Week 4

Sept 12
St. Paul to St. Catherines
Dist: 75 Avg: 21 Time: 3:31

The days start was not very impressive. As of 9:50 am we are still waiting out the rain.

We are situated a little west of Granby

Departure time: 1:50 PM

Last night we experienced a good thunder storm c/w lots of lightning and rain - not a good omen for riding today.  Fortunately we had a very fine roof over our heads and our most gracious host, Bob Vyncke offered us his hospitality for as long as it took for the weather to clear.  As he is a rider himself, he knows what cyclists go through on the road. We were eager to resume riding, but the rain would have made today's ride extremely uncomfortable, not to mention very dangerous.  Finally the rain subsided and we started to prepare for our departure but Bob would have  none of it until he fed us lunch - delicious home-made leek soup, tomato pie (a form of meatless tortiere) and fresh apple cider.  It was excellent.  Once lunch settled we finally departed this little slice of heaven with full stomachs and satisfied souls.  The day of rest really did a lot for our tired and sore bodies and rejeuvenated our spirits.  Thank you again Bob - it was an awesome stay.
We sped along at a good clip as the terrain is flat and the wind was light - in our faces of course but not a factor.  We were just so happy to be back on the road with good legs making steady progress towards home.  The traffic was quite heavy especially as we approached the more populated areas as people were returning from work.  Part of our journey took us along the historic and scenic Richieleau Canal, which was quite enjoyeable.  Due to outdated bike maps, we had to do a lot of direction finding, head scratching, asking for directions and dead reckoning.  With overcast skies we knew darkness would be arriving early so we decided to take a room in LaPrairie instead of our intended overnight town of Ste. Catherine some kilometers ahead.  Didn't happen.  Not only was there no room at the inn, there was no inn.  Not a motel in this town.  Crap.  We had no choice but to keep riding to the next town despite the rapidly approaching darkness.  Fortunately the town of Ste. Catherine wasn't too far away and we were soon checked into the only motel in town - a fairly run-down joint but - any port in a storm, I guess.  A fine supper was had at the restaurant across the street - pretty decent chow, but a far cry from the sumptuous repasts we enjoyed at Vyncke manor the last few days.
All-in-all, a fine satisfying day especially considering the tardy departure from Abbottsford.  A few more days like today and we should be able to make up for some of the low mileage days of earlier on.  Also, reaching the Montreal area marks the half-way point of our journey - a real psychological boost for us.

Beautiful sunset on the St. Lawrence river from Ste. Catherine

This blog posted by Fabio

**
Sept 13
Dist:119  Avg: 19.7  Time: 6:01
St. Catherines to Cornwall
(back in Ontario day)

Our start after breakfast was a cool one, which meant legs warmers or tights for some of us. Today's terrain was very flat except for the last 20 or so kms. Traffic was very heavy on Hwy's 132 and 201. Once we turned onto Hwy 338 after crossing the St. Lawrence River again, the hwy paralleling the 401, traffic was very light. This meant we didn't have to put up with all that noise too.... something that we're all getting tired of listening to.

New bridge on highway 30 over the St. Lawrence

Big Powerhouse at Beauharnois

The weather as usual was dull and grey and as I mentioned, quite cool. Are we ever going to see the sun again? What a drastic difference from last years trip. According to Jim, we're supposed to be getting full sun for the next four days. YEAH!!!! I think we deserve some, after all, we could countthe number of days of sun we've had on the fingers of one hand.

As well as being dull all day, the rain started about 25 kms from Cornwall, so on went all of the rain gear. Thank goodness the skies didn't really open up on us. It was mostly light, but still enough to get you soaked in no time.

The view from the bridge at Valleyfield

On another note, we met a fellow who asked us where we were going. When we told him Thunder Bay, we laughed when he said, "tabernac, you have big courage!" This carried on after he entered the convenience store we were at, when he explained this to the clerk inside.

Arriving at the closest motel coming into Cornwall, we were surprised to learn the last room had just been taken. We asked where the next motels were and were just about to head out when a young fellow who was outside the motel heard we were looking for a room for the night and mentioned we could have his shortly. We just had to wait until 7:30-8:00 before it was available. Hmmmmmmm! this sounded a bit suspicious, but we soon found out he and his brother were heading out to Halifax. Accepting their offer, Fabio went back in to explain to the motel manager that we would be given the rooms the two boys had for the evening.....FREE!!!! What a break.... thanks boys where ever you are now :)

Coming into Ontario on highway 2

We then headed downtown to grab some supper at a pizza joint. After a hearty meal we headed back to the motel in the dark, white and red LED's flashing like fireflies in the night. Upon arriving at the motel, we found the keys in the top of the BBQ where the boys said they would leave them. They actually had two rooms, 7 & 8, so we utilized room 7 as the bike storage room for the night. As they were both upstairs rooms, we had to carry the bikes and equipment up a set of dangerous metal stairs. Packing everything away and having our showers we soon settled in for the night. Another long but good day.

