Trail draws riders from afar

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WATERFRONT TRAIL: 260 riders, 41 communities, 8 days

Posted By KARENA WALTER , STANDARD STAFF

Posted 1 month ago

There's nothing like touring the Ontario waterfront on a bicycle built for two. It does take a little co-ordination, though, even for avid cyclists.

"It's a little bit harder to balance," said Robin Porter of Taupo, New Zealand, who was piloting the tandem bike shared with wife Jacque. "After 740-odd kilometres, we'll be getting good at it."

Although only in its third year, the event attracts riders from places as far away as California and Yellowknife. The Porters were part of a group of five Kiwis taking part after a friend found the tour on the Internet.

"They gave us the challenge and we thought, 'Yeah, we could do it,'" said Jacque Porter, during the group's first rest stop in St. Catharines at Club La Salle Saturday morning.

She said the couple has always wanted to come to Canada, so it seemed like a good time.

"Cycling is a great way to see a country."

Sylvie Gauthier of St-Michel, Que. echoed that sentiment, saying being on a bike is the best way to tour.

"We were looking for vineyards. We saw many this morning, but we didn't stop," she said. "We're just beginning and already I want to come back. It's very nice."

She and husband, Richard Patenaude, learned about the event at a Montreal cycling show, entered a draw and won their spots, though they might have signed up anyway.

Patenaude said the two often take part in cycling tours of 600 to 800 kilometres in Quebec, including events with 2,000 riders.

"It's the people, the new places to see," Patenaude said. "We do a lot of cycling where we live, but it's always the same sites, the same towns."

Marlene Koehler, executive director of the Waterfront Trail, said the tour doesn't do any special advertising to attract its faraway riders.

The main way people find out about the waterfront trail is through signage on the trail itself, but when a major event is organized it gets put on Internet travel sites and cycling blogs.

"They found us," she said. "They found us through one of those bulletin boards."

The main goal of the tour is to promote the waterfront trail. Most people have heard of it, she said, but aren't necessarily convinced it can be used from end to end. Having 260 people riding it together shows it can be done.

Riders will pass through 41 waterfront communities along the shores of Lake Ontario and the St. Lawrence River, stopping along the way for sights and events.

The stop at Club La Salle was the first francophone stop in the event's short history. Cyclists were given bracelets with the trillium and fleur de lis -- the Franco-Ontarian flag -- as a keepsake from the club.

"I could not believe how enthusiastically the idea was embraced by the francophone community," Koehler said, adding they have a lot of riders from Quebec.

"This is a lovely experience for people."

From St. Catharines, the cyclists headed to Charles Daley Park in Lincoln for lunch and then to Grimsby Pumphouse Park for a quick rest stop. They were finishing off the day in Hamilton and heading to Pickering Sunday, with a stop at Ontario Place.

The tour is supported, which means organizers carry cyclists' baggage from stop to stop, help them find hotels or arrange bike rentals.

Jennifer Geens and Guy Quenneville, originally from Ontario but living in Yellowknife, also made the journey.

After doing a 500-km cycle in Yellowknife that was mainly on straight road, they were looking forward to a more scenic tour.

Besides, Geens said before their tour up north, they had to be briefed on bison and bear safety.

"We don't have to worry about that here."

kwalter@stcatharinesstandard.ca

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