lot are returning. Then there's the matter of returning to loved ones . . . . So in a word emotions are - mixed Packing up the tents and bins went fairly quickly. We were getting much better at that part of the morning routine. A good breakfast and some goodbyes, and off we went.

 


We had decided beforehand to take the shorter route up the East side of Rice Lake. The ride home passed through Brighton . . .

 

Which has its own fair share of lovely old homes . . .

  Up

and over the 401 we went . . .

 

A really quaint little home somewhere in the hills between Brighton and Hastings . . .

 

Here's Devon Code - drummer, published author, super strong bicycle rider, and a really good dude . . .

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In Warkworth we stopped here . . .



and here . . .



for some really good road fuel . . . That got us through to Hastings where we ate lunch down by the river . . .



 and then made our way to the Bridgewater cafe where good pizza, pastries, americano's, espressos, and all sorts of other stuff can be bought and consumed. Here are a couple of action shots of the RFA 6.0 team fueling up and discussing the route ahead . . .

 

 For the final leg we rode through the rolling countryside just West of Keene.

 

The headwind and the hills became more of a factor in our ability to stick together . . .



But we worked together and eventually arrived in Keene . . .



 Where we stopped for a snack and some restorative liquids . . . .



 Back on the bikes and we rode quickly West towards Peterborough. Soon we were riding on the familiar gravel roads of the south end of the City . . . .

 

And soon this gravel road turned into paved road and the paved roads all link together and it seemed like no time passed at all before we were riding through the South end of the city of Peterborough and aiming for a cold beer at Michael and Andrea and William's home . . . where, like so many memorable, beautiful, incredible rides before, we ended up to share the little stories . . .

 

 And watch the sky pass by . . .

Ride for Africycle 6.0 Day Four: A day off at Presquile

The tradition of a day off riding is a well-established Ride for Africycle feature. It usually takes place somewhere nice so there's all sorts of options that can include just lazing around, reading, taking photographs, going for bike rides, or napping. Whatever you wish!!

This day started relatively early as little William had big plans of his own . . . . I got to take him for a trip to the Lake which included looking at trucks and campers and flowers and tents and birds and bugs and trees and people and dogs and all sorts of eye-catching mind-blowing stuff. Being with a little dude like William is the best and quickest reminder of how amazing this world really is!!!

We walked past people making their coffee and bacon and stumbling around in their jammies, eyes half open.



We shared the shoreline with a slowly rising sun as well as a large group of Canada Geese and seagulls.

   

William was fascinated by the water of course, and wanted to make closer contact with the seagulls. Unfortunately his wishes were not matched by theirs and so no matter what he said, they flew away . . .

We headed back to the camp where there were signs and scents of cooking - the day before, Jerrett and Ben had bought six pounds of bacon (!) which we were gradually chiselling at, so the wonderful smell of bacon filled the air! Around the breakfast table we discussed various possibilities for the day. Kris wanted to head off on a long bike ride. Others were up for reading, playing board games and maybe a short bike ride later on . . . .

I read for a while in the sun and wrote some notes about the ride and soon enough it was lunch time which consisted of awesome burgers, salad, and chocolate milk.  After we'd finished lunch,  a group of us headed off for a ride around the park.

First we headed off to see the boardwalk through the massive wetlands at Presquile. To be totally immersed in massive tall wild grasses is a truly stunning and beautiful experience. Helpful guide notes along the way pointed out some of the other features of the wetlands.



From there we rode to the Camp store where we bought ice cream! I chose a flavour - chocolate-caramel surprise. The surprise? There was no chocolate or caramel anywhere to be found in it. It was vanilla ice cream! I love it!!! Happily there was cold Coke to wash it down.

From there we went to the famous Presquile lighthouse.



The lake was calm and the sky was soft. The stories posted around the lighthouse suggest that this isn't always so, as countless ships have sunk in this stretch of water . . . .



From the lighthouse we followed a shoreline path that gradually took us back to our campsite and some cold beers!

Our last night together unfolded with an amazing meal of steak, baked potatoes, corn on the cob and lotsa laughter as we set up a great big canopy tent over our meal as it started raining. A lovely end to a beautiful day!

Ride for Africycle 6.0 Day Three: Kingston to Presquile (Pt.3)

Well! In all the excitement of posting yesterday's chapter of the Ride for Africycle 6.0 tour of epicurean and velocipede-based pleasures I neglected to mention a relatively brief but delicious stop in at Norman Hardie's winery!

Yes, we made a slight detour off the route (and wouldn't you?!!) to pay our respects to Norman once more. We were greeted by one of his staff who treated us to three spectacular cheeses and some bright red crabapples that we washed down with some astonishing and chilled white wine!! What a day of good eats and good drinks!

So, back to the present. A night at Presquile is always a pleasure. This year we had elected to be on a smaller set of sites which were closer to the shoreline, and we could hear the waves not very far from where we pitched our tents. Between that and the wind rustling the leaves it was nothing short of idyllic.