Gene

**

Sept 14
Dist:  97.88k   Avg: 17.9 kph.  Time: 5 hours 27 minutes
Cornwall to Kemptville

Woke up this morning to bright sun, First sun we have seen in several days. Quite cool this morning we figure only a few degrees above zero. Wanted something different this morning so we found the local MacDonald's We had slept in a little so by the time we ate and got on the road it was almost eleven. We decided to take highway 2 west to Morrisburg then head north to highway 43 then west to Kemptville. Highway 2 was very busy and no shoulder but the Waterfront bike trail was parallel to the highway. We decided to take this trail but it was windy but picturesque. There were quite a few bikers on this trail and at a stop we befriended two of them we figured it was a father and daughter. They were members of the Cornwall cycling community. They had a better suggestion for a route for us to Kemptville. They told us to take the long Sault Parkway which connects a number of lakes in the St. Lawrence river and is just beautiful and seemed to be fairly new as the pavement was excellent.

Map of the Long Sault parkway

View from the Long Sault Parkway

The St. Lawrence River

When the parkway came back to highway 2 they suggested to take Dickenson road north to highway 41 instead of going to Morrisburg, so we took that road.

Corn here was 10 feet high

We're in Ontario not Iowa Gene

 Dickenson road had quite a few cyclists on it so it so we figured it must be a popular cycling route for the locals. It was beautiful no traffic and an excellent road. Once on highway 41 west we decided to stop at Chesterville for a break. Beside the road was a legion with a lot of cars around so in we went. There was a wedding reception going on but we did manage to get a couple of beers. As usual we had to explain where we came from and where we were going.One fellow was particularly interested as he had worked in Manitowadge and knew the area quite well, small world. The legion gave each of us a memento and thanked us for stopping in. We were getting hungry and decided to stop at Winchester for something to eat, this way we would not have to go out once we got to our hotel in Kemptville. We thought we only had 10k to go but a patron inside the eatery said we hqad 24k to go, so as it was 6 o'clock already we ate quickly then on the road again as the sun was going down. The last 5k to Kemptville had no shoulder and with little day light we did not feel safe. We made it to our hotel by 7:30. We thought to ourselves this was stupid to be travelling at this time of the day. From now on we would be getting up earlier and trying to limit our stops so we could get to our destination in a decent time.

Today's blog by Jim.

**

Sept 15
Dist: 102  Avg: 18.5  Time: 5:31
Kemptville to Sharbut Lake

We decided to start out earlier than usual so as to reach  our destination sooner and avoid the darkness debacle of last night.  A quick continental breakfast and we were on the road by 8:45 speeding along and feeling pretty good about ourselves.  As the countryside is pretty much flat, we steamed ahead at a good pace and soon rolled into the scenic and historic town of Merrickville where we checked out and photographed the locks of the Rideau canal.  Quite impressive.  Without lingering too long, we continued on to Smith Falls for a snack and refreshment.  Not much to see here except more rolling farmland so we continued on to Perth where we shared lunch with a colony of wasps which had taken up residence at the Tim Horton's Restaurant.  I guess flies need their coffee fix too.  Gene mentioned that this was the fastest 60 km. we had logged to date - 3.5 hours including several stops and our morning coffee break as well as the headwind we encountered at 10:00.  Sweet.  Just before Perth we passed the 3M Factory where Scotch Tape is made, but we didn't stick around.

Downtown Perth

A quick stop at the Metro got us grubbed up for our meals for the rest of the day and Monday as we were heading into parts unknown - no man's land, terra incognita.  Between Perth and Sharbot Lake we were told there was nothing - nada - zip - squat - bupkis.  No motels.  No stores.  No restaurants.  No nothing.  Soooo ..... we had to be totally self-sufficient including the prospect of 'wild camping' in a ditch somewhere along the road.  No problem for the 3 amigos - we had done it all before.

Anyway, away we went in good spirits save for Jim who claimed he had no jam left to cover the last 45 kms to Sharbot Lake.  We slapped some sense into him (see T-shirt photo)

and continued onward.  The shoulder we rode on was very narrow so when it widened to a full lane width 8 km out of Perth, I was happier than a family of dung beetles in a fresh cow pie.  However, this lasted for a total of 150 metres where it reverted back to the spaghetti strand they call a shoulder around here.  We made the best of it and made every effort to hold our line far to the right.  Despite the steady flow of traffic, we had no problems.

I rolled on kilometer after kilometer letting my mind wander and had some great conversations with my imaginary friends.  One even reminded me of the 20 bucks I owed him from our last imaginary conversation.  Go figure.

