Bike Rides 17, 18, and 19, LOL

I'm really behind on my blog because I'm so tired when I get back from my bike rides and walks, lol.  I'm going to try to be better though, and blog when I get back no matter how tired or sleepy I am.

I haven't been feeling well; my allergies have been bad, and it's been triggering my asthma and migraines.  When I can, I go for a walk or bike ride but haven't enjoyed it as much as I normally do because I feel a bit off.  When I'm really sick I can't do anything at all though, so i don't like to let it stop me if I can help it (if I have the choice).

Bike Route 17

 The flowers in the fields are dying; so sad.  All of the sunny yellows are turning gold and brown.  It's pretty too; I like fall colors, but I wish summer would last longer. 

 My bike really stands out in a fall field; it's such a nice, vivid coral color.

 We always get such amazing sunsets at this time of year.  I love riding my bike just before sunset, and coming home just as it gets dark.  I have lots of lights and reflectors, so it's safe. It's been so hot this year; even now, in September, it was quite warm out riding.

 These creek side trails are all over the place, and when it hasn't rained, they're lovely to ride on. Much nicer scenery than on the roads.

 For bike ride 18 I went to the end of Korah Road again...well, not quite the end, but almost. I stopped at  Garson's Pond to see the ducks, then road further down Korah, as far as the abandoned homestead.  I turned around there (almost at the corner of Korah and Goulais Ave.).

 The ducks were very annoyed that I hadn't brought them anything to eat.  I keep forgetting. 
The moon was out, and although it looks tiny in the photo, it was really quite lovely.  The photos make everything seem so far away and small.

I always wanted to have a yard with a duck pond, ever since I was a little girl. These people are so lucky. They have lots of snapping turtles in that pond too, but I didn't see any.

My Townie.

 Once again, my pretty bike.  I'm amassing quite the collection of photos showing my bike in cool places.  I'm so enjoying exploring the area again.  This bike makes me so happy!

Ducks making ripples on the pond.

Bike Route 19

 I started on my normal route but then rode around through Bayview.  In the past, it was had a thriving mini downtown area.  Now all of the stores and businesses are closed.  I remember when I was younger there was a grocery store, a restaurant, a bowling alley, a clothing store, a furniture store, and several others.

Bayview

 This red building  (above) used to be a store.  I don't remember which kind.

 The two buildings above were also businesses.  One is a house now, but the other looks like it has an accountant's office now. It was closed though.

 This graffiteed building was also a business;  a restaurant, I think.  There were many others. It was like a mini downtown area, and it's sad to see it gone.

The only business still running is the one that employs most of the Sault; Essar Steel.  The air quality sucks here, thanks to the Steel Plant, but I guess it keeps the economy afloat. 

Bike Ride 16, Exploring area Creek Sides

I went on a lovely ride last week, and then forgot to blog about it.  I'll do it now.

 I started out on my normal neighborhood route, but when I came out onto Wallace Terrace near Brookfield, I followed alongside the creek instead of taking Wallace Terrace.  It was a rutted, hard packed dirt trail through the grass, very bumpy but lovely, with the creek on one side and trees on the other.

 Then the hard packed earth trail ended and it was just grass, much easier to ride on.

 Huge grey clouds were following me and I thought about turning back, but decided to keep going.  It was warm but not hot; a nice day for riding.

 Toward the bride, a dirt path appeared again, and goldenrod lied the path and the creek bed.

 One section reminded me so much of a scene from the show Little House on the Prairie (above) that I could almost hear the theme song playing in my mind.

 The Bridge was part of Allen Side Road.

The creek side path continued on the other side of the Allen Side Road bridge, but I decided to ride to it's other end via the street, then follow the path back to this point.

 I rested for awhile and then rode down Allen Side Road, to where it turns into Base Line, and followed along side base line until I came to the other end of the creek, seen below.

 The creek was much wider here, and so were the paths on either side.  On the left side of the creek, there was a rutted dirt path, but on the right side, it was all mown grass, so I chose that side to ride on.

