Lakes and Vines 300K Ride Report and Photos

Lake & Vines 300 report

Steve Rheault's Polar reports just 1375 meters of climbing over the entire route. While I expect that Phil and Henry's computers will disagree somewhat with that (and each other, a source of some amusement on the ride considering they're the same model), despite the severity of the 2 escarment climbs this is a very gentle 300.

Let me do a brain dump and see if I can give a partial rundown of the sights to be seen and those additional ones seen this time.

Start to first control:

- the ever popular Britannia Road to Highway 6 route. Nothing new here, but it never gets old. The trilliums are all gone now in the bogs on the top of the escarpment but the water from the spring rains remains. Mosquitoes will now follow in huge abundance.

- Dutch Mills Country Store on Millwood: There are always eastern cottontails running around the parking lot in the early morning hours.

- Additional bunnies were sighted in the general area.

- Phil pointing out Goldfinchs, precipitating much birdy talk that persisted all day.

- Magnetic Hill on Harvest Road. An early tourist attraction, this is one of those optical illusion hills (which sadly doesn't seem to work when you're on a bicycle) now largely forgotten. The farm on the hill, Magnetic Hill Farm, memorializes it though.

- Crooks Hollow conservation area and Crooks Hollow road. Roadsides so choked with wildflowers that their sweet scent could almost be tasted.

- The exhilaration of the Weir's lane descent.

- The earthy smell of Sulphur Spring's road and the sound of rushing water, crossing the Hamilton-Brantford Rail Trail and the Bruce Trail within meters of one another. The sun peeking through the foliage for the first time that morning hinting that the forecast might just have been overly pessimistic.

- The first sight of the wide sweep of the Grand River and the panorama of the river and the fly fishers as we entered Caledonia.

- The incredible mental slowness of both the staff and patrons of the Tims.

First control to second:

- The charm of the bridge crossing the river in Caledonia.

- River Road, upon which one can never heap too many superlatives. Somewhere along there, just north of the turn to Cayuga during the late summer, fields of lavender will flank the roadway.

- Byng and Byng Island which had everyone bynging their bells.

- The bridge to Dunville. The water flowing towards the dam edge has an amazing hypnotic effect. It looks as though the water is standing still and the edge is creeping backwards towards you.

- 2, count 'em, 2 Dollaramas. The king of dollars stores!

- Watching Steve down an entire 2 litre carton of chocolate soya milk in just a couple of minutes at the Sobeys. An awe inspiring feat of gustatory prowess that I shall strive mightily to someday equal.

- One of the old Welland feeder canals, now stagnant and choked with vines.

- The first sight of Lake Erie!

- The first smell of Lake Erie. :^(

- Long Beach Conservation Area. Clean washrooms, including showers that passing cyclists are welcome to use and a very nice beach if one wanted to spend the time walking out there.

- The elegant Rathfon Inn and it's surrounding stone walls at the corner of Lakeshore and Rathfon Rd.

- All the rather luxurious homes built on the dunes as we entered Port Colborne proper.

- The somber D-Day remembrance ceremony in Downtown Port Colborne (1 block west of the route, we were scouting lunch locations).

Second control to third:

- The amazing turquoise colour of the water in the old canal, the semi-abandoned steel railway lift bridges standing like forgotten pieces of giant tinker toys, the luxury yacht plying its way towards the lake.

- The woman with the kid on the child seat on her bike on the path braking with her feet since she had no working brakes on the bike. Yikes!

- The dozens of high testosterone young men tearing up a large circuit on the railway lands on their moto-x bikes at Dain City.

- Yet another wide, slow, scenic river, the Welland, and the 2 pontoon party boat that paced us almost all the way up to O'Reilly's Bridge.

- The bridge itself, appealingly dilapidated.

- The almost unbearably wonderful descent down Effingham Hill, tuck and go forever.

- Entering orchard and vineyard territory as we approached Wessel Rd.

- The most impressive gorge at Wessel and 20 Rd. Phil has pictures in case you missed it.

- A very low flying plane making a landing at 8th and Staff Rd at a local grass strip airport.

- Staff Rd. looking and feeling more like a measndering French country lane than Southern Ontario.

- The burnt out and half sunk hulk of a two masted trawler on the beach at Jordan Harbour.

Third Control to Forth:

- 21st Street, more beautiful views of Jordan Harbour leading into trendy little Jordan Stn. Wine tasting at 1:00 and 3:00.

- King Street. Hard to believe that this becomes a major urban artery just 15k up he road.

- Ridge Road, another road that defies written description. Vineyards, orchards, falls, views and the final descent down the mountain on a road I only just discovered myself last fall despite being born and raised in Hamilton, which is the equal of Weirs Lane for fun, fun, fun.

- The temptation of the waterslide at Centennial park and the kitchy appeal of Hutches, a Hamilton institution for I-don't-know-how-many decades. Good, greasy fish and chips for dinner.

Fourth to finish:

- The lift bridge and the ocean tug making it's way into the harbour.

(cooling our heals while the lift bridge is up)

- The Beach Strip. Undergoing significant revival and gentrification from its low point as not much more than a shantytown, best avoided, in the late 80's.

- Mountain Brow of which much has already been written. Now that you know about it, descend it sometime, if you catch the lights just right you can coast almost all the way to the lake.

- Yet another conservation area and falls on Waterdown Rd. at the base of that last dip and climb into Waterdown.

- The rollers down 1st sideroad in the dark. Tuck, air rushing past with the sensation of great speed, crest the next hill without pedalling, tuck, crest the hill, continue seemingly ad infinitum. Nothing to be seen but the pool of headlights weaving and bobbing on the road ahead and the pinpoint taillights of those in front.

- Fireflys.

- Watching the pinpoints of light ahead expand into civilization as we raced east, smelling the barn, along the last sections of lower base line.