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I have just returned (25 Jul) from a cycling trip to Canada. Booked the trip in the F and J sale earlier this year F out and J back, however upgraded to F using a proactive offer on the inbound too.

Both flights were in old first, my first old first too. I quite liked the cabin with the exception of the IFE. Service and food was top notch so no complaints.

By far the best part of was the cycling from Toronto to Niagara falls, then Buffalo.

Day 1 (20/07/2013)

Cycled from Chalk Farm to Heathrow T5. I arrived around 12:45, a little earlier than I thought, but I had the wind behind me so meant I did the 20 mile ride in just over 1.5 hours.

Checked my bike in and front carrier at the First check in desk, was directed to the oversized baggage area to drop off the bike. For those of you who don't know I have a green Brompton Folder, I don't bo bother with a bag, I just tie it up with a piece of string to secure it.

I had booked a Cabana so I could shower and change in the CCR when I arrived. After a shower and change I went out for some food. I had to hunt down an attendant to take my order but once I had here attention the service was fast and efficient and the food was good:

Chicken Supreme:



Desert (can't remember what it was, but it was nice):



The wine list for anyone who is interested:



Boarding was from the B gates, aircraft was a mid-J 747 with old First (G-CIVA):



The First cabin was full, I was in seat 1K. No champagne for me before take off as I needed to limit alcohol for the post flight ride. Opted for a sparkling water instead. I placed my food order shortly after take off but opted to have it a couple of hours later. The cabin crew came to lay they table almost to the minute I requested, very impressive.

Beer and Warm Nuts (it just sounds wrong, but they were nice):



Somewhere over Ireland:



Salad starter:



(I did ask for no dressing but people rarely believe me when I ask for a salad with no dressing a squirt a bit on anyway, I figured I needed the oil energy so didn't complain)

Burger with "four" chips:



(it was a great burger, but 5 chips would have been nice)

Desert: cannot remember what it was but it was nice



Afternoon tea:



We arrived at Toronto approximately 60 mins late but sailed through immigration and was changed and ready to ride my bike by 20:00 EDT. It took me a good hour to get out of the airport as all the roads led to express ways or highways. In the end I managed to find airport road and was on route to downtown Toronto via Dundas Street.

It was a difficult ride as I didn't get any sleep on the plane (on purpose) and it was now 2AM back in London. When I arrived at the hotel, I had a quick beer in the bar and collapsed in bed for the night.

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Day 2 (21/07/2013)

I was up quite early, still in UK time. I had also secured a late check out with the Hilton which meant I could do some sightseeing in Toronto before embarking on the first big ride of the trip, 45 miles to Stoney Creek in Hamilton.

I was in Toronto so obviously had to go to the top of the CN Tower.





Spot the Hilton


Before you ask, this isn't YYZ


Shadow of the tower:


Glass floor, not recommended for those with a fear of heights:


A nice view of the tower:


The hotel room (Hilton Toronto) was nice with a view of the CN Tower. A couple of let downs, were the blocked toilet, no water in the room (despite them saying I had two with my silver status) and a large clump of black hair stuck on the shower wall. After complaining they did give me my two bottles of water, clean the bathroom and fix the toilet.



So checked out and bill settled I was on my way to Hamilton. I decided to take the lake side route (waterfront trail) and the lakeshore boulevard / road where possible. There were some excellent views of the city of Toronto and some amazing beaches and recreational areas along the lake. There were plenty of people out cooking BBQs and kids on the beaches and swimming in the lake. I must admit I was slightly envious of those who lived there.



I stopped off at Oakville for lunch in an Italian and then continued along lake Ontario. I had to keep stopping to take in the lakescapes as it was very nice and super calm and quiet.



I was starting to flag a bit when I arrived at the Holiday Inn in Stoney Creek around 6:30PM. Could have done with a beer but the only sign of life nearby was a Walmart and a Buffalo Wings bar. There was no restaurant in the hotel and although breakfast was included it was very much a do-it-yourself affair.

I didn't care though, I was happy to have a shower and go to bed and was excited about the next days ride to Niagara Falls.

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Day 3 (22/07/2013)

This was the day of the second big ride and decided to take a route along the lake shore road again and meet with the Niagara River at Niagara on the Lake. I would then cycle down the river trail to the falls, planning to arrive between 5 and 6pm again. The total ride ended up being 57 miles and was very tired when I arrived, especially as there were a few hills around the Queenston area.

Didn't hang around for long in Stoney Creek



So I thought I was nearly there, I wasn't:



Greenlane, this road went on forever, I never quite got over how long the roads are in Canada:



Now if you squint, you can just about make out Toronto:



One of my many stopping breaks, in the background is the Niagara river and the USA on the opposite side:



Looking back towards lake Ontario, stunning:



I put a lot of effort in to riding up the hill, so the least you can do is look at the sign



Apparently this floral clock is more popular than the falls, judging by the number of tour buses that stopped to take photos:



I arrived at the falls around 18:30 and there were a lot of people. So many in fact that I decided not to take any photos until the following day and would wake up early before the masses emerged.

