Day 46: Port Huron, MI to London, ONT — 100 miles

I was initially worried I would not be able to bike today because the weather forecast called for thunderstorms. And there were some powerful storms, with thunder, lightning, and torrential rain, but they happened overnight and were done by 6 AM. When I finally set out there was some puddling on the roads, but the sky was clear.

I was in Port Huron, and there is a bridge passing from Fort Huron into Sarnia, Canada. However, this bridge is on an Interstate highway, and bicycles are prohibited. The nearest crossing that allows bikes was twenty miles further south, a ferry that makes trips between Marine City, Michigan and Sombria, Ontario.

So I went south, and ended up taking the third, and final, ferry of my trip, this one across the St. Clair River. The crossing was the fastest of the three ferries, because it was the shortest distance to cross. It was pretty easy to get on and off the ferry, and it only cost $2 for a bicycle, compared to $5 for the Mississippi River ferry, and over $100 for the Lake Michigan ferry.

My bike, at the front of the ferry, facing Canada. I was the first one on, and the first one off!

Once I got into Canada, of course, I had to go through customs. But that went very fast. There were a few basic questions: Where am I from? How long will I be in Canada? Do I have any firearms? Then the agent looked over my passport and that was that.

As I biked across southern Ontario, I had a few observations.

First, the area is completely flat. Almost ridiculously so. I mentioned before that my definition of flat is 10 feet of climbing for each mile biked. For the 100 mile bike ride, I passed that threshhold, with less that 1000 feet climbing for the day. For most of the day, it was less than 5 feet per mile. It was only after I neared London that I got some more rolling hills.

An example of the flat Ontario countryside. Mostly filled with — you guessed it — crops like corn and soybeans.

I love Ontario roads. They may not have the widest shoulders, but they are beautifully maintained. I was worried when early on I turned on to a smaller road and was greeted with a sign that read, ‘Rough Road — 3 km’. But as it turned out, the ‘Rough Road’ was smoother than all of the roads I had been on in Michigan from Port Huron to Marine City. My friend Jeff, who lives in Toronto, assures me that not all Ontario roads are so well maintained, but I was pleasantly surprised with my trip today.

For the third consecutive day I had a pretty good tailwind for the majority of my trip. It really helped me get where I was going faster than expected. The next few days also look like favorable winds, so I’m looking forward to that. The strong tailwinds have helped me ride two centuries in my last three days.

When I was coming in to London, I was biking along the Thames River, and I came across a bicycle accident. Someone on a bike had tried to jump a curb, and somehow had landed so that his foot was wedged into the bicycle fork and wedged between spokes of his wheel. I was the second person on the scene, and the first was just getting off the phone with an emergency team. A few more people gathered, one of whom had first responder training, and another one who had some tools that allowed him to trim the offending spokes. I stayed around until the foot was free and the ambulance showed up on the scene. It appeared he did not have a broken foot, but perhaps a bad sprain and maybe some ligament damage, poor guy.

The banks of the Thames, in London.

For the evening, I stayed at the Hilton London with my friend Jeff. Today was a first for me for the trip — I was hosted by someone who doesn’t live along my route!  Jeff drove two and a half hours from his home in Toronto to London in order to see me as I passed through. He got us a hotel room, and we went out for Hungarian food for dinner (which was also a bit of an adventure!).

It was a fun evening, filled with laughter, as it always is around Jeff. Let’s hope I can carry that spirit on with me as I get closer to home.