This tour, contributed by Fran Bauer, mother of the legendary Canadian cyclist
Steve Bauer, is on of the prettiest in the Niagara area - but you have to work
as there are many hills. We suggest you start this 33-kilometre ( 20 mile ) ride
at Rockway Community Centre on Pelham Road ( Regional Road 69 ) west of St. Catharines
and follow Map 23 in a counter-clockwise direction.
Go west along Pelham Road for a short distance and then turn left onto Wessel
Drove. The route is easy to follow. At about the 8 kilometre ( 5 mile ) mark,
just past the right turn onto Metler Road, a sign will announce the Comfort Maple.
This very short detour is well worth the time, as the Comfort Maple, at about
500 years, is the oldest sugar Maple tree in Canada. And quite a sight it is too,
with its gnarled trunk and branches supported by guy wires reaching as high as
a ten-storey building (34 metres or 112 feet.) Old Glory, as it is called by the
Comfort family who farm the surrounding land, towers majestically over neighbouring
orchards.
Another jewel along this tour is Edward's, a large gracious century home at
about kilometre 15 ( mile 9.3 ) on the right side at 398 Canboro Road. This red
brick house with ornate trim and its accompanying old barn is a reminder of prosperous
country living in bygone days.
A good place to stop for a rest is at about the two-thirds mark at the intersection
of Haist Street and Highway 20. The Loft Restaurant and Ice Cream Parlour is on
the north side of Highway 20 just a little west of the corner. This is a favourite
place for the Freewheelers to stop and partake of sustenance before tackling the
winding, rolling lanes of Short Hills that lead back to the Rockway Community
Centre.
|