I was staying at the DoubleTree Fallsview resort and got given a room with a whirlpool. I decided to go to the Hotel restaurant, Buchanans and had a nice chicken pasta in a vodka sauce.

I sampled a few of the Canadian beers and then went back to my room to try out the whirlpool (they gave me a room with a whirlpool - awesome).

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Day 4 (23/07/2013)

I was up early, about 7am to see the falls or 'Chutes de Niagara' which looks so much better in French. Maybe of interest to BotB, the horseshoe falls were creating as dirty black cloud from the mist as can be seen below. A couple of hours later the cloud had disappeared and the mist was no longer a cloud making mist.



It was quite amazing to be there and get a sense of the power and volume of all that water.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/visualad/9374530348/

Ok, I took this one the day before:



View from the hotel:



Hotel room:



My final ride of the trip was to the US city of Buffalo. My original plan was to cross the Rainbow bridge and cycle across Grand Island. However, the pedestrian paths on the bridges to the island were closed which would have meant a rather long detour. Instead I cycled the Niagara river trail to and crossed at the peace bridge.

View of the Falls from behind:



Buffalo



Crossing the border (apparently more people wanted to get in to the US than out)



(fingerprints and photos taken, along with a $6 fee, I was in to the USA and ready to visit a steak house)

This was in the Buffalo Chophouse; the steak was devine, but I couldn't finish the sides:



I stayed at the DoubleTree near the general hospital and received a free cookie on arrival and two bottles of water, which were actually in the room. Again, I sampled some of the local beer in the bar and had a chat with a few of the locals. I noted that the war of 1812 was less a topic of conversation on this side of the boarder, cannot imagine why. But as an example of how good my history tuition was, I didn't even know there was a way of 1812.

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Day 5 (24/07/2013)

This was the last day and I was booked on BA98 from YYZ. Instead of riding back I decided to cheat and rent a car and drive to the airport. Before picking up the car I planned to cycle around the city. Unfortunately I had a flat and spent some time fixing that.

By the time I was on my way I was tired and must admit that I didn't really do too much exploration of Buffalo. I decided to sit and admire the architecture of the city hall instead.



I picked up the car around 2pm and after a long drive with a fair bit of traffic, arrived at the airport around 17:00.

First check in was fast and efficient, again I was directed to oversized baggage with my bike. My F boarding pass got me through the priority lane security and I was airside within a couple of minutes and looking in the duty free shops.

I was very impressed with the BA lounge in Toronto, the manager who was walking around and taking the time to speak with customers in both the first and club sections of the lounge added a personal touch and the pre-flight dining was in my opinion better than the food I had in the Concorde Room before my outbound flight. It was also clear that the staff were enjoying their job and making sure they went over and above for the customers; if only they were all like this.

First Preflight dining area:



Soup for Starters



Steak again for main



Desert (cannot remember what it was)



City of Mississauga



BA99 Arrival (it was late again) - this time we had G-BNLI



Boarding with the masses



The flight was about 30 mins delayed, I opted for champagne on boarding this time, but didn't need to eat on board thanks to the lounge food so just opted for a hot chocolate with cookies.

Again, the F cabin was full, a couple of passengers were complaining about it being old first and one of the cabin crew was claiming the old cabins were quite rare. In row 4 there was a family with two small children, they took about an hour to settle but I did mange to get a decent amount of sleep.

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Day 6 (25/07/2013)

We arrived at 09:30 in London, I chose the pancakes as a light breakfast as I wanted to give the Concorde dining area in arrivals a try.

Immigration was painless and the bike and carrier were on the luggage belt by the time we arrived along with all the other First baggage, the second time I have seen priority bags come out first. The first was on my arrival on BA99

I headed over to the arrivals lounge and dropped the luggage off in the left luggage area. The attendant asked me to carry my bike through as it was too heavy. I have just got used to it and didn't think.

Was a little disappointed with the Concorde Dining area. It took a long time for someone to take my order despite being the only one there. I ordered the full English without mushrooms and beans. It came with both mushrooms and beans so I sent it back. It came back without the mushrooms and beans but was also missing the bacon and hash brown. I ate me egg, sausage and grilled tomato and left thinking that I should have gone for a more substantial breakfast on board.



Final task was to have a shower, but then I saw a sign for baths too and opted for the bath. The bath was massive an took about 30mins to fill but was rather nice. Apparently they are available to both First and Club passengers.

For some reason they my boarding card hostage while I took the bath and didn't return it until I left. Clearly they thought I was a shady looking character.

Infinity Bath



I cheated again on the way back and too the HEX to Paddington and rode form there back to Chalk Farm. I am glad I decided to take this option as I was a little jet lagged by this time and wouldn't have coped with a 2 hour ride back.

In summary I had an excellent trip and the cycle to Niagara Falls made me appreciate it all the more. Travelling in First was a great experience with attentive service and good food. I quite liked the authentic feel of the old cabins too.

mkjr

you certainly had great weather. The week before and it was 34 plus humidity. I did not mind old J but I must say, new J is just a slight step up IMO.. Nice start.

