Around lake Erie - Day 9

Day 9, Monday August 25 2015.

From Blenheim to St. Thomas - 95 km.

Day 9 and Day 10 cycling route.

Had a good night sleep. The weather was on the warm side, still nice for cycling.
Each day on this cycling tour a different challenge presented itself. This day, right after the first turn, I was faced with gravel covered dirt road. It continued for miles and miles. Very tough and uncomfortable to cycle on.

Fruit stand along the way.

About midday along the way, I saw a fruit stand on side of the road. Asked if I could purchased just a couple of fruits. Ended up buying one apple, two peaches and two plums for $1.00. Chatted with the owner; it turned out that he was once a manager of a Dominion store in Brampton before he retired and moved to this area.

Narrow dirt trail.

The planned route took me to a very narrow trail. According to the cue sheet this trail was 14.5 km long. After about 1 km on this trail I stopped and assessed the situation. The trail had deep puddles here and there, at some places it was impossible to cycle without brushing my arms or legs on the bushes. Also insects, one went behind my glasses and another went through my helmet and bit me on the head, others bit me on my arms and legs. I considered these as safety hazards. So, I turned around, and used an alternate route that took me 7 km further and on a paved and slightly busy road.

Resting at a "Resting Place".

Did not see any restaurant or fast food for lunch. Consumed the fruits and power bar as my lunch and had a rest at a final resting place - peaceful -:).
The wind was not that big of an issue today, I was cycling slowly on mostly dirt road anyway.

Shadow, taking a shower.

The Cardinal Court Motel, at the outskirt of St. Thomas, was a nice quiet motel, the room spacious but the furniture arrangement a bit confusing. The lady proprietor was from Brampton. Her family used to live at Millford Crescent, not too far from our house. Another ex Bramptonian.
Had to go close to the motel office to get good WiFi connection, in my room the signal was very weak. Gave Shadow a shower, washed, dried and oiled the chains. She went through puddles and dirt road, got very dirty.
Ordered in food, Greek salad and chicken wings, from Pizza Pizza; no restaurants nearby.

Today's ride was rather boring and challenging. Tomorrow's planned route to Brantford called for a 110 km distance, usually I ended up doing about 5 to 10 km more. If I could, I will start earlier. End.