Trip down was uneventful, with a stop in Port Hope for lunch, and another in Trenton to charge to car. We settled into the hotel and went out to Linguini’s for supper. This was a pretty typical Italian eatery, the food a bti above average, and the seat cushions definitely below average. But it served its purpose, and we went to bed satisfied.
Our first day of actually being on the bike started, by consensus, in Bloomfield. We had received a map from them, and wanted to see what they looked like in person. The Bloomfield Bicycle Company is run by a couple of old hippies: he does the repairs and she does the sales and front of shop things. They were delightful. We got advised by her to take the Millenium Trail going West towards Wellington, a distance of about ten kilometers. The trail was dry, even and a very pleasant ride. We ere tired when we got to Wellington, but had enough energy to get to the Mid Town Brewery for a nice lunch before riding back to Bloomfield. When we got back, Joel had the bright idea of asking the lady at the bike shop for a suggestion. And we are so glad we did: she suggested a little place called “Stella’s Eatery” in Wampous, a fair drive away at the far south of the county. We drove down and saw this isolated house all alone, and wondered if this could be the place. It was, and we went into a terrific meal experience. We sat on their patio under a blue sky, ate a meal that was well-prepared, well-served by pleasant staff, and genuinely one of the better meals I have had in the past years.
The only dwonside was that I had forgotten to take my meds, so after a long=ish ride back to the hotel, I had a pretty baad night’s sleep. But it didn’t taint the wonderful day we had had.
Our second day was also good weather, and we got off at a reasonable time (for us). This time, drove to Wellington, parked, and took off westward on the Millenium Trail. This part of the trail included a side trail to a winery, which of course, we took. That side trail wound through the fields and grapevines to the converted barn, where we settled in for a wine-tasting and lunch. Quite pleasant, and a lovely diversion from the cycling. But we couldn’t stay there all afternoon, so got back on the main trail, and did an out-and-back trip, clocking overall just over eighteen kilometers. While this was enough from a physical point of view, it left us ith some time before we could go for the supper we wanted in the local Mexican restaurant. So we hung out at the public park by the waterfront, talked and played each other music we had on our phones. Then to supper, and back to the hotel. Watched an episode of Ted Lasso, and I went off to sleep a happy man.
Our third and final day of cycling was forecast to have rain in the late afternoon and evening. I had noticed that our bike carrier was missing a bolt which made me nervous about putting the bikes on it, so we went on a hunt. The local large Canadian Tire had a man there who knew what he was doing, and fixed us up pretty quickly. Back to the hotel, bikes on the car, and off later than we had hoped.
So we stopped for lunch first, in the tinny town of Consecon. Now this is a town of maybe a thousand souls, but it had “Charlie’s”, an old barn situated on the sluice of the dam draining the Consecon Lake. These folks do an amazing job of preparing good meals in a tiny place. I had a very good burger and great sweet potato fries, along with some wine: a good start for our day. We sat in the open again, and admired the day and the scenery.
But good things end, and we had to do a ride. Fortunately it was along the same trail, this time going east from the town. And we went through some great scenery: a wetlands with lots of eagle nests, and water which made me long for a canoe. The trail of course was on a causeway, no worries. And when we got back from our ride, we had done again about eighteen kilometers.
Since they were still calling for rain, we elected to drive back to Belleville, stop to top up the car, and went to a local resto-pub along the Moira River. Nice location, mediocre meal. And back to the hotel and me to bed.
Our next day was driving, some through heavy rain, and some through sunchine. One stop, again in Port Hope, for a charge before getting to the Great Smoke tolet Joel off and returning to nice old Dundas. But you can see why people talk so fondly of PEC: it is replete with quaint towns, friendly people, good food, great cycling, and pastoral surroundings on a lakeshore. It is idyllic in so many ways. We want to go back.
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