On a warm welcome in Meaford

At breakfast, I consulted with my hosts as to the suitability of some of the nearby roads for cycling as while the way I had come was nice, I was suspicious that there was an easier way to go South from Dyers Bay than going all the way back to the 6 directly. My suspicions were correct and I made an excellent start to the day despite having to climb up the Niagara Escarpment.

It was only mid morning and many kilometers later that I realized that I had neglected to record and reset my bike computer. After some thought, I decided to wait until Wiarton before recording and resetting the bike computer as it was a point from which distances were measured.

After lunch, I noticed a pedal related ticking noise that I associate with a pedal that was insufficiently tight. I spotted at a sporting goods store in Hepworth. I stopped to see if I might borrow a pedal wrench for a minute. Alas, they didn't have bike tools. However, they did have Campsuds for washing pretty much anything, so the stop was hardly a waste.

While Owen Sound did provide me with use of a pedal wrench, it was a blow to the senses being much larger than I had anticipated. Larger, louder and brasher. Also, it meant I had to go down to lake level and reclimb the Niagara Escarpment late in the day. However, I had a useful wind during the climb and eventual screaming  descent into Meaford at over seventy kilometers per hour. (Actually, that was a peak speed achieved whilst pedaling madly whilst crouched over.)

I found my cousin Elin's second home in Meaford. (I use the term second home as it is a substantial brick building dating from the 19th century or there abouts if I remember correctly. To call it cottage, is to understate it. Admittedly, she and her husband Rob use it as a cottage, but that is a detail.) Actually, Elin spotted me before I had definitively identified the house: I was rolling along looking for house numbers when she came out from a neighbors house, saw me and called out.

After a warm welcome, she, Rob and her son Alexander showed me the house. Elin and Rob are fairly avid cyclists and were a source of useful local knowledge as to the relative merits of the routes to Guelph. I had realized earlier in the day that I needed a macro scale map to plan my path as Southern Ontario has a plethora of roads. Rob was surprised that Leonardo was geared high to do 70. I did point out that that was a downhill, bent over and pedaling like mad speed.