Day 76: Port Stanley, ON to Port Dover, ON

Aug 20 blog

69 miles

3,215 miles so far

We got an early start today, since we had a longer ride planned to Port Dover. We stopped at The Harbor Merchant Coffee Company in Port Stanley, the only place that opened at 7am. Sharon was excited to have “real” yogurt and granola for breakfast instead of the normal diner fare.

The 11% grade hill just as we turned right out of Port Stanley was a wake up call and got us warmed up quickly. Most of our ride today was very pleasant with nice roads and actual bike lanes in several sections.

The only mishap for the day was when my chain slipped off and jammed hard between the pedal crankshaft and the bottom bracket. With the pliers from my Leatherman tool, I was finally able to disengage the chain and get it back in the chainring. It had been awhile since my hands were covered in black grease.

One highlight of our day was our stop at a produce stand where we assembled a nice “picnic lunch” of smoked trout, corn on the cob, grapes, tomatoe and rice cakes. We sat at a picnic table outside and had a nice conversation with a local family, including the grandparents, who were celebrating their annual camping trip to Long Point on Lake Erie.

Another highlight was an unexpected winery stop at Front Road Cellars which was right on our route. We had seen signs for a few other wineries which would have required several additional miles off route on an already long mileage day. We shared a plate of salty potato chips and dip and shared a glass of their dry watermelon cider.

From there it wasn’t much further to Port Dover where Sharon had found a nice tiny house Airbnb close to the beach.

Beautiful morning ride