No pictures...it was a black dog though.
Colborne DOG chases bike into ditch
No pictures though...but the dog was black.
"The Gables" (Brighton's hidden gem)
This family-run house-turned-restaurant has been the culinary highlight of this trip so far. Having be so disappointed yesterday with lunch/dinner and the Holiday Inn breakfast (so much so with my steak in Bowmanville that I didn't dare post my dinner photos!) I was in for a pleasant awakening in Brighton. This restaurant was top-rated on both trip advisor and restaurantica, so I had to give it a shot. First impression was the similarity to Toronto's own Auberge du Pommier. In all fairness, what I ate was not very difficult to cook: the trout was well-seasoned, the veges were properly blanched, and the strudel gave away the family's heritage. This is as good as it gets out here. But tomorrow is wine-country. I'm sure "The Gables" will be outdone. (Oh, and the service was impeccable.)
End Day 2: Brighton. 200km done.
The day began drearily, perhaps because of the breakfast. I was sore all over and the weather did not agree (although I hear it's much better than the weather in Toronto). I had to go on many dirt paths and lakeshore rd. is very poorly paved. I felt discouraged, thinking only of what I'd have to through in the next several days. However, Port Hope lightened my mood. Perhaps the protein from the clif bars kicked in (or maybe the alcohol from the Warsteiner I had at lunch did :P) but either way, the afternoon went effortlessly. I'm more than halfway there at Brighton. The road sign shows only a hundred or so kilometres, which really could be finished in a day should I go through belleville. But Prince Edward County is really the highlight of this trip as I look forward to a light (60km) day of wineries, ice-cream and the quaint pleasures of picton. If that proves too light a day, I might continue back to the mainland and lighten my final day to Kingston.
The Bed and Breakfast I'm staying at is wonderful. My plan was to stay at B&B's as they are usually better and more value at the same time. And no horrific machine-pumped-pancakes for breakfast.
Overall, a much better day than the first.
(sorry, my "Google Latitude" app closed down midway)
So it begins. DAY 1.
Sporting life, yonge and eglinton. Bikes all tuned up and ready to go.
Marché
At $5 a 'pop' this is one of Toronto's best breakfasts.
Pickering
30km
Paintball in darlington
There's a paintball place hidden behind an ontario provincial park. That's startling.
Felt a couple of rain drops. But the weather is still amazing for biking. Though the last place I want to be is in the middle of nowhere + pouring rain.
End Day 1 at Bowmanville: 85km
Started at Union, went through Pickering, Ajax, Oshawa, Darlington and Bowmanville. On track for getting there in 3 more days.
The Waterfront lunch at Pickering
There's quite a nice *quaint* area called Frenchman's Bay a small ways into pickering. Good place to stop for lunch, I thought. Apparently not. The mediterranean pasta was so overpowered by the olives. How unfortunate. Good on tap bar though.
