'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 12

Episode 12

"The longer I live

the more beautiful life becomes."

- Frank Lloyd Wright

Lang-Hastings Rail Trail

 October 2026

 ⬇

By October, we are back to exploring our little bit of the 

Trans Canada Trail.

As you can see, it's warm for mid-autumn.

The trail is leafy and pungent, 

with that rotting-poplar-leaf smell 

that takes me back to my childhood,

 playing in the woods on the edge of 

Wilket Creek in Don Mills.

 

I love to think about the trains that used to run

along this trail

- the Canadian National Railway, Campbellford Subdivision -

connecting Lindsay 

through Peterborough to Belleville,

for about 100 years.

 (Happy trail-rider...:)

We are mostly on our own on the trail

on this glorious afternoon,

but are passed a couple of times by other bike-riders,

who appear to be taking the business of cycling

far more seriously. 

Blezard Line

 rail trail crossing,

where 100 years ago

the mailbag was regularly dropped 

from the train.

One of our friends whose grandparents lived just up the hill

remembers disembarking from the Belleville train 

as a small child

in this very spot in the 1950's.

↑ Granny's eBike!

...October colour...

...Shadows and tree limbs...

Cameron Line gates...↓

As we ride at a fairly moderate speed, 

(slow and steady),

we take in all of the passing scenery - 

the trees and creeks,

the farmer's fields and out-buildings,

the fence lines,

viewing the world from the backdoor, so to speak.

It's a bit of a secret world, this trail,

off the beaten track.

Hidden.

Remote.

Obscure.

All of which adds to its fascination,

and desire for more...

🚴

More cycling to come!

 

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 11

Episode 11

"Women may be the one group that grows

more radical with age."

- Gloria Steinem

Homeward bound...

Edmundston NB - Peterborough County, ON

We are on the road bright and early,

following the Madawaska River out of Edmundston,

the early morning mist off the river occasionally 

blanketing our view.

At times we are the only ones on the road.

We cross into Quebec -

Dégelis, 

Notre-Dame-du-Lac,

Saint-Louis-du-Ha!Ha!,

and on towards Rivière-du-Loup,

where once again we meet up with the grand Fleuve Saint-Laurent,

the Saint Lawrence River.

There seems to be one long continuous biking trail

following the river, through the Kamouraska region of Québec,

the 'Véloroute des Doux Pays'.

Long before we near Québec City, 

the road gets busier. 

And busier.

It's plain old 

Canadian summer weekend traffic 

from here on in.

Our holiday is (just about)

over.

🚲

We bypass Québec City, and a couple of hours later, Montréal,

and head on,

(like most of the westbound traffic),

to the Ontario border.

We've made good time to this point, so decide,

(rather than booting it on the 401),

to take the quieter secondary roads through rural eastern Ontario,

and opt for County Road 43,

(formerly King's Highway 43),

across Stormont, Dundas and Glengarry, 

Leeds and Grenville,

and 

Lanark counties.

It is real cross country driving 

and we are often on our own.

Beautiful farmland, 

rivers and creeks,

moderate temperatures now but they have had 

a bit of an early summer heatwave 

while we were away.

Alexandria,

Monkland,

Chesterville.

Winchester,

Kemptville,

Merrickville.

Smiths Falls,

Perth,

 and

Otty Lake, 

where Doug's maternal grandparents farmed 

a hundred years ago, 

the stone farmhouse still there.

From there it is Highway 7 home.

As I am writing this because 

'Granny Bought an eBike',

I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that as we near Sharbot Lake, 

we follow close by the 

Central Frontenac Trailway, 

(an abandoned CP railway corridor),

an integral part of the

🚴  Trans Canada Trail.  🚴

And home.

We whip up a quickie veggie forward pasta dish, 

have a couple of glasses of vino,

and this

'quirky old lady'

 who

 'grows more radical with age'

falls asleep around 8:00 p.m.......

It's good to be home.

More cycling to come!

 

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 10

 

Episode 10

"There actually was a time when I couldn't imagine 
growing up to be a quirky old lady,

but here I am killing it."

- Anon

Grand Manan.

Mainland New Brunswick bound...

*

As we have ridden for the last time on this holiday, 

and 

as we are leaving first thing in the morning,

we load our bikes into the back of the truck

and fasten them firmly.

We spend the late afternoon and early evening packing up

the rest of our gear.

Then, we settle in to enjoy the evening, 

having a little 

'Farewell-to-Grand-Manan'

party for two,

with our East Coast playlist,

 a roaring campfire, 

and beer.

Our sunset view at low tide, 

Grand Harbour,

Grand Manan, NB

In the morning,

we are at the ferry terminal in plenty of time,

first in the queue 

for the first ferry of the day,

well equipped

with our travel mugs of coffee.

At the ferry terminal,

North Head, Grand Manan

Black's Harbour bound

The ferry is hugely fun to wander about,

but we like to spend almost all of our time aboard 

on deck,

watching Grand Manan slip into the 

distance.

Farewell

Ships passing...

