Prince Edward Island - June 2012

Following our Kentucky cycling trip, we spent a few days in Ohio with kids/grandkids before heading to Washington DC. We spent a couple of days sightseeing in DC and then drove to Portland, ME, where we picked up another couple who were spending the week on Prince Edward Island with us. Our first stop along the way was at Saint John, New Brunswick, CAN.

The purpose of this visit was to see the Reversing Falls. When the tide goes out the St John River empties and falls about 15 feet. When the tide comes in from the Bay of Fundy the river is stopped, the tide pushes it back up the river and it rises the same 15 feet. We timed our visit so that we could photograph the rising tide about noon and the falling tide about 8:00 pm that evening.

On the road again we headed for Prince Edward Island taking us across the Confederation Bridge This is the longest bridge in the world over icy waters, 8 miles long connecting New Brunswick to Prince Edward Island. Before crossing, we stopped at the visitor’s center and took a few pictures from the observation tower of the bridge and the bay next to it.

After crossing the bridge we headed toward the city of Summerside where we stopped at a cafe called Sharkey’s for lunch; our first time for “Fish & Chips”. Our home that night was the Northport Pier Inn in Alberton where every room is an ocean front room. We drove to the light house at the North end of the Island. This drive let us see the start of the Confederation Trail in the town of Tignish. It is a hard packed gravel trail that runs 260 miles to the opposite end of the Island. Leaving there the next morning we drove to the Bike Shop in Charlottetown to pick up rental bikes for those needing them. From there we drove to our “rent house” which was about midway up the Island on the East shore. This was a 7 bedroom, 7 bath, home - plenty of room for the 10 in our group.

From the House we planned our sight seeing trips and bike rides on the Trail.

As for biking, we did 5 rides. The first was a short 10-mile loop out of the house to the Confederation Trail, up the trail and back to the house. This was a ride for people to familiarize themselves with their rental bikes and investigate the condition of the Trail. The Trail was no problem, flat and very smooth for an unpaved trail.

Next day we rode from the house to the Confederation Trail, up the trail past the town of Mount Stewart and back. Another day we drove to the east end of the island, Elmira, and cycled a loop to the East Point Lighthouse. That particular day, it started raining about the time we reached the lighthouse so we cycled back about 6 miles in the rain.

Back on the Confederation Trail the next day, we rode into Charlottetown for lunch and returned. Charlottetown is the Capital of PEI and the largest town on the island. Our final ride of the week took us back to Charlottetown, passing the University of Prince Edward Island, to the end of the Confederation Trail.

Other than biking we did a lot of sightseeing since none of us had ever been there before. We played on the beach although the water was too cold to get in. We saw several light houses and even climbed 3 flights of 18-step stairs and a ladder to get to the top. We ate lobster and seafood at a church social, did fine dining at the Dundee Arms Restaurant and ate at a Nursery that also had 60 flavors of ice cream. A very good time was had by all.

Along with Lynne and I on this trip was Don & Sondra Heaton, Harold and Pat Landers, Sam and Margaret Arafat, with their daughter Danyah and her son Brooks.

For more photos of our Prince Edward Island trip, click the PEI link on the right side of the page under Links to Cycling Pics.

"Kentucky River Run" - 2012 Tour de Kentucky - June 2012

June 6th we arrived in Lexington, Kentucky for our 3rd edition of the Tour de Kentucky Bicycle Ride. Our hosts for this years tour were Jack and Pat Deacon. We met at their house Wednesday night for a “meet & greet” affair with all the riders present. This meeting gave us an opportunity to prepare all the paperwork necessary as well as enjoy a glass of wine and a delicious meal. Thursday morning we had a short 35 mile warm-up ride touring some of the Horse Country around Lexington. We met at Berries on Bryan Station Road, an organic farm owned by two of our fellow riders. The route had beautiful countrysides, lots of horse farms & mares with foals born earlier in the spring. We had lunch at a local cafe, Windy Corner after the ride.

The Tour began on Friday. Our route took us to Georgetown with one group leaving from Lexington and another group leaving from Versailles. This route provided us with more horse farms, lots of mares & their foals, hayfields being cut and baled, and just more beautiful country. Lunch was in Georgetown. After lunch we rode on to the Country Inn & Suites, our home for the night. Each night before dinner we had a group meeting to discuss times to load luggage in the 3 sag wagons that support us and start time for the next day’s ride.

Day 2 we travelled from Georgetown to Carrollton and the General Butler State Park Lodge where we spent the night. This day gave us our first look at the Kentucky River. We had lunch at a very interesting cafe in Gratz, Kentucky. While there we met the local State Representative who was telling the locals about improvements to be made there to attract tourism. After entering the State Park we met one very tough steep hill (about 15-18% grade) to get up to the Lodge. Some of our riders had to walk this hill. Dinner and breakfast were at the restaurant in in the Lodge, a pretty good buffet with a large variety of food.

Day 3, from Carrollton to Shelbyville, started with a ride across the bridge of the Kentucky River. This was a very scenic route along the river and then out in the country. After riding through the country on relatively flat to rolling roads we saw in front of us a wall. The route went up this hill, roughly 600 yards, with grades from 5-10% then near the top it went to 22%. Only two of our group made it to the top. The rest of US walked it.

We were concerned about lunch since it was Sunday but a Marathon Station/Deli was open and saved the day. After lunch we rode into Shelbyville to the Holiday Inn Express. Dinner that night was at Claudia Sanders Restaurant, an icon in this town. Claudia is Colonel Sanders’ ex-wife. On day 4 the rain came. After a council meeting at breakfast we decided to take several people into Lexington to pick up vans capable of hauling all the people back to there cars or homes. Only two people chose to ride in the rain back to Lexington. That night, many of us met for dinner at Fazoli’s and reminisced the 2012 edition of the Tour.

For more photos of our trip, just click on the link "2012 Tour de Kentucky" on the right side of the page under Links to Cycling Pics.