Day 38 – Wellington (Prince Edward County), Ontario (Saturday, June 13, 2015)
After breakfast I left Quito Inn and took a route along a well maintained, paved trail following a river which wound it’s way south toward the lake. It would have put anything in Kitchener around the Grand to shame. Perhaps I was too hasty in judging Oshawa’s treatment of the bicycle.
The trail eventually follows the shore of the lake and leads to Darlington Provincial Park. (This would be a good destination for future rides if they allow overnight camping.) Not far from the park I came to the outskirts of Clarington and the massive Darlington Nuclear Power Station (supplies about 20% of Ontario’s electrical power.).
The eastern border of the Darlington plant the road was fenced preventing entry into the adjacent St Mary’s Cement plant which was equally impressive. (I have to look up why large cement plants are often located next electrical power plants.). This was one of the few times on my trip that I was forced to retrace my progress for nearly 2km and follow an 6km alternate route.
Throughout the day I was never far from the lake travelling through a number of quaint towns via trails and roads with generally good shoulders and marked bicycle routes. I had lunch at a small deli that served a good tuna panini in or close to Port Hope. I traveled through Colbourg where they had cordoned off the downtown for a street market.
I arrived in Prince Edward County (PEC) about 5pm and got something to eat at Emm’s restaurant just outside of Consecon along Loyalist’s Parkway. My plan indicated a trail which wound through PEC but it appeared to be rough, wet from the recent rain, and poorly maintained.
What is unique about PEC is that the main road through the county is the Loyalist Parkway and the traffic, especially before the summer, is very light and is essentially used only for tourists and PEC residents. The road has perfect shoulders, light traffic and the community is receptive to bicycles. Perhaps it helps that the ferry to the east is the only route to Kingston and beyond forcing trucks and cars travelling between cities to find more direct highways.
Needless to say it made no sense for me to take difficult trails when the roads were ideal. So I biked 20km further than I intended and stayed in a B+B in Wellington called Magnolia Meadows. Before closing out the day I had a milk shake and a chicken salad at the adjacent Dari Bar and Grill.