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The whether was great; warm but not uncomfortably warm. I have now have a brown arm and necks.

billinghamn

Great trip report. Interesting timing since the wife and I were talking about doing a cycle trip in America only last night. I thought that it wouldn't be set up that well for cyclists since Americans don't really do that much cycling - they love their cars too much, or at least that's the impression I get.

With all the cycling, at least you had plenty of space for all those puddings you couldn't remember the names of!

TravellerFrequently

Thanks for the TR and photos.

I was interested to read that there is a priority security lane, which I think must have opened in the last 12 months or so. Good news, although there is never normally a long queue at the times I have arrived there.

nesbitt

Wonderful TR, made me homesick for Toronto

Stony Creek isn't all that - but there IS an absolutely delicious ice cream shop. At least there was one 275 years ago when I was doing my undergrad in Hamilton.

Well done for all that cycling, and with jetlag too!

Sixth Freedom

What a fantastic experience that must have been. You must have enjoyed a tremendous amount of satisfaction by seeing Niagra Falls after working hard to get there, rather than just driving or taking a tour bus.

Thanks for the TR! ^

stevieed

Bravo! Lovely photos, lovely words and such an interesting trip!

I remember you talking about this trip when we caught up at C&B, really glad you did a TR!

layz

Looks a fun trip, I always thought of Bromptons as city bikes not something to use for a long ride but perhaps I'm wrong on that.

I hate it when baked beans are standard on a breakfast, their sauce just tastes so cheap and ruins the taste of everything they touch. I love raw mushrooms but think they taste disgusting once cooked, but they can be left aside and don't contaminate the food they touch.

The buffet in the arrivals lounge is fine, so after that disappointing attempt at service I would have just gone to the main area for the buffet.

The baths are lovely though.

This is not a trip I'd recommend to those without status travelling in WTP or lower because you'd definitely want to shower at the airport. But what a great way to travel when booked in F, you know after a few days of cycling you can relax on the most comfortable seat on the plane.

BotB

Great trip report ^^ , I grew up in Southern Ontario with most of my mothers side of the family there so this did indeed make me homesick, luckily I was in the big T.O. late last year for the first time in 12 years so the colour of green I am currently is not as dark as it could have been

Glad you had a good time and enjoyed the trip, Southern Ontario is a great place to live and if you get a chance to go back, the 1000 Islands are a great place to travel around in Summer. (seeing as you liked the water and cycling roads). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thousand_Islands and the associated waterfront trail cycle trail.

So, on to the Niagara falls clouds you mention! ^

Two different aspects that are meteorologically related to the water/clouds you witnessed:

1. the generation of the cloud from the spray.

2. the reduction of visibility and the black aspect you mention due to refraction of light.

Especially during Summer and when there is a strong diurnal change in temperature, you get what is called radiative cooling occurring at night, where the latent heat that has been stored in the Earth is gradually released back into the atmosphere and as there are no clouds and the temperature gradient between the warm Earth and the relatively cold air is very strong, you loose the heat much more quickly than during the day, which in turn drops the temperature very quickly down to the dew point and generally causes dew and condensation to form in the early morning hours. The short of this is that the air is nearly or completely saturated on such strong cloudless Summer days in the early morning and therefore you can generate cloud quite easily and quickly much closer to the surface of the Earth than normal. Normally you need to have both moisture and some particle for that moisture to 'wrap' around to become cloud particles and this requires quite a strong air circulation over several hundred vertical meters to form cloud. However, at Niagara, when the air is nearly saturated on such early Summer mornings and the falls are generating small 'spray' drops from the violence of the drop, this then is a cloud generator (as there is still plenty of small particles from nearby industry, natural events, etc..) and can start at very low heights above ground due to the convective nature of the air cycle over the falls (cold air and water rush down needing to be replaced by warmer air rising and circulating back to replace the air that went over the falls.

So, the clouds are only temporary morning events normally due to the nearly saturated air in early morning Summer days, the cloud droplet generator that the impact of the falling water produces and the air circulation that provides the 'lift' to generate more than haze and produces a small local cloud!

Finally, the reason you don't see it all day long, is that the air starts to warm up again with the strong sunshine and with increased air temperature the ability to hold water vapour increases so the dew point drops and the air is less saturated, so the local cloud evaporates.

The reason it looks black is due to the effect of light being bent away from your eye (refraction) by the small water particles in the air and from the mass of moisture, which reduces the ability of your eye to determine contrast, and this in turn to 'see' something clearly which we then notice a lack of light or contrast so deem it grey or black. @:-)

All very cool indeed, or as my native countryfolk say 'awesome'

This lesson was brought to you by the letter 'M' , hope it is of interest and helps to understand the truly incredible forces happening at such locations around the world. ^

The really crazy thing is that the volume of water flowing over the falls is actually controlled and throttled to help stop the substantial amount of erosion that is occurring, however, in Summer (high tourist season) they do have it near enough to full power for the tourists. At night then turn the tap down though so it is nearly half the flow you see in the daytime!

Thanks again for the great report, hope you got the bug to travel back again sometime!