UGRR Day 38 Niagara Falls Ont, to Niagara on the Lake Ontario- the final day of riding

Group Photo at the Horseshoe Falls

Today's Acronym AWTY?

Laurie is so used to everyone bitching and moaning when there is more than one page both sides worth of cues and that the cue sheets are stapeled, that she wanted to play with our minds this morning. Just to get us in the proper mood for today's ride, she had even added a token staple to the one page of directions which were basically, ride along the bike path until you get to Niagara on the Lake, explore, have lunch, see the sights, then ride 10 miles west and 3 miles south until you come to the Hilton Garden Inn on the QEW Expressway and then stop.


This and the token reading and reviewing of the cue sheet at breakfast were the cause of much hilarity, that and the fact that we were all in a state of shock about having to ride the couple of miles back down the hill to the falls for the group photo, and giddy from having slept in until almost 8:30 for a 9:00 breakfast and a 10:00 start.

We all eventually got ourselves sorted out, the luggage trudged downstairs and out to the van through the unalarmed door, and the bikes safely conveyed out of the rooms without scratching walls or damaging the furniture, much to the relief of the young desk clerk who had allowed the profination of the rooms to occur.

We all rode en masse back down to the falls , took over a spot at the railing above the falls and proceeded to sing "Erie Canal" and "Oh Susannah" while Annette the Woman Tours photographer set up her shots and myriads of tourists, who figured we might be somebody or something important took photographs as well. Meanwhile several groups of Japanese and or Korean guys were having their pictures taken in front of the bikes which were stacked against the wall, each other and various benches across the way.

The public entertainment portion of the day over we all rode off at our various speeds, and with the exception of several photo stops, it was a mostly uneventful and very beautiful ride along the 25 miles of bike path.

Sights along the bike path included many fine houses, a lot of B&B establishments, a Christmas Tree Shoppe, a Buddhist Temple, and a porta potty with an interesting public service announcement.

A Buddhist temple

"Ready, sit, go Canadian" public porta potty message

At one point Debbie and I stopped to have a look at the whirlpool section of the river and a Korean man came over and asked if we would mind having our picture taken with his group of friends, so somewhere Debbie, Vickie, and I are immortalized on about a dozen digital cameras. When we explained to the gentleman who we were and what we had done, and he had translated for his friends, we received a spontaneous round of applause and cheering. Good for the soul.

The whirlpool section of the river below the falls

Just before we arrived in the outskirts of Niagara on the Lake we passed Roy Terrace, the starting place of the falls. Above the bike path on a spot level with an equivalent terrace on the other side of the river in the USA was a tall plinth with a statue of a man on top. Unfortunately there was no sign identifying who he might be, but there seemed to be a matching plinth on the other side. We also passed by one of the large hydro electric generating plants that are fed by the water taken from the river above the falls. If you look at the photo closely, you can see a couple of vans in the lower right corner of the flat roadway part. There was a matching plant on our side of the river as well.

Roy Terrace Sign- locating the highest point closest to the lake where the falls originated

The Lewisport hydro electric power plant as seen from the Canadian side

We arrived in Niagara on the Lake, a charmingly quaint but seriously tourist town in time for a leisurely lunch with about a dozen other riders at an Italian restaurant which was featuring lobster and avocado crepes. Since it was early afternoon and we knew we only had a few more miles to go, some serious eating ensued. Afterwards we walked it off by exploring Queen Street, the main drag of the town. There was every sort of tourist kitch imaginable, but also some quite lovely boutiques and special interest stores, Fitz and Barkery featured nothing but organic goodies for dogs including paw print cookies and doggy birthday cakes, while another store had nothing but exquisitely decorated candy apples. Of course there were the requisite bakeries featuring British looking baked goods, wine stores representing all of the local vineyards, creameries, butteries and other ice cream and candy type stores and two major theaters sporting playbills for the Shaw Festival which is currently playing.

In addition to its resort claims, Niagara on the Lake was also the site of the Chloe Cooley incident which led to the 1793 act to limit slavery in upper Canada. Chloe Cooley, an enslaved black woman was kidnapped and sold across the river to a new owner in the US. This act so angered the local population that governor of the province immediatly moved for an act limiting the introduction of slaves into the Canadian provinces. When it was passed, it was the first act forbidding slavery in the British Emire and as such, this act provided a jumping off point for the Underground Railroad movement in the US.

Cloe Cooley sign

Fitz and Barker Barkery products for dogs

glamorous candied apples for humans

The ride out to the hotel was through more grape vines and vineyards and small strip malls and little local suburbs. As usual, the last mile of the ride was uphill and the Hilton Garden Inn was again on the left. It's nice to know some traditions don't change.

some sort of an onion bloom looking lilly which seems to be prevalent in the gardens


Because of the number of people headed off to the airport tomorrow, and the number of bicycles being taken to the bike shop to be shipped, Woman Tours drove another van up from Rochester, NY to help with the logistics. After a chance to rest and freshen up, the entire group was driven back to Niagara Falls for our final dinner together.

view of the American Falls from the Pinnacle Restaurant

Much to our amazement, Laurie had managed to book tables in the Pinnacle restaurant, located at the top of the Konica tower, with an amazing view of the falls from above. We had a festive dinner, complete with a champagne toast and then moved out of the restaurant and down to a lounge on the ground floor where we had a brief awards presentation.

View of Horseshoe falls from the Pinnacle Restaurant

Included in the entertainment was a chorus line from the SAG drivers complete with a song about the trails of being a SAG driver. After a brief speech about the responsibility of the SAG drivers to catch up with the riders, Laurie awarded each driver with a specially decorated bottle of Ketchup.

The SAG line with guide Laurie, and drivers Marilee, Elaine, Jennifer and Georgia

Included in the other awards that Laurie had creatively made decorations and necklaces for were "the minimalist" to Sondra, who left behind loose change whenever she bought anything and even emptied her water bottles for the last five miles to reduce weight, "the first aid" for Joy who seemed to finish every ride bloody but unbowed, "the been there, done that, seen it" award for Lesley, the Australian who knows more about the US than the rest of us combined, the "trashiest dresser" to Judi who always "the rookie of the year tiarra" for Kris, who just kept on keeping on in spite of dog bites, falls, flat tires, broken spokes and the like. Each award was presented and then the recipient had to do a song related to the ride. Several other women also presented songs about the ride including "here comes the burn" to "here comes the sun", "dancing on the pedals" to "Waltzing Matilda", "this is not a real hill" to "frer Jacques" and several others.

Judi styling at dinner

In short, a gay but somewhat sad and nostalgic time was had by all. The impact of what we accomplished and how we did it has yet to really sink in. But, Laurie is getting one final lick in. We have to have our bikes, stripped and ready to be shipped, out to the van by 6 AM tomorrow morning. One final early start before we say goodbye.

Judi "overcome" with her award as trashiest dresser

Today's Acronym AWTY= Are We There Yet?

yes, yes we are!

Today's Stats

distance 26.15

ride time 2:31

speed 10.3