Now for those of you who remember the weather of that week we rode in,  you'll be wondering what the weather was like for the riders. Surprisingly for our supporters in both Peterborough and Toronto (who told us later of endless rain), we remained almost entirely dry. Here are the tents showing a little bit of rain on them  . . .



It was a blessing - one of many - that this happened when we weren't on the bikes - in fact the two nights we were at Presquile it rained (and not heavily) and I love rain falling on a tent at night so it was an absolute pleasure!!!

After a long hot shower and shave I took a walk down by the Lake.



Dinner our first night at Presquile was spaghetti and you know that there was tons because Jerrett the Wonderchef knows, we burn the carbs and we've got to replace them . . .fast!!! Settlers of Catan made an appearance and I struggled to grasp even the basic concept but it's a cool game and one that I want to learn more about . . . .

Bed came early for the riders.

Ride for Africycle 6.0 Day Three: Kingston to Presquile (Pt. 2)

Continuing on with our journey West towards Presquile we found ourselves at Barley Days Brewery. You might recall that we somehow blew by the place on our way East earlier in the trip and had a bit of a wake up call about what exactly this ride was all about.... So this time we stopped in  . . . !



It doesn't look like much from the outside, but once inside you know that you are in a fun and warm brewery with an equally fun and warm guy named Jeremy behind the bar!!!



I had met Jeremy a few months before at (of all places) Norman Hardie's winery where he and I had sampled a few odds and ends as part of an event involving running on a very hot day, great food and a lot of wine, cider and Barley Days Brewery products. Jeremy is a good dude with a great sense of humour!!

This time round he served us up some samples and then we dove in and joined him in a bit of beer consumption . . . really good beer by the way!!!

Back out on the road. We made our way a little further West until we came across a Ride for Africycle favourite place that serves (among many other things) homemade sugar donuts. They are served up in a brown bag and are truly amazing . . . !!!



With lots of delicious but empty calories to burn we continued on past lovely old homes . . .



And into the immediate environs of Presquile . . .





which are truly beautiful  . . . . We rode quickly past the entrance      . . .



along a glorious park road until we found our campsites which were ready for us to pitch our tents in and came . . .



complete with the awesome and wonderful Ben and Sheila who had biked down from Peterborough to meet us!!!

Ride for Africycle 6.0 Day Three: Kingston to Presquile (Pt. 1)

I experienced an earlier than expected awakening as Joe Machinery arrived downstairs with his Very Big and Noisy Truck, delivering a pile of stone for the to-be-repaired front entrance of the building I was sleeping in. It's all too easy when on holiday to forget that my time schedule doesn't match that of the working world's. Ben Voss was still trying to dial in a few zzzzzz's across the room and didn't appear to hear anything! Eventually, I hauled my bin of stuff and my bike downstairs and after a little while, everyone else met up in the parking lot at the back of the College where Jerrett the Wonderchef was busy assembling his kitchen and cooking up a massive bucket of oats.

 

 Soon we were finished breakfast, packing the vehicles with our stuff, and then back on our bikes heading West this time. Here's my bike pointing West down by the Lake!

 

 We rode slowly through the outskirts of Kingston, past the beautiful and beautifully landscaped limestone houses that characterize the architecture of this beautiful town. Then past the massive penal institutions and sprawling factories, until we found ourselves riding through open fields . . .



And then alongside the Lake.



Heading West (for Lake Ontario afficionadoes) means heading into the prevailing winds ...



and the indominatable Kris Seiber pulled almost the entire way! Respect dude!

 

Every so often we passed through lovely little towns like Bath.



 It interests me just how much these little places look like upscale versions of their counterparts on the other side of Lake Ontario. I noticed that along the shoreline and especially into Prince Edward County there's an awful lot of property for sale . . . I wonder what's going on . . . . ? Meanwhile my eyes continued to be captivated by the little old buildings by the wayside . . .

 

We stopped briefly at a fruit stand to pick up some field fresh melon which I carried in the back of my shirt. Before long we were back on the Glenora ferry heading West and listening to one of the ferry staff telling us stories about all the amazing old cars he'd see on the boat.

 

I forgot to mention that we had been passed by countless antique vehicles who often honked at us or waved at us. It was very cool to hear their so different sounding engines sometimes struggling with the inclines or their ahhhhoooogah horns honking at us!!! On the other side of the ferry we agreed to climb up the small hill that leads to Lake on the Mountain, a beautiful spot which features a beautiful lake at the top of a two hundred foot hill (a tarn) ... cross the road and on the other side you can look almost straight down the same height to Lake Ontario. On this day we were sharing the picnic spot with a pile of the antique car drivers who were very fun people!!! There are beautiful views from up top!!!

 

Tomorrow we'll go to Presquile!!!