Niagara River Parkway

Never in my adult life have I taken 2 weeks vacation back-to-back.  It's nice.

Day trips are the order of week-one.  Today we went to Queenston (across the bridge from Lewiston, NY) and took the Niagara Parkway bikepath into Niagara-on-the-Lake (Ontario) for a butter-tart (yum!).

It's always a nice ride and we do it often.  We were surprised that it was not very crowded on this beautiful day - but that meant we could ride side-by-side most of the time.

My wife doesn't commute but is really getting her chops on the bike.  She mowed down our 25km-ish route without issue. Hills and all. Maybe it was butter-tart motivation? I can't blame her.

I let her do the work.

Week two is back up at the cottage and we are all looking forward to that. I'm bringing the Paké

and the GoPro, with a solo trip to either Ottawa or Burnstown in mind. 

Raising them up in the way they should go

I may not get out on epic rides very often, but today's small sojourn with my girl was glorious.
Even the breeze was warm today - decidedly not a normal January day - but most welcome for a Saturday.

First we went a few k's down to Lake Ontario.  Hallelujah brought her Audubon birdbook just in case.

I was wayyy too layered and overdressed for this.

Next we made our way over to 50-Point Conservation Area.  This is always a favourite stop to explore and enjoy the lake.

There's Hallelujah's Peugeot build that I did a couple years ago.  Still LOVE her Sturmey-Archer 3-speed hub and still looking for ways to take it back and put on my own bike!  Hallelujah is also pretty keen on her SWOBO handlebars (I'll let her keep those).

When we got back to the bikes the wind had done its work.  No damage or anything but lots of mud to be cleaned out of the brake lever's.

This is as nice a day as one could hope for.  Tomorrow its supposed to be warmer, but with rain.

I hope that I have, or will, instill a permanent love of cycling in my little girl.  She still seems pretty shaky and unsure when we're on busier roads but hopefully that will pass in time, without her losing the respect necessary to show passing cars.

~ Wilson
 

Century Misrepresentation

This year at the Ride for Refuge charity event I elected to do the 100km loop.

Bicycle Observations in Myrtle Beach, SC.

Just back from a week of vacation on the beach.
As usual I was sensitive to bicycle culture.
I must say, it was difficult to come by.

Here's one thing I did find at "Wonderworks."

At their outside Catina you are welcome to blend your own drink by bicycle.

Ride for Refuge 2012

This will be my third Ride for Refuge and I am going to do their maximum mileage this year - 100km.  I know it's not necessarily a lot by many peoples standards but this is about my limit since I don't yet do club rides or even bother to get out nearly as much as I should, aside from commuting.

The thing about this Ride is the camaraderie.  My wife and daughter will join me in both cycling and raising funds for this cause.  They will do a 25km route but just the same, it's so wonderful to have them out with me.

When I read about people cycle-camping and spending the week on some of the trails that are around New York, New England or Pennsylvania I am so envious.  I guess the Ride is my little taste of a family cycling adventure.

Their logo means "Love, Sweat & Gears.
(also, my daughter says I don't smile enough on my BLOG shots!)

I've only done a couple of charity rides but I like them.  I have heard that some folks are critical of them, but I don't understand exactly why. 

A Great Time Away

Although neither a "cycling" vacation, nor an "observation by bicycle" I feel compelled to post an awesome retreat that my family and I enjoyed.  Interior canoe tripping through the Kawartha Highlands.

The pic below is wife and daughter warming up at the first campsite.

My daughter and I at the end of a portage.  As I recall not a particularly long one, but it was nonetheless time for lunch. (oh, I should mention that this is my nod toward bicycling...I am wearing a wool jersey with a bike-print on it).

Can you guess the food item?  You would not have guessed pancakes I presume!  My daughter liked to call them 'scramcakes.'  They tasted just fine with real Canadian maple syrup!

Not a lot of folks I know can tolerate powdered milk, but I kind of like it.  Apparently so does my little girl.

Almost finished our 4 day trip.  I think we are more tired than we are letting on here.

Build is complete

Hiking the Bruce Trail

Got in a nice family hike last weekend.  We are fortunate to live right beside some of the best hiking trails for hundreds of miles about.  The Bruce Trail is hundreds of miles long but we managed to tick off about 2 miles of it.  Ha!  It's not that it was so difficult going that we only got in the two or so miles, but rather because my wife and daughter were continually looking for ways to scale the slope to the top.  It's extremely steep and one is not meant to go "up" but rather side-to-side, if you will.

Hallelujah about to head up the slope

Nevertheless my wife and daughter, undaunted by clear rock fall debris and extremely loose aggregate finally made it to the top.  I admit they found a safe-ish place to do that and I followed because they wanted to explore some farmers field (read: private property) at the top.

It's a lot steeper than it looks!

Neither my wife nor Hallelujah could get past this shelf, in fact they could barely get down. 

One of the first rules of climbing, "don't go up if you can't get down."

This tree was a rest stop from the steepness of the grade.

Mom and daughter coming down the escarpment the easy way.

Late summer weekend

Niagara-On-The-Lake is quite close by and certainly worth the trip everytime.  We try to get down there at least twice through the summer.  They have a really nice bikepath that runs the length of the Niagara River from the town to the Queenston Bridge.  It's a crowded bikepath to be sure, but we're never in a rush.

(I've blanked out the faces of my wife, daughter and in-laws because not sure if I have their consent to put them on here!)

The views are many and breathtaking.

A tallship heading toward Lake Ontario.

Once this year we got to the American side of the river.  What a gorgeous place that is.  It's a small town called Lewiston, in New York, of course.  Problem is the line ups at customs don't make that trip worth it more than maybe twice a year.

I'm so thankful that my family indulges me when I want to do a day of cycling with them.  But in the end we all benefit from being together, cycling through the touristy little town and all the surrounding vineyards.

It will be gorgeous with Fall colours in about two weeks.  I hope I can convince everyone to bundle up for a year-end trip.