 The photo above was taken from the bridge on Base Line.

 The grass was nice and flat except for one area that had a very deep dip going down, and then up again.  I had to get off my bike and walk both down and up, and when I was at the bottom of the dip, I could almost kiss the top of the dip as it was almost parallel with my face. It's hard to see in the photo, below.

 There were several round  cement pools of water to the left of the trail, behind a fence. I googled to see what it is, and it is a Water Pollution Control Plant, where they divert the creek water and test it for pollution, and clean it before putting it back in the creek and sending it to the St. Mary's River.

Water Pollution Control Plant

 The grey clouds were now both in front and behind me and I was sure I'd get rained on, but managed to miss the rain, somehow.

 The creek was lovely but hard to see at this point because of all of the tall grass, taller than me, growing along both sides of the creek.

 I got off my bike toward the end od the trail and took one last photo before I emerged onto Allen Side Road.  I was worried about the clouds so I didn't follow the creek side trail back to Wallace Terrace; I used the roads instead.

When I emerged onto Wallace Terrace, there was a rainbow, but by the time I pulled my camera out of my bag, it had disappeared.

I rode home, tired but happy.  I loved the feeling of being in the country, so close to home.  There are other portions of the creek that I haven't tried yet, that I hope to try soon.

Bike Ride 15, Home to Whitefish Island and Back, 12.56 km

My route

 Yesterday I went on an afternoon jaunt back to Whitefish Island, but this time I rode my bike from home, instead of driving to the mall and parking.  Boy, am I feeling it today.  It wasn't the farthest I've ridden but it was the hardest ride so far because I wasn't feeling 100%, and it was windy out for half of the ride (and hot and humid for the other half). 

Time I left house

 I left the house at 3:30 PM, carrying one huge bottle of gatorade in my bottle holder, and 3 bottles of ice water, some grapes and a granola bar in a cooler bag in my back basket.

 I rode up Douglas St. to the end, and then took my normal route to the end of Henrietta, Wellington, and Conmee, where I crossed Carmen's Way and jumped onto the Hub Trail.  It took me only 10 minutes to get to the part of the hubtrail that passes the Underpass; I couldn't believe it!

Hub trail near underpass

 Then it took me another 10 minutes to get from the underpass to the International Bridge Plaza and the tourist information center.

Tourist Information Center

 From there it was just another 10 minute hop to the Soo Locks!  There was a little hill leading up to the locks and i had to walk my bike because my breathing hasn't been great these past two days.  The sun had come out and it was extremely hot and humid, so I sat under a shady tree and drank my gatorade, waiting to catch my breath.

View of Locks bathrooms from shady tree, lol.

Historic building along Soo Canal

 After I could breathe again, I walked my bike over the narrow canal bride onto Attikamek Island.  Attikamek is Ojibway for Whitefish.

Whitefish Island Map

 I looked at the map and decided to follow every trail, starting with the outer trail on Attikamek and then crossing over to Whitefish Island, then doing the inner trails on Attikamek, then back to St. Mary's Island.

Trail leading under the International Bridge

Beautiful clouds over Soo canal

My bike by ruins of old wall

Path beside International Bridge

 This narrow trail was lovely to ride on; hard packed, with some gravel but not too much, and mostly shaded.

Almost under the International Bridge

 The water looked so cool and inviting. I was so hot I was tempted to go in, but the rapids are just the other side of the retaining wall, and the current was too strong so I sat on a big rock under a shady tree and drank some ice water instead.

Man Fishing the rapids

 A man was fishing from the retaining wall.  Earlier, he had been chest deep in the rapids; he's lucky he wasn't swept away.  People have drowned here.  I used my zoom to get this image, and you can see the American flag in the distance.

St. Mary's River

Bridge to Whitefish Island

 I rode the trail until I came to this bridge, which led to Whitefish Island. I was halfway across the bridge when I took this photo.

