Cross-Country Weeks Eight and Nine

Reader Contribution by Rick Stiles
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Our route on this trip has bypassed, for the most part, major cities: but not in Canada. Our ride now took us through Hamilton, Ont., (population 520,000), Mississauga, Ont., (population  714,000), and Toronto (population 2.615 million). Toronto, as well as other cities, has a wonderful system of bike routes, but having now ridden on them I actually felt safer riding on the streets with the automobiles. On the bike routes you have bicycles, walkers, joggers, roller bladers, and others. People are going many different speeds, passing around, cutting through, and pulling in and out without signaling or checking for the location of others.

Once past Toronto we rode along the northern side of the St. Lawrence seaway through many beautiful towns filled with very friendly people. Many of the buildings and houses are painted with their own unique colors and decorations. It would have been very easy to spend a day walking around and looking at everything, but alas, our time was limited, and we always needed to keep moving.

In some areas along our route the road was interrupted by water inlets; rather than building an expensive bridge with room to let boats pass underneath, Canada has chosen provide ferry services. These ferries are considered ‘part of the road system’ and are free of charge.

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