Bike Camping, Port Burwell, Lake Erie
Details
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Harvest time in rural Ontario. Quiet country roads. Fields full of tobacco, melons and peppers. Corn stretching to a sky full of puffy white clouds. Farm dogs too lazy to move off the porch. Biking doesn't get better than this.
A KW-backcountry summer isn't complete without bicycle camping. Hurah! Dig out that ultralight tent, fasten those panniers, we are off to Port Burwell on the Lake Erie coast. Give or take that is a distance of 140 km (83 miles) one way. No sweat. What do we do after lunch?
Previous years we've done this in the spring calling it the 'Trillium Triathlon'. Being late summer this time, it is hereby officially renamed the 'Tobacco Road Toot-a-loot'.
Itinerary:
Saturday, Aug. 29, 7:00 am
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Meet for breakfast with loaded up touring bicycles at Williams in Waterloo Shops Plaza, University Ave., Waterloo. Continue on University Ave to Ira Needles Blvd picking up others on the way south out of Kitchener-Waterloo. Continue on back roads to Port Burwell Provincial Park for the night.
Go for a swim. Then Jiffy-Pop popcorn rattling a tin-foil pan over a crackling campfire. A whippoorwill whistling away the night.
Sunday. Return using alternate routing for interest.
Suggested Route:
Check out the g-map at http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=6692324
As is there are a few kilometers of gravel road but this can be changed if any objections.
Difficulty:
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It is what it is. 280 km of cycling over the weekend carrying your camping gear. The route is as flat is you'll get in this part of Ontario. That is pretty flat.
Cost:
Shared campsite, firewood, and Jiffy-Pop Saturday night.
Inspiration:
Photos from previous years
2015 https://www.meetup.com/KW-Backcountry/photos/21718052/
2014 https://www.meetup.com/KW-Backcountry/photos/14738792/
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