Sunday, July 7, 2019

We often ride west, the prevailing winds come from the west and it is nice to get the tail wind coming home along the park-way.

Today I checked the wind direction and it was a north-easterly, something I always hated as a child in England.

“The north east wind doeth blow and we will have snow and what will the Robin do then poor thing, he will keep himself warm and hide his head under his wing poor thing”

Strange the things you remember. However, I also knew that if we cycled into the wind we would have a tail wind coming home. This ride was going to be easterly towards Prescott.

What a great ride we had today. Although Highway 2 out of Brockville is a bit of hit and miss with the shoulder, the route is full of history and well worth cycling along. The first Town you come into is Maitland which has an historic windmill which is being rebuilt as a tourist attraction.

Then you follow the St. Lawrence River along into Prescott. As we were leaving Brockville we spotted the Canadian Steamship Line – Laker. I am always amazed how these large vessel seem to creep up on you they can be so quiet.

In Prescott the Waterfront Trail takes you along the water where a nice paved path shows you different parts of their history from the rum running across the river during prohibition and the various skirmishes between Upper Canada and America (the Canadians and Americans) during the late 1800\’s.

If you have time you could watch a Shakespearean Play. The Prescott Shakespeare Festival is held in the summer from early July to the end of August. Usually performing two shows for the season.

We cycled through Prescott along the Waterfront Trail. Stopping at the Shakespeare Festival Theatre, this year they are performing the “Winters Tale” and Cyrano. We will have to take in one of their shows.

We were into a head wind, although Ralf didn’t feel it as much as I did. He is definitely much fitter than I am.

As we were leaving Prescott Ralf suggested we head out to the “Battle of the Windmills” this is where the Americans decided that they should “help” their poor beleaguered Canadian brothers and sisters become more democratic.

Of course as most of you know, Ralf loves towers and we had to climb the stairs to the top. As we looked out of the tower there was the Canadian Steamship Laker coming alongside the windmill. We had cycled faster than the Laker.

We enjoyed the scenery from the top of the tower and then headed north out of Prescott. We made our way back to Brockville along the quiet, but boring MacIntosh Road. Although my fellow cyclists on the BCAC recommend this route to touring cyclists. As a touring cyclist Highway 2 is much more interesting. The Blue Church, The tower and the Prescott with its rich history of the Fort and the battle of the windmills.

There was one \’farm\’ that had some interesting vehicles, including this old bus.

On our return we stopped at the antique place on Highway 2. It has a “Penny Farthing” outside which was built as a garden ornament, with planters. Unfortunately it is too big for our garden area.

We arrived home and had a lovely supper, then continued our lovely Sunday by taking in the Concert in the Park. A mix of Big Band music, Beatles, 70’s and other toe-tapping music.

A lovely end to a great summers day.