Day 24: From Maple Leaf to Mitten

Six states done, eight-ish to go!! With the flat roads, slightly higher mileage days, and a tailwind towards the end, Ontario really flew by.

Cruising

I got off to an early-ish start this morning, but didn’t make it out of the campground before realizing my front tire was soft (again). I couldn’t find a leak, so just pumped it back up and it seems to be holding 🤷. I think it’s time for a new front tire at the next bike shop I come across.

Joanne recommended a bakery in Ridgetown when we were chatting over the fire last night, so I was sure to stop there this morning. I got coffee and an eclair. They had a lot of tasty looking loaves of bread - too bad they pack/travel so poorly.

The miles were really flying this morning with the tailwind. I made it to the Tim Hortons in Dresden in no time flat, so had a leisurely breakfast sandwich and rest in the shade. I felt obliged to get Tim Hortons while in Canada, so I’m glad one was on the route today.

I took the first ferry of the day across to Algonac, MI from Walpole Island. The first ferry happens to be at 2:30 and I got there with time to spare so I found a nearby baseball field with a shady dugout to have second lunch in (first lunch was at a park bench in Wallaceburg). The ferry was nice and short and they let me off the boat first, so I was through customs by 3, which was a pleasant surprise.

I had about 30 miles of biking from the ferry to the hotel for tonight. Much of it was on bike path, but what wasn’t was on relatively busy roads with not ideal shoulders. That’s the trade off for being in real towns I suppose. The last couple miles from where I turned off the route to the hotel were particularly busy (though the cars were all really nice), so I’m going to try a different route out when I leave.

My brother had two free hotel nights to use by the end of the month that he couldn’t make us of, so I’m taking advantage and staying at a hotel in Port Huron tonight and tomorrow (rest day). They’ve got a big breakfast buffet, which I am very excited about! I ordered pizza for tonight and have some leftover for lunch/dinner/food tomorrow.

It’s a good confidence boost that these past few higher mileage days have gone well. I just discovered a typo in my spreadsheet and it turns out I have another 100 miles to do between here and WI…