Tour the Trent 2002 with Cycle Canada
Georgian Bay to Lake Ontario -- Following the Trent-Severn Waterway
Link to photos (will open new window)
The Trent-Severn waterway meanders 386 km from Victoria Harbour on Georgian Bay at the northwest end, to the Bay of Quinte at Prince Edward County on Lake Ontario at the southeast end. Only 32 km of that length is comprised of canals, and there are numerous locks to navigate the altitude changes from either end up to Balsam Lake and back down. The history of the waterway shows use dating back to nearly 9000 BC, when it was an aboriginal route. In the 17th century it became part of the fur trading route through the region. In the middle 1800's, with the building of many of the locks, it became a highway for moving timber to more southern markets. With the adventure of the "steamers" in the 1870's tourism was born and many of the resorts were built. Today, the waterway remains a boon to the tourism industry in Southern Ontario, providing recreational boaters with a leisurely route along its historic length.
Cycle Canada's "Tour the Trent", new in 2002, traces the history and geography from one end of the waterway to the other. The ride is just over 600 km in 6 days, mostly over gently rolling terrain, only occasionally offering more challenge in the one day's roll through the Canadian Shield along the Severn River, and while crossing drumlins and ridgelines in Northumberland County.
This is my journal of the one week "Tour the Trent", in which I joined Bud, Margot and 14 riders on a relaxing summer adventure. Those who've read The Great Canadian Cycling Adventure will recognize the references to my mascot Bucky the Beaver, and my bike Barbarella.
Day 1: July 8: Alliston to Midland
In Alliston we gather at Cycle Canada HQ for a
field breakfast with the group of nine leaving on
Tour Great Lakes.
After fortification with coffee, juice, fruit and pancakes, we set out in ones
and twos north towards the shore of Nottawasaga Bay and Wasaga Beach. It's
a hot and humid day at 28C. The ride is pleasant, over mostly flat to
gently rolling farmland, except for one big climb over an old shoreline ridge,
followed by a long descent towards a flat plain leading to the lakeshore.
Upon reaching Wasaga Beach, I explore a few cottage roads and take a rest at the
beach for a few minutes, using the opportunity to snap a few photos. While
taking a picture of "Bucky at the Beach", the wind blows my bike over into the
sand, derailleur side down. Not nice!
Our route runs through the town of Wasaga Beach, along the cottage roads east and north through Tiny Beach and Balm Beach, staying as close to the water as possible all the way, just like on the Erie Shores tour. In this area, all within a couple of hours drive of greater Toronto, it's evident that the older cottages, built for a song in the 50's and 60's, are giving way to monster homes beyond the means of most of us. Sigh!
It doesn't seem long at all before I turn inland
to cross the Penetang peninsula to Midland. Along the stretch into Midland I've
got a nice tailwind, a gentle descent, and two mopeds to race with.
When
they catch up with me at a stoplight and tell me how fast I was going, all I can
do is grin at them and laugh. Eat my
dust!
Before heading to our accommodation at the Best Western, I spend some time poking around the harbour and taking pictures of the murals that decorate many buildings in the downtown area. While it's been hot and humid all day, in mid-afternoon the sky darkens and a tepid rain falls for a while, catching the slower riders on the road. The day's ride is 97.5 km at an average speed of 26.6 kph -- a thoroughly enjoyable ride and a great start to a week's vacation.
Day 2: July 9: Midland to Orillia
From Midland I head out early before anyone else,
stopping briefly at the historic site of Ste-Marie-Among-the-Hurons for a photo
opp. The road for this first stretch out of Midland is Hwy 12, and it's
somewhat busy with early morning commuters.
Riding
away from Midland though, the traffic dies out quickly. Following our
directions for the day, I turn left off Hwy 12 onto Tanners Road which takes me
down a big hill and to a series of dead ends amongst waterfront cottages.
Something's wrong here. Climbing back up the hill to Hwy 12, I meet a
group of five just about to turn. After a quick pow-wow, we continue on
down the highway, asking directions at one point. Turns out that the next
turn off the highway, indicated on our sheet, is correct, so off we go toward
Sturgeon Bay and Waubashene.
