Ontario Pt. 6(6) - Waterfront Trail

Boom.  We stepped out of Union Station into downtown Toronto after a good sleep and recharge on the train. ‘Scotty’ had beamed us out of the wilderness and directly into the most urban thing we do in Canada.

We immediately went for Aperol spritzes, espressos, and gourmet pizzas as one does when they suddenly find themselves at the centre of the known universe.

As we sat and people watched thousands of passers-by in cowboy boots, and cowboy hats, with frilly blouses and short jean shorts, we thought, “wow, was not expecting this metropolis to look so….. country”

Will this be how we all dress after the trend catches beyond the big city?

A quick search online says a huge Morgan Wallen concert is happening right here in the baseball stadium downtown later that evening, which would explain the costumes. There’s also a Deftones concert happening tonight and we briefly considered getting tickets….. until we remembered we had fully loaded touring bikes and no place to stay.  

lol.  Oh right.  We’re doing a different thing.

Navigating downtown on cumbersome, loaded bikes is tricky. The pace is like nowhere else in Canada. Delivery couriers on e-bikes are ripping down the sidewalks, cars and pedestrians and hover skateboards go zooming by in all directions. Horns are honking and engines are revving, what stark and jolting contrast to our last few weeks in the wild. 

An old friend, Lindsay, offers up a couch for the night and a place to park our bikes in her super cute apartment in a hip area of town. It’s a 40 minute commute for us and we make like locals and rage our way over there.

It was a lovely evening catching up, and trying to explain in words what we were doing riding bicycles to here. ???.   In the morning we take the local tip to check out “The Beaches” area which puts us on bike path East and out of town along Lake Ontario.

The weather was fabulous, also in stark contrast to our experience in the North, and we moseyed along the cycle path soaking up some sun. 

Cycle path turns to rural road, and back to cycle path,  all part of the Great Lakes Waterfront Trail. The GLWT is a well marked cycling route along the entire northern shore of Lake Ontario and extending up the St. Lawrence River, all the way to Quebec. It’s fabulous ride, and very well used by other cyclists.

We stopped in at a new MEC in Oshawa to consider upgrading our sleeping bags and/or mats to try and keep warm at night.  We opted not, as the weather had really been great since arriving in South Ontario, but we didn’t leave without at least a few little goodies.  I guess we’ll see what happens weather wise, maybe we can continue as is.  

Truthfully, we’re still not even sure we can make it to the ferry in Sydney on time.

Sunrise found us camped just off the road overlooking a farm field ready for harvest.  Andrew’s bike had a flat that delayed our start a bit, making it 5 flats now, one in each province.  😠

Port Hope is adorable!! We rolled in as shops were opening up and went searching for breakfast and additional cinnamon buns. 

Here Sherrie does her best to match the civilized vibe of the quaint little town by sipping an espresso in Dreamer’s Cafe. 

After breakfast we spent some time watch salmon leap and fight their way upstream. It’s utterly engaging and we could still be there watching if we didn’t have 140 or so kilometres to ride before dark.

Though most of the towns and hamlets along the lake are filled with historic architecture, which we love, there are a few modem developments you’ll come across and are they ever weird and out of place looking.  

This mini-burb of brand new empty McMansions was super eerie to ride through.  I guess money can’t always buy taste…

We’re headed for Prince Edward County, a large island land mass on Lake Ontario with a few towns and villages and summer cottages, to visit our dear friend Nathan who has been eagerly texting us all the way across the country. 

The island is covered with well groomed and well used bicycle trails and unlike the cows in the prairies the cows here are nonplussed by our presence. They’ve clearly seen bike tourists before.

So has the rad bike shop in Bloomfield where we stopped in for a replacement tube and ended up spending a fun hour in conversation with the shop owners.

This whole area is absolute cycle touring paradise.  We wish we had so much more time to explore.

Nathan hosted us with a full moon over the lake and it was warm enough to sit outside until quite late and enjoy the spectacular view. 

Zonked out in total luxury was amazing. Nathan was going to have to EVICT us because we were never leaving.  This can hardly be considered bike touring at all.

Sunrise on the lake, and we better get up and going otherwise we’d lose any remaining motivation to go back into the wild. 

There’s a beautiful short ferry ride off the island heading North East, and we were hoping to make it to Kingston for afternoon tea.

Max from Germany joined us on the ferry and we rode together for a while until his path routed North from ours. Max was on a six month adventure, riding zig-zags across Canada and The U.S.  Super fun chap! Have fun in Montreal Max!

Even the roadside rest stops feel super civilized on the Waterfront Trail. We stopped for our packed lunch Nathan had sent us with at a treat of a view. 

Granted we are observing the lifestyle here through the lens of summer on a perfect day, but we could absolutely see ourselves living in one of these small towns surrounding Kingston.

The original capital city of Canada, Kingston is a fun visit, boasting both historical architecture and a modern  university town vibe. There’s a great coffee shop behind the old parliament building and we hung out in the cobblestone square for the afternoon.

The bike ride up the St. Lawrence River from Kingston is magical. Happy cyclists going both directions with lots of waves and hellos. 

The views of the river are a delight and every little town has a bakery with croissants and espresso. 

This is not even remotely the same activity to what we had been undertaking in the mountains, prairies, and northern lakes.  This is downright civilized. 

Maybe we’ll just ride back and forth up and down this stretch for a while and call our mission complete. 

They do seem to like their cemeteries in these parts. The best real estate in the area, with the best waterfront views, is reserved for memorials with gravestones that greatly outnumber the residents of the local towns. 

Wild camping is not as easy through here so we had to get creative a few nights. Still managed to sleep soundly, and riding a couple 160 kilometer days meant we weren’t setting up until after dusk, and gone before sunrise. 

A last sleep in Ontario, right on the river in Cornwall, before we push for Quebec and a night in Montreal.

Quite honestly we’re very tired, having not really had a cycling day off since way back in Killarney, Manitoba. After back to back to back to back 140/130/160/150 kms we can feel the aches and stiffness in a way that’s really starting to be noticed.  

It is readily apparent….that we are not youths. 

Can’t wait to get to Montreal!!  We have a long overdue visit with Eric and Amanda and their 3 sons who are texting up a storm anticipating our arrival.

READ NEXT:  Quebec Pt. 1(4) - Montreal