So it begins...

Today is day one of the third annual Great Waterfront Trail Adventure. The firing of a canon at the historic Fort George in Niagara on the Lake signaled the start of our trip.

It was a pretty easy day of riding. The weather was great, the wind was at our backs for a good part of the trip. We followed the trail north, past by Lasalle, Lincoln and Grimsby. This is the fruit basket of Ontario. We rode by neatly kept peach orchards, fruit stands emanating sweet scent of ripen berries, and of course, rows and rows of grape vines. For most of the trail we rode today, the lake is close, but not visible. The occasional turtle crossing the road reminds us that the Lake close by.

A few sunburns and 80k later, we arrived at Confederation Park in Hamilton - our camp ground for the night. Hamilton Beach mixed use trail pass by the entrance of this park, which is now decorated with patches of colorful tents. This is a beautiful part of town, and a great place to end day 1.

Okay, now... enough with the scenery talk... let's turn to the human aspects of the trip. Approximately 90% of the demographics of this event is constituted by Caucasians, and majority of them are middle aged. I felt very "ethnic" being one of three Asians among the crowd of middle aged white Caucasians. I think this is the most consciously "different" I felt since I came to Canada 9 years ago. Indeed, I have been transplanted to a new environment with arguably a very different culture. But a bigger reason behind this cultural shock is perhaps because due to my perception of my growing "Canadianess". I have learnt a lot from everyone I've met so far in this country. Let's see how long it will take for me to break the ice with some of these people.

We did get acquainted with one of the riders, Belinda, who came to the ride on her own. She just finished school and is cycling around Canada before starting her job in the fall. After this trip, she will embark on a trip to PEI on her own! I am thoroughly impressed. Setting aside the practical challenges with riding long distances solo, the most challenging part for me is perhaps the mental challenge of not being able to share the experience with someone close. Doing this trip with Phil is my favourite part of the trip.