Day 78: Wellington, ON -> Kingston, ON

Date: Tuesday, August 1, 2023
Start: Wellington, ON (Staying with family)
End: Kingston, ON (Kingston Mills locks on the Rideau Canal)
Distance: 113km

We woke up in beds again.  It never gets old!  We got up, ate breakfast, packed, and were on the road by about 8:45am.  We said our goodbyes to Kim but not Gregor because Gregor was riding with us to the ferry on the other side of Prince Edward County.

To my great shame I realized we never got a picture with Kim, the closest I got was as I biked out the driveway.  So sorry Kim!!!

We headed out across Prince Edward County past Lake Ontario, through little towns, by orchards and fruit stands and roadside farm stands.  The sun was shinning and the air was cool.  It was a pretty perfect morning to be out biking!

As we approached our first stop of the day in Picton we jumped onto the Millennium Trail which is a rail to trail that crosses Prince Edward County.  Gregor volunteers (be more like Gregor!) as a member of the committee that oversees the trail and so we learned a lot about the state of it and the work that goes into maintaining it.  We only did a small piece of the ~49km that goes across Prince Edward County, but it was very pleasant and if you're in that area it would make a GREAT way to see the county!

We pulled into Picton and went to Beacon Bike and Brew, a local bike shop/coffee shop that Gregor frequents.  It was located on main street Picton and we got a seat outside with out coffee and treats as we enjoyed the hustle and bustle of tourist season in the capital of a region known for it's tourism.

Here I want to apologize to a friend who I was planning to see but - due to a misunderstanding on my part - ended up passing by.  Mark and I were Pages in the House of Commons together, spent a lot of time solving the world's problems over beer in our undergraduate, and have kept in touch over the years.  He lives in (or near) Picton and we had been planning to meet up but - literally the next day - he was expecting the arrival of his first child and I thought we'd decided it wasn't a good time.  As I gather is usual with first children, nothing was doing in the labour department and so he was free and wanted to see me if only in passing.  I'm sorry I didn't get a chance to see him and it's my own fault.  I wish I had a picture of us together as part of the journey, but I can't wait to see pictures of the newest member of his family!

We had a few people quiz us about our ride, but eventually we were off again and bound for the ferry at Glenora, Ontario.  On the way there we passed by some beautiful waterfront properties and grand views of Prince Edward County.  Just before going to the ferry we turned off and climbed a hill up to Lake On The Mountain, which sits on a ledge overlooking Lake Ontario.

We arrived there and could see the two ferries crossing paths down below on Lake Ontario, while right beside us was a large lake.  It was almost jarring that we were surrounded by water, but one of the bodies was at least 40 meters below us!  Gregor explained a bit of the geography to us and we spent some time admiring Lake On The Mountain with it's clear waters (you could clearly see the fish in it).  We then went to admire the view from the ledge over Lake Ontario.

And then it was time to go.  We dropped down a long hill and arrived at the ferry just as it was starting to load.  This meant a pretty rushed goodbye with Gregor that lasted mere seconds as we jumped on the ferry and snapped pictures as we waved goodbye.

Note: I'm realizing that I've been writing these little odes to all of my hosts/friends/family at the end of my time with them, and it means you don't really know much about them before that.  I think I might try to change that, but here we are!

Gregor is my cousin.  His father and my grandfather were siblings.  That side of our family held regular family reunions every two years and so despite the family being spread around the world, we would still usually see one another every two years.  Being a generation after Gregor, I'm sure I was just another kid in the family to Gregor and he was another adult in the family to me.  As I reached those early years of adulthood and came into my own, I learned which family members had similar interests.  Gregor and Kim were two of those people I would gravitate towards.  They traveled, lived in cities, had interesting hobbies, could talk music and movies and books...and gave me the time of day!  I always made sure to get some time with them at those reunions, and they would always invite me to visit (up until now, I never managed to take them up on that offer).  When I started taking running seriously in 2018 and trained for a marathon I discovered that Gregor is also a runner and cyclist (he ran his second Boston Marathon this year!).  Seeing Gregor's runs and rides on Strava helped motivate me to keep going when I was training, and I've always been curious to talk to him about it and compare notes!

All this to say, Gregor and Kim are two people I've looked up to and been hoping to spend time with for years, and so I was overjoyed that I finally got time to spend with them.  Gregor's sense of humour and cutting wit (a family trait) and Kim's infectious happiness and enthusiasm are just as I remember them.   Sure enough, it was time well spent.  Thank you both for hosting us.  We loved every minute of it!

The ferry crossing is probably less than 5 minutes, and we de-ferried and started along Highway 33, known as Loyalist Parkway.  Everything in this area is Loyalist-something.  The Loyalists were people who fled The United States after the American Revolution because they were loyal to Britain, thus "loyalist."  The highway runs along the Lake Ontario coast all the way to Kingston and it was spectacular.  The area was all farmland and coastline.  The sky was full of big fluffy clouds and it was sunny but not hot.  We couldn't have asked for a better day.

