Day 5: Newboro Lake - Brockville (63 mi)
Another glorious and invigorating day on the Trek.
People in about half the cars I saw today waved to me and all the honks were
friendly.
It was fun staying with my friends Chris and
Mary.
Their son Eric, age 12, was completely immersed in the latest Harry Potter book, so wasn't there for the picture. J.K. Rowling should be awarded the Nobel Prize for making literacy popular once again in first world countries.
I tend to prefer making my own routes, rather than following somebody else's. While there is some hesitation to set out into the unknown, it's always more rewarding if you survive. I survived.
It took me about 25 minutes to ride/push the 2.5 miles of loose gravel from the cottage on Newboro Lake to Highway 10. From there, I headed northbound toward Westport on 10, turning east on Hutchings Road, a gravel road about 8 miles long that took me to Highway 42. That took about an hour. Heading east on 42, I rode over the Rideau Canal at Newboro,
then through Delta and Athens. At Athens, I headed south on Highway 5 through Mallorytown, across the 401 and onto the Thousand Island Parkway eastbound along the St. Lawrence. The roads were hilly, but traffic was lighter than it was on Highway 10 from Kingston to Newboro Lake. I was slow; 6.5 hours for 63 miles.
In Delta, I had a great hot dog and fries lunch at a fries "shack" run by a guy named Brian (I think). The place was amazingly busy. These fries stands are found in small towns all over Canada. The fries are the best I've eaten.
There were very few clouds, so I tried to be careful to drink plenty of Gatorade®, but I noticed that all three bottles (2 Gatorade® and 1 water) were full. Thereafter I tried even harder.
I crossed parts of the precambrian shield with its rocky hills.
I rode out of my way down Highway 5 in order to ride on the Thousand Island Parkway. I wasn't impressed. The bike path was on the left side of the Parkway, so the road was built up to the point that the view wasn't what I had hoped for, and the pavement on the bike path was in poor condition most of the way.
I tried riding on the road, but there were no shoulders and the traffic was too intense.
As I rode along today, and every other day, I always wished for decent paved shoulders. Just one yard/metre of extra pavement would make all the difference in the world. While getting such shoulders on all roads might be too much to wish for, I think a few carefully chosen shoulder projects would do the trick. If there was a paved shoulder route between all the major urban areas of the States and Provinces, I firmly believe that bicycle touring would be much safer and far more popular. I don't know about Canadian funding, but I do know that the US Congress has given huge sums to the United State Department of Transportation for non-motorized transportation. If that isn't enough, I would be willing to pay an annual bicycle tax to help fund shoulders.
As a member and former President of the Tri-County Bicycle Association (TCBA) in Lansing, Michigan, I've seen how far voluntary funding by bicyclists can go. TCBA paid the local match to put bike racks on all the Capital Area Transit Authority buses and to put bike loops and lockers (for secure bike parking) at many locations around the Lansing area. While I hate new taxes as much as anybody else, it is my hope that a bike tax would show that bicyclists mean business about making cycling safer. I just thought of this today, so I haven't yet figured out how to administer and apply such a tax, but rest assured that I'll be thinking about it.
I think the notion of bicyclists paying for more bicycle-friendly roads would help to shut up motorists who have the misguided belief that they pay for the roads and we don't. They should look at the history of road building. After all, the whole notion of paving roadways came about for the benefit of bicyclists, not motorists. The roads in Detroit and many other cities were paved before the invention of the automobile. So, I think it's time bicyclists step to the plate once again and make sure their needs are being met. Bicycling on the roadway is a right. Driving a motor vehicle is merely a privilege for which a license is required.
Their son Eric, age 12, was completely immersed in the latest Harry Potter book, so wasn't there for the picture. J.K. Rowling should be awarded the Nobel Prize for making literacy popular once again in first world countries.
I tend to prefer making my own routes, rather than following somebody else's. While there is some hesitation to set out into the unknown, it's always more rewarding if you survive. I survived.
It took me about 25 minutes to ride/push the 2.5 miles of loose gravel from the cottage on Newboro Lake to Highway 10. From there, I headed northbound toward Westport on 10, turning east on Hutchings Road, a gravel road about 8 miles long that took me to Highway 42. That took about an hour. Heading east on 42, I rode over the Rideau Canal at Newboro,
then through Delta and Athens. At Athens, I headed south on Highway 5 through Mallorytown, across the 401 and onto the Thousand Island Parkway eastbound along the St. Lawrence. The roads were hilly, but traffic was lighter than it was on Highway 10 from Kingston to Newboro Lake. I was slow; 6.5 hours for 63 miles.
In Delta, I had a great hot dog and fries lunch at a fries "shack" run by a guy named Brian (I think). The place was amazingly busy. These fries stands are found in small towns all over Canada. The fries are the best I've eaten.
There were very few clouds, so I tried to be careful to drink plenty of Gatorade®, but I noticed that all three bottles (2 Gatorade® and 1 water) were full. Thereafter I tried even harder.
I crossed parts of the precambrian shield with its rocky hills.
I rode out of my way down Highway 5 in order to ride on the Thousand Island Parkway. I wasn't impressed. The bike path was on the left side of the Parkway, so the road was built up to the point that the view wasn't what I had hoped for, and the pavement on the bike path was in poor condition most of the way.
I tried riding on the road, but there were no shoulders and the traffic was too intense.
As I rode along today, and every other day, I always wished for decent paved shoulders. Just one yard/metre of extra pavement would make all the difference in the world. While getting such shoulders on all roads might be too much to wish for, I think a few carefully chosen shoulder projects would do the trick. If there was a paved shoulder route between all the major urban areas of the States and Provinces, I firmly believe that bicycle touring would be much safer and far more popular. I don't know about Canadian funding, but I do know that the US Congress has given huge sums to the United State Department of Transportation for non-motorized transportation. If that isn't enough, I would be willing to pay an annual bicycle tax to help fund shoulders.
As a member and former President of the Tri-County Bicycle Association (TCBA) in Lansing, Michigan, I've seen how far voluntary funding by bicyclists can go. TCBA paid the local match to put bike racks on all the Capital Area Transit Authority buses and to put bike loops and lockers (for secure bike parking) at many locations around the Lansing area. While I hate new taxes as much as anybody else, it is my hope that a bike tax would show that bicyclists mean business about making cycling safer. I just thought of this today, so I haven't yet figured out how to administer and apply such a tax, but rest assured that I'll be thinking about it.
I think the notion of bicyclists paying for more bicycle-friendly roads would help to shut up motorists who have the misguided belief that they pay for the roads and we don't. They should look at the history of road building. After all, the whole notion of paving roadways came about for the benefit of bicyclists, not motorists. The roads in Detroit and many other cities were paved before the invention of the automobile. So, I think it's time bicyclists step to the plate once again and make sure their needs are being met. Bicycling on the roadway is a right. Driving a motor vehicle is merely a privilege for which a license is required.
Posted: Sat - June 28, 2003 at 08:42 PM
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Published On: Oct 02, 2003 05:49 PM
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Published On: Oct 02, 2003 05:49 PM