Guelph, Ontario to Beamsville, Ontario 69.5 miles

Leftovers from my Pole Star Hearth binge fueled me this morning. Adam had helped me with routing and much of what he recommended worked well for me.

But I do think Adam is more of a mountain biker than me.

Or maybe he is just younger.

I enjoyed a lunch of my stores and a nice coffee and treat from Durand Coffee in Hamilton. I actually have a friend in Hamilton but he was out of town for a wedding and we were going to try to meet a little farther down my route before I crossed back into the US.

Albion Falls was gorgeous and running better than a lot of other falls along the Escarpment I was riding along.

Towards the end of the day I still didn’t know where I was going to camp for the night but the low angled sunlight snuck through some gaps in the clouds to put on an amazing light show.

Eventually I decided to head to a park called Kinsman Park and see about stealthily setting up camp. I figured it was right before dark and the place would be deserted. Wrong, there were quite a few folks walking dogs and exercising in the park. So since I lost my cover and it was obvious I was looking to camp in this park where there was no camping, I took a different tact and asked a woman if she thought I would get caught if I camped in the park. She didn’t seem too sure then a guy walking his dog came up and I asked him. He seemed to think I would be okay camping there and loaded up his dog and drove away. I started setting up my tent and then he showed back up. He had changed his mind and thought I might get caught camping there and the penalty might be high. He offered a solution though. I could ride down to his house a few miles away and camp in his front yard. I was a little unhappy to pack up my tent and ride in the dark to his house that happened to be down the escarpment that I would have to climb back up in the morning but it was nice he was willing to help me out.

His name was Jim and he told me about the days when he was a competitive cyclist. He had recently lost his wife and he was still working as a truck driver. He has a motorcycle and likes to tour on it. His last tour he rode all the way out to the West coast! It was great to get to know him. Thank you Jim for your kindness.