Wind-blown on the port side

Once we've landed,

(an hour and a half journey),

we gas up the truck 

before heading in the direction of Fredericton.

We are aiming for an 'off-grid' shop in 

Lincoln NB,

 where we'll pick up batteries, (previously ordered), 

for our electrical system 

back home.

It is a bit of a juggle to make space for them,

but they are soon well wedged in 

with the bikes and kayaks.

Our plan for the rest of the day is to follow the meandering 

Saint John River

on secondary roads, stopping when and where we feel like it.

Meandering...

Rivière Saint-Jean

There are 'Cycle Route' signs along the riverside roads,

and indeed, part of the 'Trans Canada Trail' follows the 

Saint John River.

It strikes us that this would be fun to do.

Another time maybe.

(Or another lifetime.)

Mactaquac,

 Nackawic,

 Woodstock,

 Hartland (potato chips and longest covered bridge),

 Grand Falls (amazing waterfall drops 23 metres),

 and the lovely 

Sainte-Anne-de-Madawaska

 with its beautiful 100-year-old church - local granite, 

and nestled into the slopes of the Appalachians...

(yes, those Appalachians).

It is a slow relaxed drive, ending for the night at

Edmundston, NB,

not far from the Quebec border.

*

After checking in to our hotel,

we, (as is our habit), spin down to the local pizzeria.

. 

We are wanting take-out, and I, (the one doing the talking), begin in french

as Edmundston is more than 90% french speaking.

The young man motions for me to stop, 

and fetches someone from the back who speaks english. 

My pride is ever so slightly wounded.

My french isn't that bad.

But at least I take comfort in the fact that 

I have a surname, (Renouf), that doesn't need to be 

spelt out for them.

We spend the half-hour wait in the restaurant part of the pizzeria,

and order two local beers.

 They are full-bodied and delicious. We are also quite taken by the 

lovely waitstaff, 

who ask where we're from and where we've been,

all while explaining the local beers

and serving a quite busy restaurant.

Nous aimons le Nouveau-Brunswick!

*To be continued*

Restez à l'écoute pour l'épisode 11....

'Granny Bought an eBike' - Episode 9

Episode 9

"The afternoon knows 

what the morning never suspected."

- Robert Frost

Grand Manan, 

New Brunswick, continued...

*

It is our last full day here, warm and sunny. 

We head out for a long(-ish) cycle to 

The Anchorage Provincial Park,

parcsnbparks.ca

five klicks or so from our cottage,

on past the working harbour that we cycled to on 

our first day.

We are in t-shirts, shorts and sandals.

It's that warm, 

(wool socks and bulky sweaters not needed),

maybe ten degrees celsius warmer than on Canada Day.

I have packed a towel in my bike basket, 

(just in case), 

as there is a lovely beach.

We know this, 

having been to the other end of the park on our last visit.

We take the first right off Ingall's Head Road,

and then the next right off of that one,

angling our way toward the beach.

These roads are much less busy, (nothing traffic-wise), narrower and a wee bit rougher.

The paving ends, and becomes 

a gravel road.

The gravel ends, and becomes 

a Grand Manan reddish-brown

dirt road.

The GM reddish-brown dirt road ends, and becomes

a track.

The track ends, and becomes 

an uneven and deeply rutted trail.

The trail ends.

We are, in fact, at

Ox Head.

We are near The Anchorage Provincial Park,

in fact we can see a long stretch of beach waaaay, way, away

off in the distance.

It is low tide, 

and to get to the beach would involve a long clamber over 

a difficult rocky shoreline.

 As my footwear is not the best for this,

and I don't have my trusty walking stick, I perch on a large rock 

and leave the exploring to Doug.

Meanwhile, a bit about Ox Head...

One hundred and sixty years ago, Ox Head was a tiny coastal settlement,

engaged in fishing and farming.

It is now part of a migratory bird sanctuary and lies adjacent to 

the provincial park.

It's beautiful and wild.

It's also very quiet, (except for the Bay of Fundy breezes), 

and rugged -

 sky, water, rock, wild roses,

and a lot of shaggy wind-blown grasses.

⬇

Doug makes his way back over the rocks, deciding that 

there must be a better way 

to access the eastern approach 

to the park and beach.

We scramble up the slope, surrounded by wild rose bushes,

and attempt to cross a scrubby bit of field, making our way back to where 

we left our bikes.

Just as we're nearing them,

we hear a bird chittering madly. A flash of bright yellow, she flies close to us,

hovers,

and is gone. 

All of which is too quick to allow me to fumble about for my camera.

One thing for certain:

she clearly doesn't want us there.

We hightail it, leaving her, (and perhaps her young family),

in peace.

We leave the question of 

how to access the beach from Ox Head

for next year.

*

A bit of research when we are back at the cottage...

(which is relatively easy as we had a fleeting, yes, but clear look at her), a

 Northern Yellow Warbler.

Granny on her eBike, Ox Head, 

Grand Manan, NB

Stay tuned for Episode 10....