Circumnavigate Lake Simcoe – Day 2

Day Two started with an unsatisfactory bagged hotel breakfast consisting of a poorly reheated egg and bacon English muffin, a croissant, a juice box, and a banana. Why was it bagged you ask? It is apparently a covid precaution. However, we were still allowed to make our own tea or coffee, but only powdered coffee creamer was available, so I passed in the hope of finding a Tim Horton’s before leaving town.

We wanted to do some sightseeing along the Orillia waterfront and find a Gordon Lightfoot sculpture before leaving town so we were ready to go by 8am. There was a minor chance of thunderstorms after 2pm.

Early last week the forecast for the weekend looked lovely. But on Thursday, the day of the tornado in Barrie, it changed to a high probability of 10-20mm of rain on each of Saturday and Sunday. I considered postponing, but we weren’t sure the hotel dates were moveable, and I hate changing plans based on a forecast, because they seem so unreliable these days. A few hours later, after the tornado had touched down in Barrie, the forecast changed to a favourable one, and in the event we didn’t have a drop of rain while riding on any of the three days. So it reinforced my conviction that it is rarely worth rescheduling a ride.

Before heading out I deflated and re-seated my tire to try to get rid of a bump I had yesterday following the flat tire. I felt it every time the wheel rotated. It was like riding on the sidewalk. We found a repair station on the waterfront and I was able to inflate the tire to a higher pressure than I had been able to do with the mini pump on the road, or in the room. Unfortunately, while I was successful for about the first 20km, the bump came back. I tolerated it for the rest of the trip because I didn’t want to deflate again and have an underinflated tire due to using the mini pump.

It was a nice descent to the waterfront on almost empty early Sunday morning streets. We had a bike lane for a while, but it wasn’t even wide enough to fit the stencilled bike symbol.

Orillia sits between Lake Couchiching and Lake Simcoe. We explored Lake Couchiching Park which had a cycling trail and boardwalk.

There is also a mini steam train run by the Rotary Club. We saw the tracks and station, but not the train.

There was a beautiful shelter with the park and lake’s name on it.

When we reached the north end of the park we turned and headed back south and east, passing The Island Princess, which didn’t operate last year due to the pandemic, and is apparently moving to Midland this year.

The trail along the waterfront was wide and paved with a centre dividing line. It passed through shaded sections where the trees met overhead, playgrounds, beaches, more park benches than I have ever seen lining a path before, and to the Gordon Lightfoot sculpture with a maple leaf with a sculpted scene for each of the songs from his “Gord’s Gold” album.

We made a final stop before heading to Highway 12, the Trans Canada Highway in this area, and the only road that runs between the two lakes. The area is know as “The Narrows”. Cindy’s former colleague lives in an old log cabin with a delightful addition and beautiful property. Since it was early Sunday and no one appeared Cindy decided not to risk disturbing her friend and we moved on.

Wayne was concerned about fast heavy traffic crossing The Narrows, but it turned out not to be a problem as there is a bike lane and traffic was light. It was a bit challenging making a left onto Highway 12 and off again at uncontrolled intersections, but each of us went as we felt comfortable and all was well. We even found a Tim Horton’s just east of the crossing.

We were on Highway 12 for a couple kilometres after Tim’s and then quiet rural roads, before another 8km on Highway 12 coming into Brechin. The shoulder was narrow and repaired with tar snakes – tar filled cracks that get soft in the sun on a hot day. It was hard to completely avoid them and felt like fishtailing in a car on an icy road when our back tires dropped into them. However, the drivers all gave us the legally required one metre passing distance, it was relatively flat, and we had a tailwind, so it wasn’t too bad.

The town of Brechin on Highway 12 in Ramara Township was decorated with these blue bikes all over town.

After leaving Brechin we headed west to the lake and continued on lovely cottage roads. Given that we were circumnavigating the lake we actually saw very little of it. Even when near the lakeshore on cottage roads we only caught glimpses through the cottages. Each town we visited with a waterfront did have parks along the waterfront and that is where we had the most exposure to the water on the first two days.

Where Ramara Road 47 crosses the Talbot River, there is a swing bridge. It is part of the Trent-Severn waterway. We just finished crossing it when a boat came through so we stayed to watch. I was surprised how quickly it rotated.

We had lunch in Beaverton, down at the harbour at Barney’s Restaurant, as recommended by a local when we stopped to discuss where to eat. The food was good, and prices reasonable, although the waitress seemed to lose interest in us when the lunch crowd thinned.

After Beaverton we were along the lake again for a while then headed inland. We passed an incredibly huge field of solar panels seen to the right behind this barn, and on the opposite side of the road.

We headed north back to the waterfront past Sibbald Point Provincial Park and passed a beautiful old Church – St. George’s Anglican, on Hedge Road, where Stephen Leacock is buried. The road was lined with beautiful old hedges.

Shortly thereafter we arrived at our destination, the Ramada at Jackson’s Point. We checked in with some confusion. We had requested ground floor near each other, but were on the second floor with no elevator. David didn’t realize this when accepting the room so just went with it. Wayne and Cindy requested a change. Wayne’s worked out, but Cindy and I ended up in an unmade room and then had to go back and arrange another. The next room was nice, but the cell service and wifi were terrible – not everywhere – but certainly in our room. We made a dinner reservation for the patio at the hotel and then went swimming in the lake. It was refreshing and possibly warmer than the pool at the Quality Inn in Orillia last night.

The meal was good in a pleasant location. Another satisfying day of cycle touring came to a close.

July 17, 2024 Update: A friend just did a one day circumnavigation of Lake Simcoe and one made a video blog of the experience. Check it out here.