Bicycle Tours

From: Port Dover, Ontario
To: Port Stanley, Ontario
Mileage: 70



Did you know that there are switchbacks on the road that follows Lake Erie on the Ontario side?

We got up early and were packing SeeMore when the gentlemen next door came over for a chat. We are meeting so many amazingly nice people on this tour. They were on a bike tour that was designing maps for Canadian cyclists. One of the gentlemen rides a Rans Screamer (just like SeeMore) with his wife, but not on this trip. They told us of a detour in our planed route today, and advised us to just ignore it and cycle straight through. This saved us some miles. They also told us about switchbacks ahead, and we took it with a grain of salt. But there were two switchbacks!

We were away from the lake for the most part of today's ride. We saw lots of farms and birds, with glimpses of the Lake here and there. Not as pretty as yesterday, but then we stumbled on to the land of giant windmills, which provided interesting scenery. Miles and miles of electric generating wind turbines. We asked a couple of people about them. Now this is word of month, but each wind turbine cost between 1 and 2 million (Canadian) dollars to construct. The land they sit on is leased from the farmers for around $7500 per year, with a 40-year lease. We were told that there are approximately 70 wind turbines that line the coast of Lake Erie between Port Royal and Port Bruce (30 miles). . . but we think the number is higher.

Now the smart reader would probably be thinking right now. . . wind turbines. . .wind turbines. . .millions of dollars. . Hum. . must be a little wind blowing around here. Yes, and it was in our face for most of the day! Even with the headwind we still averaged above 10 mph, which is pretty respectable, the Rear Admiral must have been working hard.

We pulled into Copenhagen to have lunch, and as soon as we parked SeeMore under the porch the heavens opened up. As the idiom goes, it rained cats and dogs, right up until the Rear Admiral finished her last bite of cherry pie. We shared our weather and meal with Amanda and Mike (the couple we met yesterday), they too just missed getting a free shower.

The rest of the day was more farmland, and out running the black clouds. We did very well, and only got a little wet once (not enough for rain gear). Tonight we are off to explore Port Stanley.