Anyway, the overcast skies were giving us visions of impending rain, and the thought of camping in a downpour made us taste bile.  We would sooner perform our own colostomies.  Finally Sharbot Lake came into view after a very long, lonely stretch.  Stopping at a country store, we inquired about accommodation opportunities.  Imagine our surprise when we were told there was a country inn 3 kms down the road.  A quick phone call and we were booked.  We were so relieved we could have done cartwheels.

The place turned out to be very nice, reasonably priced, clean and spacious.  Plus it had a restaurant.  And a bar.  Yeeeehaw - the first Steamboat Lagers were in hand before we even checked out the room.

All is good again.

Everything was perfect and we were happy.  After a shower, supper and another brew, we retired back to our room for a bit of TV and sweet sleep - dreaming sweet dreams of our loved ones - and our wives and families too.

Random Observation:  Asking the locals about distances between towns is like asking a bald guy to recommend a good shampoo.  Gene:  How far is it to Fudderville?  Local:  Ya mean from here?  Let's see (scratches head) ..... 10 minutes.  Maybe 15.  Twenty tops.  Hey Floyd - How far's Fudderville?
Gene:  I mean how many kilometers is it?  Local:  Kilometers?  I got no idea.

Yup, it's been a great learning experience.

This blog posted by Fabio

**

Sept 16
Dist: 99  Avg: 21.7 Time: 4:38
Sharbot Lake to Marmora

This mornings ride started out at 9 degrees C, so on went the tights, arm warmers, jacket, gloves and ear warmers. After a 4 km climb from the Sharbot Lake motel we reached our breakfast spot, a small cafe just down from the corner of Hwy 7 and ?? We ended up having our usual meal of bacon, eggs, toast and hash browns, a staple to get you down the road for the first 2 to 3 hours. While there, we got the usual alien stare from most of the locals. Did we forgot to retract our antennaes?

To our surprise the wind gods were in our favour this morning, coming at us mostly from the northeast.... yes-s-s-s-s-s!!! The hills we encountered were also quite easy to scamper up. It's great not having to down shift into bull low. We even used the big chainring for a good part of the day. We flew into Kaladar in no time flat and relaxed with a coffee, coke and donut.

Mounting our packed steads, we charged on to our next stop for the day, a roadside picnic area about half way to Madoc. Lunch consisted of croisants, two types of lunch meat, frest tomatoes and green pepper, along with a side of cheese curds and remnants of swiss, all washed down with 50 cent Selection Cola from Metro. Our usual uninvited guests of a few yellow jackets soon decided to join us shortly.

Madoc only being 15 to 20 kms from our picnic area, we decided to stop in at the Tim Hortons we knew was there from the billboards, to have coffee and donuts. As we only had 16 kms left to get to the motel in Marmora, we had time to relax some more here at Timmy's.

It didn't take very long for us to get into Marmora, as the wind was still in our favour. We arrived there shortly after 4 pm, one of the earliest days we've had this trip. Thank you Mr. Nor'easter. We decided to pick up a few bubblies before hitting the motel. Fabio signed in while Jimmy and I started happy hour in front of room 4.

Showers then supper were next on the agenda, problem was the water was barely warm. We found out just before leaving for the restaurant that the motel owner forgot to turn on the water heater for us. The wi-fi here wasn't strong enough to reach our room too. Upon mentioning this I was told it was my laptop that was the problem, yeah right!! Seemed to work fine every other place we were at. Strike two. anyway, I'm writing this in Editpad to get ready to upload tomorrow. The boys are watching a football game, while I'm doing this and listening to an old album by the Stones, 'Between the Buttons'.

The weather's going to be a bit cold the next few morning, but sunny and warmer as the suns rises. We started seeing a lot of maples wearing their fall colours today and also 4 or 5 Great Blue Herons in some of the many roadside wetland area lakes and ponds. Fall is definitely making her presence known.

Gene

**

Sept 17

Dist: 55 Avg: 18.8 Time: 2:55

Marmora to Nancy & Fred's house on Stoney Lake


We woke up this morning to frost on the grass. However the sun was brightly shining and as we would find out later it would warm up quickly. We had to backtrack a bit for breakfast down the hill again into the village. The local eatery put on a fine breakfast and of course the usual talk from the locals. They wished us well and back to the motel to load up. We would call this the Coldwater Motel it was one of our worst accommodations mainly  lacking in hot water and internet connection. Our next stop would be Havelock 17k down highway 7 west. This was an interesting town, a big train station and lots of rail traffic.It looked like it was a major rail hub in its day. Not much happening now.

Havelock train station

Gene stopped at the local Mac's for some beverage while Fabio and I went into the LCBO to pick up a couple of bottles of wine for our host's for the evening. We would turn north here towards Stoney Lake to visit Jim and Doreen's good friends Nancy and Fred. County road 48 would take us past the Petroglphs Provincial park where we had planned a lunch stop. The park was closed for the season so we went on further and found a beautiful spot where a river crossed the road. Fred and Nancy would tell us later this would be Eel's creek name after a local resident. After a restful stop eating and gazing into the beautiful river and surroundings we moved on to Nancy and Fred's.

