Bike Ride 9 to Roberta Bondar Marina and Back, 11 kilometers!

OMG, am I sore, and I mean, sore.  And sunburned.  And tired. But I'm also very happy and proud that I was able to ride my bike for 11 kilometers today (close to 7 miles).  If you like, you can click on the photos to make them bigger.  The one below shows my route.

Bike Route 9

Dad

 My Dad is in the photo above, resting after he put my water bottle holder on my bike. He  also tightened my seat and checked my tires and brakes and suggested I add lube to the chain soon.  Now I can reach my water bottle from my seat!  I carried 3 bottles today, one full of water, and two that were half full of ice, half full of water.  I drank the all water one first, and the others next.  It was a very thirsty ride today, lol. Next time I'm going to freeze an entire bottle of water so it will melt last (or at least that's the plan, lol).

Hub trail on Carmen's Way near underpass

 I rode the same route as I did for bike ride 8, only this time I didn't get stopped by a train and was able to hop onto the hub trail, which runs along side Carmen's Way.

Hub trail

 It was lovely having a bike path instead of having to ride on streets. I felt safe, and very happy, getting to explore an area I'd never tried on my bike yet.

My water

 You can see all of my water bottles above. I drank every last drop and also a huge bottle of gatorade.

 The hub trail ended here, next to Customs, with construction.  I turned around and went back to Carmen's Way rather than try to pass the busy Customs area.  Too many cars were entering and exiting the International Bridge for me to feel safe on the road.

Customs Canada

 At one point I found a deserted country-like road right near the downtown core.  It followed beside the train tracks but didn't really go more than a few blocks so I turned around and went back to Queen St. West.

 I took Canal Drive and was soon back on the bike path, heading alongside the river between the locks and the mall.

Hub trail

Hub trail with mall in distance

 I came to a little white bridge and fell in love with the view, below.  I've been on this bridge many times but never on a bike, and never with a camera.

Lovely view from white bridge

My bike on the white bridge

My bike on the waterfront trail, just before the boardwalk.

Pretty cone flowers and St. Mary's River

 I was very excited and happy and had to stop every few seconds to take photos. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out.

Looking back at the little white bridge

Trail sign

 I don't know what those things are (below) but they make a cool noise when the wind blows.  The flags were at half mast and I don't know why.  That's the Station Mall in the background.

International Bridge

 The sun was shining, the sky was full of fluffy white clouds and the water was sparkling; it was perfect.

Sunshine on water

Cool structure

Man who drowned trying to save his dogs, who also drowned

 I always feel sad when I see these statues of the man who drowned trying to save his dogs.  None of them survived.

Only spot with shade

 I was having a blast, but my face was burning and the sun was relentless.  The photo above shows the ONLY bit of shade on the waterfront.  I parked my bike under the trees and sat on that rock for a break, trying to cool off.

View from my rock

 I had a great view, and the rock was very comfy.  The shade provided wonderful relief from the sun.

Cute carved bears fishing

 I love these carvings depicting a bear family fishing...with fishing rods, lol, so I hopped off my bike for a photo.  As I snapped it, a wonderful aroma drifted over, so I hopped on my bike and followed the scent, lol.

Supper

 I found a cute little food wagon, and purchased these WONDERFUL, tasty fries, and a big bottle of gatorade.  It was after 5 PM and I'd left the house at 3, and I was hungry from all of the biking, plus the fact that I foolishly had only had a bagel and nothing else all day long.

Yummy food wagon

City Hall

Norgoma

 After supper, I biked over to the other side of the marina, near the Norgoma.  My best friend Laurie and I used to play on this ship when we were kids. We used to scare the heck out of ourselves by telling ghost stories while exploring the spooky belowdecks and cabins.  The ship is a museum now (and still pretty spooky, lol).

Norgoma

Marina gas station

 It was a lovely day to be sitting by the the water, and to my delight, a strong breeze blew up.

Blowing in the wind

 The breeze turned into a wind, a heavy wind, and of course I had to bike right into it in order to head home again.

Windy day

 The wind was so strong that I sat back down for awhile to enjoy it and catch my breath.  I had to take my ventolin because the wind and the bike combined made me short of breath and triggered my asthma. It's the first time I've had to take ventolin while bike riding, and I'm pretty sure it was only due to the wind.

International bridge

 I love when the sun goes behind the clouds and lights them up like it did in the photo above.

Toward the rapids

 As I biked back toward the rapids, it felt like the wind was going to make my bike go backward instead of forward. It was frustrating because i was tired but felt wonderful and cool.

Near the rapids, St. Mary's River

Rapids

 I stopped by the rapids and watched the seagulls for a bit.  I don't know if you can see them, but they are sitting on the orange floaty things.  Every so often they'd all lift off, about a foot or two above the orange floaty things, and ride the wind, flapping just enough to sort of glide in place, before dropping down again.  It was cool to watch; they looked like they were having fun.

 On the way home I encountered more construction but this was easy to go around.

Hub trail

 I only had to ride on roads (or sidewalks when it was too busy) for a few blocks before I was back on the hub trail, and safe.

Hub trail

 I had to stop often because of the wind, and because I was tired and sunburned and aching all over at this point.

Underpas

 I took the underpass home, but couldn't bike up the hill. It's hard to see in the photo but there is elevation, and it was too much for me at this point in my ride. I had to get off and walk up to the lights.

Underpass

 The above photo is where i had to get off my bike and walk, but I was facing backward here, showing the underpass I'd cycled through.

Old fire hall

I stopped to snap one last photo of this old fire hall, and then slowly rode home, wobbly and sore but smiling because I did it!

I got home at 7 PM.  I left the house at 3 so I'd been gone for 4 hours.  I put my bike away, staggered inside, splashed ice cold water on my beet red, burning face, grabbed an icepack for my neck and a bottle of water and sat in my recliner, in front of the fan.  It's good to be home.