100.3 miles, 4,450 ft ascent, second century this week
Today we rode away from Lake Huron to an area north of Toronto. Our route took us around the edges of the Dufferin Highlands, the highest point in southern Ontario. It is where the rivers start and where the ski hills are located. We headed into drumlin territory. Drumlins are piles of gravel left behind by glaciers. The drumlins created short, but often steep hills for us to climb.
Much of the farming looked like Iowa in the USA where fields of corn alternated with soy beans.
Many of the banners shown below appeared around Lake Huron in non-First Nation areas.
Apricot orchards everywhere!
This is a view of the lower corner of Lake Huron as we rode past.
Riding by Blue Mountain Ski Area and Resort, I captured this photo of some of the accommodations.
Blue Mountain appeared to have a limited number of skill levels in its ski runs. More difficult hills were not apparent. Runs and lifts spread along the hill about a mile in length. Blue Mountain is a popular destination for Toronto residents. I asked a Canadian colleague if the conditions tend to be wet and more icy or dry powder as we have in the American west. He replied that it is a rather mixed bag. The ski hills there have produced several Olympic and world ski champions, among the Steve Podborski, former World Cup and Olympic Downhill racer, so there must be other more difficult parts of the area not seen from our vantage point. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steve_Podborski
A former TDC rider made note of the fact that the area near the Blue Mountain ski area was once surveyed by the engineer, Sir Sanford Fleming, father of the system of "standard time" and time zones. https://www.thoughtco.com/sir-sandford-fleming-1991817
I missed a turn due to an error on the tour map, and I stopped at a Tim Horton's for lunch and to figure out the correct route. There are many more turns yet to come, and the error has caused me to lose some confidence in the directions provided.
Later we stopped at a bakery in a small town, where we filled water bottles and used the washroom. Below you see the snack doughnut of the month, orange creamsicle, and cherry lemonade slushy. During an imperial century ride, I eat anything I like!
A Mennonite family welcomed us along the road today. Unfortunately, I was not able to get their names.
This was a very hot day with afternoon temperature at 91 F, without accounting for the heat radiating off of the asphalt. It was our second century of the week, so we were determined to complete it, and everyone did. The last group finished at 19:00. We are all ready for a rest.
Thankfully, tomorrow we enjoy a much needed "rest day". I put "rest day" in quotes because on a rest day, we rest from riding, but catch up on laundry, bicycle maintenance, shopping for needed items (like my bike pack stolen by masked raiders), and perhaps catch a nap, if we are lucky. Visit again to catch us when we once again head out east on Monday!
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