Canada...Goose Pee and Poison Ivy

Clearville, Canada to Houghton Center, Canada --- Sept 9, 2009 (73 miles)

The elderly lady I met riding her bike in Montana told me she was bucking winds blowing East the whole time she rode the shores of Lake Erie. When she told me that, I was pretty happy because I thought I would hit those same winds and get a little help pedaling. I don’t understand wind patterns in the North America, but I am beginning to think that you have certain winds when it is hot in the summer and when it cools off in the fall maybe those wind patterns change.

I am hitting winds blowing West almost every day now and I am beginning to think that the winds begin blowing West as the North Country cools off. I might as well get used to it because it looks like it is not going to change. It is getting pretty hard to get in a lot of miles though.

They are coming harder and harder and since the days are getting shorter I don’t have as much time to ride unless I ride in the dark which I do sometimes, but it is harder to miss potholes etc when I ride at night. The winds aren’t helping much either.

I had my first close encounter with a dog today. I have had lots of dogs chase me down the road but almost all of them bark but are afraid to get close to me. I mostly just ignore them. Today a big Doberman came after me and I was kind of ignoring it because they never do anything but pretend to be mean. Well this dog was mean and was trying to bite my legs as I rode by.

He got to me pretty quick starting trying to bite my right leg before I knew what was going on. I just wasn’t expecting it. I got my foot out of my pedal just in time to give him a nice Specialized Shoe sandwich in his mouth and he backed off enough for me to pass him by. I will be a little more careful the next time a dog chases me. This one almost caused me to wreck.

I have seen a lot of pretty country and Lake Erie is very beautiful.

Ontario, Canada just looks like an extension of all the farm country I have ridden through in the States. The people look the same, speak the same, the houses and farms look the same and the crops are similar. Corn, beans, sugar beets, lots of vegetables like pumpkins, tomatoes, beans, soybeans, bell peppers and tobacco fields.

I have been buying sweet corn at the vegetable stands and it tastes great. I don’t have a microwave oven to cook it so I just eat it raw. I think I prefer it raw now.

The Geese are beginning to migrate South. I was riding today and a pretty big flock flew about 20 feet over my head. I never see Geese flying that low in the US and was thinking about how low they were when all of a sudden I got all wet. I looked at my arm and shirt and it was pretty wet.

It did not look like poop so I assume that the Geese either peed on me or spit on me and I am not aware of spitting Geese. I wonder if they were just on a Bombing run for the Fat Guy on a Bike. Not sure. I have never been peed on by Geese before. Not something I particularly recommend.

My Poison Ivy does not seem to be getting any better but at least it is not getting too much worse. It is a pain in the Butt though.

The calamine type lotion I am using does seem to help the itching a little bit at least. I had a nice camp at the Houghton Center and the man did not charge me. His name was Leroy and he set me up in an out of the way camp and they had a shower and restroom also.

I ate some dinner of bagels and peanut butter and went to bed.

Houghton Center, Canada to Long Beach, Canada – Sept 10 (81 Miles)

I hit some construction today and had to ride about 10 miles through roads that they were preparing to pave. Nice gravel, potholes, washboards, etc. I was glad to finally get back on pavement after that.

It was a Beautiful Sunny day along the Lake Erie shore. Took some photos of Elk in the Houghton Center this morning. Beautiful animals.

I saw a flock of wild Turkeys today but I could not get a photo of them as they disappeared in the woods.

The roads in Canada have zero shoulder on any of them so far, but the people are very courteous and give me a lot of room as they pass me. No one has even come close to me and many people have waited to pass me when it was safe. I appreciate that.

I met an older retired man today named Jack. He owned 220 gas stations when he was working. He has lived in this part of Canada his whole life.

He told me the wind almost always blows East except the week I am riding through. I am just lucky I guess. Lucky like a three legged, one eyed dog. Oh Well.

I rode through Selkirk and Dunnville and got a pretty picture of a Beautiful sunset over the Grand River. I was riding along in the dark looking for a place to camp and I saw a Possum on the side of the road. Pretty cute little suckers. He looked at me and left pretty quick. He did not think I was all that cute.

My poison ivy is getting a little worse. How nice that is.

I was riding late trying to find an area to camp when I finally got to the Long Beach campground. The guy wanted $28 to camp overnight but told me if I left before 7:00 he would not charge me. Fine by me.

I camped out there, got a shower and washed my clothes and left at 6:30 the next morning. I got a few pretty photos of Lake Erie the next morning. Lake Erie is a very pretty Blue lake. A little brown by the shores because of the wave action, but very blue away from shore.