G2G – Blyth to Guelph – Day 3

The Hotel Lux in Blyth was a treat. There were only three rooms and we booked them all. We were provided with codes for the front door, bike room, and bedrooms. The rooms were luxurious with Prosecco and cheese, chocolate covered pretzels, Werthers candies, and fresh local cream for our coffee. Having a bike room at the front door made it easier than keeping them in our rooms.

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We started our day with the Prosecco and cheese.

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Cindy and I rode our bikes to Tim’s to get breakfast.

There was a tornado warning and it was going to be a long day with headwinds, possible rain, and possible tornado. We were fortunate to have little or no rain the past two days with heavy rain overnight while we were sleeping.

David and Dayle, and Wayne were outside early so decided to get a few minutes head start as Dayle is not as fast as some others in the group. Unfortunately, when I got Lina’s bike out of the bike room, the front tire was flat. Because it was soft yesterday morning after we started riding, we decided to change the tube this morning. That delayed us almost an hour so we took the road that parallels the trail for the first 40km. It was challengingwith the headwind so Nelson, Cindy and I took turns leading the pace line of four.

The roads were good. Not very hilly, light traffic, respectful drives. And, we encountered some brand new asphalt which was a joy to ride. The atmosphere was oddly dingy and hazy.

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At the 40km mark we got on the trail as the roads would have added quite a bit of distance had we carried on along them. We encountered the rest of the group with a hundred or so metres at a rest stop set up on the trail with chairs and a cooler with drinks and snacks paid for on the honour system. After a short break we got going again.

This is the third trip upon which Wayne has spotted a toilet being discarded and requested we stop for a picture.

Lunch was in Millbank at Anna Mae’s Bakery And Restaurant. It is a quaint diner serving home style food and baked goods. We were able to order our food, pick it up outside and eat at picnic tables.

Lunch took longer today and we weren’t riding again until after 2:30 with 45km to go.

Lina left us at Linwood where her car was parked. She relaxed for a while before heading for Welland.

We noticed different things returning on the trail. It also had a different look in the sunshine. It was a hot afternoon to ride.

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We’ve seen many Mennonite farms and horses and buggies over our three days in the area.

Back in West Montrose the Lost Acres Variety was open so we stopped for cold drinks before crossing over the Kissing Bridge again.

The stairs were actually more difficult wheeling down with panniers. I lost control of my bike just before the first landing when it went back over front. Fortunately I was able to keep ahold of it and control the landing. My computer flew off, but Wayne recovered it from under the stairs for me. the rest of the group helped each other down. I removed my panniers to continue.

106km later we arrived back at the cars. We bid adieu to Nelson, loaded the cars and headed for Welland.

It was a very long day. We grabbed food at a grocery store, checked into the Best Western, put our bikes in the bike storage room, and headed for our rooms. Another great day of biking came to an end.