Today I decided to try something new. Inspired by N4JAW, Jim, the "Ham on a Bike", who has a lot bike activations on his YouTube Channel, as well as some of VE6LK (Vince)'s recent bike activations, I thought I would give it a go. I have a trusty fixie bike and a good rack for the car, so I really should be putting it to more frequent use.
From the map, you can see the planned route. There is a good parking lot to park, and from there you can either walk or bicycle as there are no motorized vehicles permitted. The plan was to bike from the parking lot and activate at the Toronto Harbour Lighthouse, with the benefit of also activating lighthouse ARLHS CAN-544.
Close to the parking is a well maintained WC, which is very useful as the downtown traffic was quite bad, and I had been in the car for almost an hour, despite it being only 43km from my house.
The path is well paved, with trees and grasslands along the road. Paralleling the paved path are many footpaths that you can take, but bikes are forbidden. The entire way is paved, except for the last few hundred meters, that is gravel.
At about the half-way mark, there is a small bridge where you have to dismount and walk across. The sign said that the bridge is closed during weekdays, so keep that in mind if you have a weekday desire to cross.
Through the trees you can see the iconic CN-Tower in the distance.
The lighthouse is located on a little hilly knoll. I had hoped to activate right at the lighthouse, but there's a fence around it. While there is a hole in the fence, and you could easily gain access, it didn't look to be a great place to hang out. So I decided to go right out to the beach a just below the lighthouse.
I was packing fairly lightly:
I received the TinyPaddle in the post the previous day, and was wanting to try it out. Here's a picture of it on the KH1:
It was a little windy, so the sailors were happy racing about.
The chair was comfortable.
It doesn't feel like a KH1 activation without holding the tiny pen in your mouth!
I am glad the chair was comfortable, because it took over two hours to get my 10 QSOs in! There was no way after the traffic in Toronto that I was going to have an unsuccessful activation without a fight!
Here's a map of the QSOs. All 20m CW, 3W.
Unfortunately, the bands were not kind, and it took a dog's age to get my 10 QSOs. Two hours and 14 minutes! This POTA was my 65th distinct park.
| Date | Time | Call | State | Band | Mode | Park |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025/09/06 | 17:40 | WØITT | MO | 20m | CW | US-6511 |
| 2025/09/06 | 18:09 | KFØUNK | MN | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 18:11 | K7TMM | ID | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 18:15 | NØMTT | NE | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 18:17 | K5OGR | AR | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 18:35 | KJ4R | SC | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 19:01 | W6M | KS | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 19:17 | N4REE | FL | 20m | CW | |
| 2025/09/06 | 19:27 | AI5DD | OK | 20m | CW | US-10658 |
| 2025/09/06 | 19:54 | WO4O | FL | 20m | CW | US-6455 |