Bob on a Bike: Ann Arbor, MI to Ontario, Canada, to Grand Island, NY

Hi I'm back.... Again I had little to no internet access while traveling across Ontario, Canada mainly because I was tent camping and the one night I stayed in a hotel, the internet connection was terrible.

So, The route for each day is as follows

Tuesday 5 June 2018 Ann Arbor, MI to Detroit MI
Wednesday 6 June 2018 Detroit, MI to Leamington, Ontario, Canada
Thursday 7 June 2018 Leamington, ON to Clearville, ON
Friday 8 June 2018 Clearville, ON to Port Stanley, ON
Saturday 9 June 2018 Port Stanley, ON to Vittoria, ON
Sunday 10 June 2018 Vittoria, ON to Dunnville, ON
Monday 11 June 2018 Dunnville, ON, Canada to Grand Island, NY, USA

That is a weeks worth of riding. I hope that I can remember at least 1/2 of what happened :-)

As Jeff and I left Ann Arbor we went through more farm country. Cornfields, soybean fields, wheat fields.

Lots of red barns

and some hughe houses

As we approached Detroit some nice neighborhoods.

A high school with three murals on the street side of the building

As we got closer to the center of Detroit it was very depressing. You could see that the area at one time was very affluent. BUT now... In the next few pictures most of the 1900 era housing is burned out and or boarded up. Maybe 1 in 10 houses are being lived in and are in good shape.

A burned out house right next door to one that is well maintained.

A little further into the city some well maintained mansions. And yet one or two streets either side are more burned out houses.

There are a few streets where the houses are being purchased and renovated. Jeff and I stayed with a couple that purchased a house and are deep in the midst of renovation.

Adrian and Diana. Our host in Detroit. Lots of positive energy from both.

Jeff and I left early Wednesday morning to catch the bus that goes under the Detroit River. That is the only way to get from Detroit to Windsor, ON. Apparently years ago bicyclists could cross the river on the Ambassador Bridge, but this is no longer a possibility.

After we crossed into Canada we headed south east first on city streets then a bicycle path that paralleled the main highway. We then transitioned to a dirt path.

Many miles on dirt path that had loose gravel on top

It transitioned to this for about 3 miles then back to the loose gravel path.

We stopped at this small diner for breakfast. We had eggs with peameal bacon

some of the small diners we stopped at have homemade bake goods for sale that are Excellent!

The grain silo pictures are the old style. The farmer collects the entire corn plant, just before it turns brown at the end of the growing season and grinds it up and fills up the silo. If you look closely at the second picture you will see two doors at the bottom of the shoot on the side of the silo. These doors are at each level all the way to the top. To empty the silo the farmer would go to the highest door in the silo to where the corn was located and shovel the corn out the door. As the corn level dropped the farmer would take out the next lower door and continue to empty the silo.

This silo is missing the cover

Lake Erie in the distance

Fruit trees with windmills in the background

Shortly after these pictures were taken, my riding partner Jeff made an untimely detour off the pavement onto a very soft shoulder then an immediate left onto the pavement and down he went. Gravel rash, bruised right leg and hip and broken helmet. I made Jeff sit for a while then he insisted that we continue to the campground. Once we arrived at the campground I suggested that I call my friends in New York and they could come and pick him up. Jeff wanted to wait until we had some dinner and then see how he felt. After dinner, the adrenaline rush Jeff had been feeling went away and the pain in his leg and hip got worse he decided that maybe he needed a ride home. After a few phone calls to coordinate getting Jeff picked up, Robbie Roberts from Leamington, the person we had stayed with the previous night would be to the campground to pick up Jeff in the morning. Jeff's brother Bruce came up from the Dayton Ohio area and took Jeff home. Jeff was extremely lucky. He didn't break any bones, just soft tissue damage.

After Robbie Roberts picked up Jeff I headed east.

Blueberry bushes.

cornfields

I met 6 different cyclists heading west. The first three were 3 guys that just graduated from Harvard. and were doing a Boston to San Francisco ride. We talked for only a couple of minutes and they headed west. I then met John at a small diner. We talked for about 30 minutes and he gave me good tips about the road ahead, including information about a detour I needed to take because of a bridge being out in Port Bruce and a tip about a place to stay in Port Stanley.

John

A couple from Chicago that were going to take the ferry

from Leamington, Ontario to Sandusky, Ohio

more fruit trees

Near Port Stanley a rail yard that reconditions old rail cars that will be used as local tourist trains.

Lake Erie from Port Stanley

Leaving Port Stanley

Some of the dirt road I traveled on

Corn starting to come up.

one VERY steep hill. I walked up most of this hill. When I got off the bike the cycle computer was showing a 14% grade. Even walking, I had to stop 3 or 4 times to catch my breath.

Port Burwell Submarine Museum

The leaning barn of Ontario

Cherry trees

Sunrise from Vittoria

Warmshowers host in Vittoria, ON Klaas and Engelina

Fruit trees

Picking asparagus

Is this where frog legs come from

The next 3 pictures are a little information on how the windmills work. There were several panels with different information. I only took pictures of these three.