Journey Notes

I had a really hard time getting moving this morning. My body just wanted to sleep a bit more after such a hard day yesterday. I finally got on my bike by 10:30am.

Yesterday there was a constant headwind for the last 40 or 50 km. Today there was very strong wind gusts that were cross headwinds. It was a fight a lot of the time just to keep the bike upright and heading in the right direction, not to mention moving forward. My already very sore legs were really feeling it. Luckily the route was only 86 km. In choosing that destination, I was trying to make an easy day.

The most direct route from where I started to the destination campground would have been all farmland backroads and I would have missed Ottawa completely. Since I had not seen Ottawa since I was 12 years old, I decided to detour into Ottawa. I got on a bike path along the river north of Ottawa and followed it right down town until I got to the river side of the Parliament buildings. I then followed the locks up to street level and had a look at the Parliament buildings and surrounding area. I was supposed to meet Rochelle here for lunch but she had work to get done so I continued on and finally met her in the farmland southeast of Ottawa.

After a late lunch we finished the last 30 km of the ride to our campsite near the town of Bourget. While still on the Ontario side of the river, it would seem that this area is mostly French speaking. Most signs are only in French.

Tomorrow we will reach the outskirts of Montreal.