In fact I'll just tell you now that it might have been one of the best days of riding of the entire trip.  It turns out that Skipper is a bird enthusiast and he kept pointing out the different species that were flying overhead or floating in the water nearby.  It's like a new world has been opened up to me and I can't believe all of the species I might have passed during the ride but wasn't paying attention.

We passed a few power stations and stopped after about 60km into the day at a chip stand on the side of the highway called "FryWay 33."  Skipper had fish and chips and I tucked into the first poutine of the trip that felt at all genuine.  I could feel Quebec drawing nearer!  We ate in a park next to the water and enjoyed a prime summer day in Southern Ontario.

After lunch we continued towards Kingston.  We passed through several small towns on the highway until we reached the greater Kingston area.

I couldn't take it anymore.  I hadn't been listening to any music while riding with Skipper, and you may have noticed I haven't added any music recently.  But Kingston, Ontario is the home of The Tragically Hip.  And if you don't know who they are, it's probably because you aren't Canadian (apologies if you are!).  It's difficult to explain them, but someone recently said that Gord Downie - the front man of the band and main lyricist - is like the Gordon Lightfoot of his generation, except in rock music.  I'd agree with that.  They never really made it big outside of Canada, but here they're a big deal.  They sang about Canadian history, culture, places, and themes.  They also rocked.  Anyone who saw them live would know their energy, especially from Gord.  I met them in person when I worked in Parliament (I have a fun story about it, ask me in person).  I saw them in concert many times.  I flew to Kingston the day of their final concert and stood in Market Square in Kingston just to be part of the event (it was the second most watched broadcast in Canadian history, 1/3 of Canada watched it!).  They're one of the bands I would put on a list of "favourites" and as I rode into Kingston I popped my earbuds in let them play me into their hometown.

Tears found me several times.  But there's nothing better to typify the sound of Kingston or Ontario or even Canada.  I could add about 30 different songs here, but there's one that was the first song that really caught me from The Hip.  It's not even one of their better known or loved ones.  It's just the one that got me when I was coming of age and they were already 7 albums deep.  It was one of many I listened to riding into town, and it made me so happy to hear as I rode back to Kingston.

Everything is bleak
It's the middle of the night
You're all alone
And the dummies might be right
Outside the darkness lurks
My music at work
My music at work

Riding into town we passed Kingston Penitentiary, one of the many prisons in the area.  When we reached Queen's University we jumped onto a pathway on the lake and rode into the city.  We found a place to top up our water bottles because lunch had left us thirsty!  A few people took some interest in us and we talked about bikes and touring.

We opted to ride across Queen's University to see the campus and then up to Princess Street (a main thoroughfare) and into downtown.  I've spent a lot of time in this town in my undergraduate degree because of friends who went to Queen's University who I visited frequently.  Reaching Kingston felt like I'd finally reached the area of the country that I knew best.  I was finally on familiar ground again, maybe for the first time since leaving Calgary.

We looked out over the water and took some pictures.

From here it was time to leave the city.  I'd had a difficult time nailing down a place to stay in Kingston.  None of the Warm Showers people were available and campgrounds were on the outskirts of the city.  I eventually found that it was possible to camp along the Rideau Canal at the lock sites, and it was only $5.25 each!  They do this for boaters, hikers, and cyclists but don't advertise it much because they don't want car campers.  So we headed about 10km north of Kingston to Kingtson Mills where the final locks in the Rideau Canal allow boats to each Lake Ontario.

Once there we watched as the last group of boats passed through the locks.  The Rideau Canal is a world heritage site, and the locks are still largely in their original condition.  They're operated by people turning cranks to open and close the locks, and raise and lower the water level.  It's really mind blowing to see that the technology holds up so well to this day.

We setup our tents directly beside the canal under some trees.  We were starving and so the next goal was food!  We found a chip stand nearby but it was closing just as we rolled up, so we went down the road and had A&W instead.  The ride into town was more than we wanted and were starving.  We ate, exchanged pictures, and caught up on our thoughts about the day.

Once we were done we headed back and walked out to the lake that feeds these locks, Colonel By Lake.  We enjoyed golden hour as we watched people fish and the various birds of the area.  Of particular note were great blue herons that flew into the now empty locks (they empty them at night) and fished in front of us.  A kingfisher also put on a little show for us and I watched it successfully catch a tiny fish and fly away.

We both called home and reported in, and then went back and packed it in for the night.  I was weary of raccoons and so kept the food bags close to the tent.  Of note was that the main rail line between Montreal and Toronto passed by (and actually almost overhead) the locks, and the noise they made at night woke us (or at least caused us to stir) several times.  But the locks were beautiful, and we enjoyed the night.

I remember how happy I felt as I fell asleep for such a wonderful day of riding.  Clear weather, beautiful country, spectacular shorelines, good company, and the familiarity of an area I'd once spent so much time.  It was everything I've wanted from this trip!