View from Gazebo on Whitefish Island

 This first gazebo was full of spider webs so I just went in, took this photo (above) and left again.  It doesn't look steep in the photo, but I had to walk my bike down this ramp because it was too steep to make that turn safely...for me, anyway.  I'm sure others could do it but my balance is still not great.

Little cabins

 These little cabins are cute but people have peed in them and they stink. Why do people have to ruin things?  My friend thinks that homeless people stay here at night.  Maybe he's right, but I think it's more likely that highschool kids party out here at night.

 This part of the trail (above) was extremely nice, and reminded me of camp where the trees meet together overhead forming a tunnel.  The shade was lovely.

St. Mary's River, rapids

 The trail led back to the shoreline of Whitefish Island, with incredible views of the rapids and Sault Michigan across the river.

close up of swirling water

 I really love the way the water swishes and swirls, even in the shallows.  It's so pretty.

 This photo above was taken from the far end of Whitefish Island, from the first gazebo after exiting the tree tunnel.  There are several gazebos along the way, providing shade and incredible views of the river and bridge.  They get progressively closer to the bridge before they turn away back to the center of the Island and the duck pond.

Merganser duck

 I thought this was a loon until I got home and had a chance to look at it on a bigger screen. It's a Merganser duck.  This guy was really cool; he ran on top of the water for quite some distance.

Merganser

 We have ducks like this out at camp too, and I've never known what they were. I always called them submarine ducks because sometimes they swim with all but their heads submerged, lol.

Merganser, cropped photo

 It's a beautiful duck; I love the funky "hair" lol.

Merganser duck silhouette

 It also looks great in silhouette.

A long, winding wooden walkway runs along the shore of Whitefish Island, which is great because sometimes this area is flooded from the flood gates being left open.

Pretty view from wooden walkway

 I love the silvers and blues in the photo above.

My bike

 After the wooden walkway ended, I had to push my bike for a bit because there was so much loose gravel.  The gravel is fine to ride on unless you have to brake; then it's dangerous because it makes the bike skid.

 The sunlight glinted on the water, turning it silver and white. 

My bike in a gazebo

 I stopped at every gazebo, eager for the shade provided by the roofs. It was very hot out.

View from gazebo

View from gazebo

Duck pond

Pretty flower

View from gazebo

View from gazebo closest to bridge

 The view from the gazebo closest to the bridge was amazing. the clouds looked like a watercolor painting.

Fishermen

 The fisherman had found a friend, so I used my zoom lens to take a few more photos of them.

 When I spoke to them later on, one guy said he had caught 5 fish. He didn't say which kind of fish but I believe people usually catch Whitefish here.

View from gazebo

 The river was on both sides of the last gazebo.  I was glad for the wooden walkways.

Fishermen resting

 The fishermen took a break at the same time I did, lol.

Seagull and ducks

 I took photos of this building both with zoom (above) and without (below).  I think it's the power building on the US side.

Left Whitefish Island

 At 7:25, I left Whitefish Island, crossed over the thin canal bridge to St. Mary's Island and the Soo Locks.

Pretty sky

Hub trail

 Along the way, I saw my Mom and Dad in their truck.  My Dad asked if I was OK to ride home and although I was tired, I told him I was fine. He told me my best friend  Laurie was in town, waiting for me to get home. 

 I booted it and made it back to the underpass by quarter to 8.

Underpass

 I made it home by 8, even though I had to get off my bike and push it up the hill through the underpass.  Shortly after taking the photo below, my best friend arrived and held my camera while I put my bike away.  I was so exhausted I could barely take in what she was saying. She was tired too, so we agreed to meet after we had our showers.  She went back next door to her Mom's and I staggered into the house and collapsed.  After I cooled down and let the dog out, I  had a quick bath, and then Laurie came over and we visited with one another for the rest of the evening.

Home

Today I am toast, lol.  My whole body hurts, especially my back and shoulders.  I don't know how people who go on bike tours do it as I couldn't imagine having to ride my bike again today.