I had not been there for several years and was wondering if I would be able to find they're place again but as we got closer things started to look familiar and soon we were there. They were very happy to see us and soon the beer was flowing. I went out sailing with Fred on his Hobie Cat while Fabio and Gene stayed behind and got caught up on the laundry and the blog. Nancy put on a wonderful delicious roast beef dinner for us and it was greatly appreciated. Fred was an art teacher during his working career and their house was full of  hand made knickknacks 

Fred had made over the years. Fabio and Gene were impressed and were amused all night as Fred showed then his handy work.In the morning we had nice breakfast, made some sandwiches and soon we would part ways with Nancy and Fred. They were off to Peterborough for band practice and we were on our way west.Many thanks to Nancy and Fred for their hospitality, good times and conversation were had by all of us.The weather today was just about perfect and our outlook on this trip had definitely improved.

Our hosts Fred and Nancy

Jim

**

Sept 18
Dist: 108 kms  Avg: 18.8 kph  Time: 5:43
Stoney Lake to Beaverton

We awoke this morning to a near perfect day for cycling - the fog was lifting off the lake, the sun was shining and the winds were calm.  Add beautiful scenery, rested bodies and quiet country roads and we were in biking heaven. As the fine supper, excellent wine and comraderie of the previous evening had done wonders to restore our spirits and enthusiasm for our journey we eagerly departed at 8:45 - one of our earliest departures yet.  Initially the terrain was quite flat, but further along we got into more rolling countryside and our breakfast of toast, yogurt and coffee, although a pleasant change from our usual fare soon wore off.  We've found out through experience that there is no substitute for good old fashioned bacon, eggs and potatoes for energy and staying power.  None-the-less, we continued onward until a small gas bar appeared and we re-energized with muffins, butter tarts and a beverage.  Good to go again.  Some kilometers further ahead we stopped into an art gallery we had heard of 'The Gallery on the Lake'.  It was a beautiful and amazing place.  The artwork was out-of-this-world.  Prices ranged from $275.00 for a small metal sculpture to $16,000 for a larger painting by Norval Morriseau.  Many other excellent artists were featured and even Gene was left completely in awe of the talent displayed here.  The gallery owner told us that there is a list of over 300 artists waiting to have their works displayed there.  That speaks volumes about the place.  Check it out at www.galleryonthelake.com
We moved on after about an hour pedalling effortlessly westward with a bit of wind assistance on a good road, although the shoulder was virtually non-existent.  As we happily rolled along, my mind probing the upper reaches of mathematics and physics, I recalled how the Romans had a saying in vino veritas - in wine there is truth.  So to it is in cycling - in velo veritas - in cycling there is truth.  So simple and pure yet so profound.  You get out of a bicycle what you put into it - no free ride.  It doesn't matter if you are a king or queen, prince or pauper, butcher, baker or candlestick maker - if you don't turn the pedals, you won't go anywhere.  On a bike we are all equals - save for the power of your legs.  It's a beautiful thought.
As the sun warmed us up, we stopped to strip off our tights, leggings, arm warmers and gloves.  It was so nice to be back in regular cycling attire without the restrictions of cool weather gear.
In Bobcaygeon, we found a nice shady spot and eagerly ate the sandwiches we had prepared for ourselves at Fred and Nancy's house.  A very nice break despite the hornets which seem to be everywhere.
Once out of Bobcaygeon we continued onward to Fenelon Falls where we stocked up on Gatorade and water.  Outside of town we encountered a sight we hadn't seen on this trip yet - Mennonite horse-drawn buggies driven by unsmiling, bearded men.  Quaint.  The road shoulders at this point deteriorated badly and the traffic increased - we hit the gravel a couple of times as preventative measures when we felt threatened by passing vehicles.  Not too bad over-all though.  We finally arrived in Beaverton and sought out the only local motel.  Locals told us it was a good place to avoid - it's known as The Snake Pit around here.  We checked it out and agreed with that advice.  Stopping at a nearby watering hole to ask advice, we found out there was indeed a B & B just around the corner - The Grant House.  We immediately sought it out and were met by the owner outside the front yard.  The place blew us away - not cheap but if you factor in the sumptuous breakfast and all the incredible amenities (huge TV, stove, fridge, microwave, fireplace, computers, toaster ovens, balcony, barbeques, etc. etc. etc.) - 2 rooms not one, it was one sweet deal.  Without bothering to shower up, we walked to the nearby restaurant for a nice supper and beverages, then back to our retreat for the night.  It was a wonderful end to a wonderful day - hopefully one of many more to come.

This blog posted by Fabio