32 km bike ride along the Hub Trail

Yesterday I did an almost 32 km bike ride, and it was difficult because half of it was extremely hilly, but I made it.

The hub trail, SSM

I lost the trail for a bit but found it again.  Most of this ride is on bike paths, but some spots are on road, on either bike paths on the road or wide paved shoulders.  Only a few blocks on the actual trail were on roads without paved shoulders, but those portions were in quiet neighbourhoods.  I have to ride through neighbourhood streets to get to the trail, and to get off the trail too.

Hill at entrance to trail

 The above photo was taken from the top of the first hill.  It's kind of hard to see the street way down at the bottom of the hill, with the tiny cars, but that is where I came from, and it was quite a steep hill. I made it to the top but it made my entire body shaky for over an hour after. I have no idea what caused that shaky feeling.

Fort Creek

 This is the main creek that this conservation area is named after: Fort Creek.  There are also loads of smaller creeks that feed into this one.

This is the first of many bridges I had to cross, some quite high.

 There are several bridges throughout this portion of the trail; some quite high up, with pretty views.

 I had to walk up this hill.  This photo was taken at the top, to show the pretty wildflowers and rock wall.  The rock wall was a great place to sit and rest.  It was super hot and humid out.

From the bridge

View from bridge

 The bridge views were very pretty.  It's hard to tell, but that is actually a wide and really tall trees, below.

 The sides of this bridge were about one inch taller than me, so about 5'5" tall.

 These trail signs are everywhere on the dedicated trail, but nowhere to be found on the streets, where they are really needed to mark the trail.  Notice the bear warning sign.  I was worried bears would smell my pepperoni and cheese supper, lol.  I had it wrapped securely in a thick cooler bag.

 Prouse Motors built this nice shelter/rest area for bike riders/walkers, just before Highway 17 West.  I stopped and enjoyed the shade.

 I made a pit stop for G2 and also bought some pork rinds, but didn't eat them.

 I took this photo of my bike near the new hospital as I couldn't believe I made it there, lol.

 The photo above shows the bike shop where I bought my bike.  They have a picnic/camping area for people to use.  I stopped to get a trail map, and met a couple who are cycling from the Sault to Southern Ontario!  OMG; what an amazing trip that would be, but scary.  The TransCanada highway would suck for bike riding.

 This is the intersection for Highway 17 East., leaving town.  I may do this section one day soon if I decide to do another bike camping trip after my first test trip to Pointe Des Chenes.  It will be a longer trip, 3 or 4 nights instead of 1, if I work up the courage to ride on the highway.

 A nice shady section of the trail.

 Topsail Island at Belleview Park.

 Sunset at Belleview Park.

 Darkness falls on the boardwalk, near the mall.  The trail is nicely lit up, and I have bike lights and reflectors so I was quite safe.

 This is the intersection near the underpass.

This last pic shows how dark it was when I got home. That's my house, with the bright light shining.

It was a great ride and I had lots of fun, despite the rough start with all of the hills.  I'm very surprised I was able to make it up so many of them.