Left early this morningto bike the couple of miles to our favorite Canadian coffee stop. By 7:30 we were sufficiently sugared and coffeed and pushed off into the warm 68° humid morning. For our few miles in the countryside, we enjoyed the wind blowing at our back. Then our course took a turn and we rode along the Lake Erie in the Low Banks area, finally able to see the water and shoreline. The area was filled with an assortment of homes,large to small, cottages to castles, nestled side by side all enjoying the view. Some houses were so large we couldn’t get the entire house in the picture. There were still areas the farmland had not been overtaken by homes or vacation cottages.

We had a couple of rolling hills, but out in the open we had the wind at our back, so was not brutal like yesterday. We rode through small towns, parks, ports and a few miles of private trails. Didn’t expect to see a high rise skyline as we rounded a corner and got our first glimpse of the United States. It was also neat to see Fort Erie and the U.S. flag as it was when we captured the fort in 1814.  Everyone was enjoying the day along Lake Erie where it flows into the Niagara River. Duckies stopped for lunch overlooking Buffalo, NY while we took a break.  We followed the road along the river with the United States off our right shoulder, enjoying beautiful tree lined streets and ridiculously large homes.

Our course offered the unique opportunity to bike right on the riverbefore it fell into the infamous falls, which at times gave pause as to if we were allowed on this part.You could hear the rush of the water and see the plume of water spray that came up for the drop, but noting really prepares you for the sight of the falls, even if you’ve seen them before…..just spectacular.Though we could see the States and the bridge over was close by, it was too late to try to navigate the border.  And the day had gotten warm; summer had finally arrived, so at 64 miles, we called it a day.