I’ve heard from a number of cycle tourers that day 1 is great, day 2 is tough, day 3 is hell, and then from day 4 onwards your body has acclimatized and its easy riding.
So far that has been true for me, so I’m not looking forward to tomorrow...
Waking up to hearing the water lap against the shore this morning was great. It took me a bit longer to pack up camp and make breakfast than I expected, but I’m sure I’ll get quicker as the trip goes on. I hit the road around 10, and was aiming to get to my next campground around 4.
As soon as I left, I was hit with a headwind that would last the entire day, so that made things difficult. On top of that, the signage for the Waterfront Trail is terrible in Clarington, so I ended up having to double back a few times and was constantly having to stop to check my phone. At one point, following the signage for the trail, I almost ended up on an on ramp for the 401. A bit after this the trail abruptly ended and there was a sign for the trail pointing down a narrow gravel pathway that was more suited to mountain bikes than my setup. I went down it, and ended up at a fork with no signs for either direction. Finally I managed to find my way back onto the “trail,” but aside from a few short stretches, most of it was on roads, with barely a glimpse of the water. For a while it ran parallel to the 401, which was not that pleasant.
Clarington is a weird place. For starters, it’s huge. It ends just before Port Hope, so it extended almost half the distance I went today. It’s a mixture of cookie cutter suburban McMansions on crescents and cul de sacs, and then there’s a bunch of farmland too. It’s got a ton of rolling hills which were killing me combined with the headwind, as I couldn’t get much momentum going down to carry me back up. I was super thankful for my lowest granny gears, but I was going so slow.
I was aiming to have lunch in Port Hope, but about 20 minutes before I got to the town I decided I was too hungry to keep going so I had a picnic in some random field.
Port Hope was fine; I was hoping to find a little coffee shop, but didn’t pass any along my route so just stopped at a Tims, and the woman filled my water bottle with ice water which was amazing. But even with the ice, about half an hour after I had left the Tims, both my bottles were already lukewarm.
After Port Hope, I passed through Cobourg and then Colburn, where I stopped to get some groceries. By this time I was so exhausted, but the provincial park was only 12 km away!
I finally arrive at the park, with no strength or energy left in me. Everything is in pain. And the park is a peninsula. And of course the campground is at the tip of the peninsula. So I keep going.
I arrive at the campground at 6:30, much later than I had anticipated, and the campground office had closed at 6. So I wrote a note explaining my situation and that I’d pay in the morning, picked a site, and stuck the note in the spot where you’re supposed to stick your permit. Hopefully the park ranger doesn’t come by, and if they do, let’s hope they’re sympathetic!
The park is beautiful, and Lake Ontario seems like an ocean from here. It’s pretty windy which keeps the mosquitos away, and the water is crashing against the shore.
After setting up camp, I started to make dinner, but as I had my food all laying out and was crouched down by my pan, a goddamn racoon came to try to raid my campsite! I would scare it off for about 5 seconds, turn my back to keep stirring my food, and then it would come back from another side! I finally managed to scare it off for good after about 10 minuets, but not before it got its dirty paw prints all over my shirt that I had washed in the shower and had out to dry. I’m totally prepared for bears, snakes, even coyotes while camping, but I thought I would have left the raccoons behind in the city!
Let’s hope I get through tomorrow ok so I can get into the easy riding part of this trip.
Total distance: 110 km
Total elevation: 598 m
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