Approaching and then crossing Hwy 400, we're met with pink granite outcroppings signaling that we've entered the Canadian Shield. We stop at the lock at Port Severn, the northwestern end of the Trent-Severn Waterway, for quick snack and photos, before hitting the road again. The riding here is a real blast - lots of twists and turns, rolling and short/steep ups and downs, all the while surrounded by the beauty of the 4.2 billion year old Cdn Shield rock features. We stop again at Big Chute, where a marine railway is used instead of a series of locks, due to the elevation change and difficulty of blasting a canal and locks through the dense rock. While stopped at Big Chute, a front moves through, the sky clears, and the dripping humidity is blown away. The sun comes out and starts to bake us with dry heat.
Leaving Big Chute by myself, I ride on to Severn Falls and pass in a blur, turning south with the road. Leaving the Canadian Shield, the road becomes flat and straight. As a rude surprise after several hours on the road, the route crosses a ridgeline that's either a drumlin or moraine, or perhaps an old shoreline. The climb is a short series vertical steps, and then the terrain is flat again. I'm now realizing I've been drinking barely enough, and certainly not eating enough. My quads, calves and hamstrings are twitching and close to cramping, and I'm not far from bonking. Slowing my pace for 15 - 20 minutes, I down an entire water-bottle of diluted Gatorade. This stuff is great -- it gets absorbed very quickly and into the bloodstream and muscles where it's needed.
Approaching Orillia, the heat has finally gotten to me and I've got to stop for a break and some food. Pulling over at a roadside stand, a quick meal of some fresh tomatoes and strawberries, all washed down with a bottle of water, does the trick and I'm ready to go again. The next couple of kilometers are hazardous; I cling to the shoulder through a construction zone and heavy traffic, crossing Hwy 11 and entering the city. From there it's a pleasant spin to our accommodation for the night at Bayview Inn. As riders arrive, we gather around a picnic table out back for beer and chips. We decide the motto for this ride is "beer by four".
A short walk down the road reveals a great beach on Lake Couchiching. Orillia is situated where Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe are joined by a narrow passage. Simcoe is the largest of the lakes on this waterway, and it stretches off into the horizon.
My log for the day says it was a 107 km ride at an average of 24.9 kph, under a 32C hot and sunny sky. My log also says, "Tough but fun, especially dancing through the short rolling hills in the Shield."
Day 3: July 10: Orillia to Bobcaygeon
We all gather for breakfast at Eddies, where we had eaten dinner the night before. Feeling lazy about getting started this morning, I linger over breakfast and am the last rider to leave, followed out of the parking lot by Bud and Margot in their Ryder truck. I'm feeling depleted from the last two days in the heat and humidity, not enough sleep, a dinner that didn't digest well at all last night, and the general "day three downer" that seems to come with the third day of any trip on the road.
Nevertheless, within half an hour of riding within sight of several others, my body is soon warmed up, or at least resigned to another long hot day on the road. Pretty soon the rhythm of the road takes over as my legs spin a smooth fast cadence, and I soon slowly catch and overtake most of the other riders. My natural pace is a little faster than most of the others, except for the group of five from New Jersey. They have a nice group synergy and often fall into a loose paceline to maintain a quick pace. I catch them along one road as they stop for a short drink and stretch break. As they set off again, they leave me behind for a while, content to ride my own pace.
Seemingly in the middle of farmland, the road turns towards an underpass.
It turns out that overhead is not a road, but an aqueduct -- the canal at
Kirkfield. This is the site of one of two lift locks along the
waterway, indeed the only two lift locks in North America (there are another
half dozen in Europe). Meeting the NJ group here, we're all stopped to see
this engineering feat that was built in the 1800's. A lift lock can simply
be described as two huge bathtubs with gates at each end, balanced on hydraulic
cylinders. With one bathtub at the height of, and open to, the upper
canal, and the other bathtub 15m (five stories) lower and open to the lower
canal, boats enter at each level. With gates closed, and the water weight
in the upper tub a foot deeper than the lower, cross-connect valves between the
two cylinders are opened and the weight of the upper tub causes it to drop,
raising the lower tub to the upper level. Then the gates open and the
boats proceed on their way.
After a
another hot stretch through farmland I arrive in Fenelon Falls and again meet up
with the NJ group. This time, after taking pictures, we all head to a
local establishment for snacks, drinks and ice cream. From Fenelon Falls,
another farm country route takes me to Bobcaygeon, and accommodation for the
night at the Bobcaygeon Inn.
Bobcaygeon
is the site where planning and construction of the waterway links began in the
1830's, and there is a picturesque series of locks there. Both Fenelon
Falls and Bobcaygeon owe their early success to the sawmills and gristmills that
were built there to take advantage of the waterway's easy transportation.
Today, both towns are sustained by tourism, and their summer population swells
with boaters and cottagers.
After checking into the Inn and getting cleaned up, I relax in the garden with tomatoes, strawberries, lots of fluid, and a good book. This is the height of tourist season and most places are packed for dinner. We split into several groups, and I end up with a small group at Just for the Halibut, where we enjoy a great fish dinner.
Today's log records an even 100 km, cycling time of 3 hr 56 min, trip time of 6 hr, and a more moderate temperature of 23C. My log also says that we didn't see much water today -- only at Kirkfield, Fenelon Falls, and Bobcaygeon. It also says that once I overcame the difficulty of getting rolling in the morning, it was a quite pleasant day.
Day 4: July 11: Bobcaygeon to Warsaw
This morning starts out cooler at 15C and I grab a quick bite, skipping the larger breakfast, in order to be on the road during the portion of the day I love the best. In the early morning coolness and stillness, I can spin along without traffic or wind bothering me, thoroughly enjoying the start of the day. As I leave time, I'm surprised as I pass by a couple of restaurants not yet open, with large groups of people gathered, waiting to get it. This is indeed the busy time of the season.
My diluted Gatorade and a couple of bananas sustain me until I arrive in Lakefield, where I stop for a long leisurely breakfast in a deserted cafe. Leaving there, I take a little while to cycle around the town of Lakefield and it's pretty riverfront, before heading out into the country again.
The traffic is busier now, and a few local
aggregate sites add their mix of fast noisy gravel trucks to the fray.
Still, it isn't long before I'm off the beaten path, onto back country roads,
winding
my way to the Tranquility B&B, located in an out of the way oasis.
Our group is split into several smaller groups for accommodation today, with six of us at Tranquility. I'm an early arrival -- it's only just noon, and I've pulled in before the truck with our luggage, and before the B&B is really ready for us. This is not a problem. I pull out my book and stretch out in the shade in a hammock and alternately read and snooze away an hour or two. The afternoon passes very comfortably, and my fellow riders arrive in ones and twos to join me in lounging around with beer and chips. What a life!
My log shows this easy day as 70 km in 2 hr 36 min, 5 hr elapsed time (that was a long breakfast!), and the temperature only rose to a comfortable 21C.
Day 5: July 12: Warsaw to Campbellford
Once again leaving early to take advantage of the
beautiful morning, I'll learn later that I missed the best country inn breakfast
of the week. Still, the great ride into Peterborough is worth it, and I
partially make up for the breakfast by stopping there for some breakfast.
The attraction here is the Peterborough lift lock, the second of two in North America, and the largest in the world. This lock was built circa 1900, and raises and lowers boats 19.8m. It's early morning and quiet when I ride by and stop to take some pictures -- too early for any boat traffic.
Heading out again, I retrace my route into town, headed for the countryside, east and south to Campbellford. This is a magical ride. There are no winds to worry about, traffic is negligible to nil, the sun is shining, and the temperature climbs from it's early morning 10C up to 23C by noon. I'm feeling great and I spin through the rolling countryside, surrounded by farms and roadside patches of tiger lilies and purple loosestrife.
A final stretch of rough road north of Campbellford comes to an end at a construction zone where a sweet young miss in a hard hat gives me a stop sign. After chatting for a minute or two while the opposing traffic moves through, I ride into the construction zone, onto new pavement! Past the area being paved, the new pavement continues on, letting me spin along fast and smoothly for the final several kilometers into town. Checking into the River Inn, I discover that the Trent River here is deep and clear, and in I plunge for a long and refreshing swim.
Dinner that night is pizza, wings, pasta and salads ordered from a local establishment. Not gourmet, but more than good enough when eaten outside picnic style by the river.
My logs shows today's ride was 100.5 km in 3 hr 45
minutes, spread over 5 hr 20 minutes. What a great ride today!
Day 6: July 13: Campbellford to Milford
The final day! Our route today will take us south from Campbellford, following the Trent River to its estuary at Trenton, and then onto Prince Edward County. Once again I grab a very quick breakfast and ride out of town early, ahead of the rest of the group. I'm eager to get going today, knowing that weekend traffic will be heavy around Trenton and the bridge over the Murray Canal to Prince Edward County.
It's also going to be a longer day today. Our group will be scattered to four or five B&B's for the night, and I'm headed for one that's a bit further than the rest.
Leaving Campbellford around 7:30 a.m. I spin out of town past Ferris Provincial Park where I'd camped two summers ago while on the Tour du Canada adventure. Continuing on down the road and leaving the river for a while, the route takes me into the rolling hills of Northumberland. This is east of the Oak Ridges Moraine, yet the drumlins and moraines of Northumberland County can be large. Today they're mostly rolling hills that are a delight to spin up in the cool morning air, and I let gravity give me a ride down the other side. Like other mornings, the road is frequently lined with trees that provide dappled shade, and colourful stands of daisies, tiger lilies and purple loosestrife.
The hour to Stirling passes quickly, and the route now leads me onto a hard-packed gravel road that avoids a busy highway. After several kilometers, crossing the river and canal, and several more kilometers of okay gravel road and rough tarmac, I arrive in Frankford, cross the river once again, and find myself on Riverside Road. This parallels the canal and runs almost dead straight and flat for a fast 8 km before I have to slow to cross over Hwy 401 at the Trenton interchange.
Now I'm in the traffic -- there's a steady stream of traffic into and through Trenton, and the place is packed at 9:30 a.m. on a Saturday morning. To make it even more chaotic, there's a BMW motorcycle rally in town for the weekend -- hundreds of wanna-be-toughs on big purring bikes. Downtown is packed with bikers.
Quickly finding my way through town and down the road towards the Murray Canal and crossing to Quinte's Isle, I stop at a convenience store for more water and Gatorade, and treat myself to a large ice cream cone and a pint of chocolate milk. Rested and refreshed, I cross onto the island with the weekend traffic, and relax greatly when Bud's route instructions tell me to turn almost immediately after crossing the bridge.
Now I find myself on Old Portage Road, on the way to Rednersville, a long stretch with next to no traffic, other than the occasional gaggle of bikers out for a morning roll. On the map, Prince Edward County, sticking out into Lake Ontario, doesn't look very big at all; you'd also expect it to be flat, knowing that there are lots of sandy beaches. However, the isle-turned-peninsula (a feature called a tombolo), was built up by sand on top of ridgelines that are small escarpments of limestone and dolomite. South of Rednersville, in the middle of a nice flat ride, the road disappears into a wooded area around a little bend which reveals a nasty hill -- short but very steep. Other than being shorter, this reminds of a few big hills climbing out of the St. Lawrence River valley near Bic. It only takes a minute to get to the top, but that's a minute that takes full standing strength on the peddles to crest the hill. That little test for the day done, most of the rest of the route is simply a pleasant spin.
In mid-afternoon, my journey comes to an end at the Willow Garden B&B, a nice country home run by two friendly gentlemen - one a retiring school principal and the other an artist. Before the others arrive, I'm entertained with stories of their renovations, the chickens out back, the sheep, donkey and llama that will be arriving next week, and more. Before too long, my wife Celia arrives, having driven out to give me a ride home.
As
the afternoon wears on, Bud and Margot arrive and then the other riders staying
here. Tonight's dinner is a BBQ at the Willow Garden, and we collect
riders from the other B&B's so we can all party together on this last night.
The dinner party is a feast, and we entertain each other with stories of the
week. Before we split up for the evening and the end of the tour, goodbyes
are said and then it's crash time. Celia and I will be up and off early to
visit with family at a cottage at Presqu'ile Point.
Other than the one hill and the traffic through Trenton, today's ride was long but thoroughly enjoyable. My log says I rode 127.4 km in 4 hr 45 min, in an elapsed time of 6 hr 45 min. The temperature was 19C at 7 a.m. and 28C at 1:30 p.m. It was hot and sunny all day, with only light winds later in the day.
And that's this year's bicycle tour. Two years ago I did Tour du Canada, last year Erie Shores, and this year the Tour the Trent. I think I like the longer tours better, and I like camping better than indoor accommodation, despite the occasional rain and having to deal with wet gear. Tour Great Lakes is in my future, I can tell. We'll have to wait and see...
My collection of photos from this trip can be found here. (will open new window)
Alan Medcalf
July 2002
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