Cobden to Ottawa, Ontario

I finished off cycling across Ontario at 10:00 this morning as I crossed the Ottawa River into Québec east of Shawville.

I still had another 100 kilometres to get to Ottawa, however (where I would re-cross the river). I could have stayed in Ontario for the whole day, but I was excited to ride on Quebec's Route Verte #1. I actually got really lucky, because due to COVID-19 the Quebec/Ontario border has been closed for weeks, and only reopened today!

I had to cycle on Highway 303 for 15 kilometres to reach Shawville, but from there it was beautiful, forested trail for 17 kilometres.

Unfortunately, soon after I resumed riding on rural roads, I had a puncture in the rear wheel. I checked the tire pretty well as I changed the tube, but failed to check the rim. Anyway, I cycled on, occasionally along Highway 148 when the Route Verte joined it, but often on rural, sometimes gravel, roads as well. 

In Aylmer I was able to join the multiuse trails along the river, which were wonderful. When I stopped at one point, however, I realized I was losing air again in the rear tire. I assume now that something must have been in the rim and punctured the new tube as well. I pumped it up and hurried on, hoping to avoid having to change the tube again. I still had 12 kilometres or so to go.

Soon I was across the river from Parliament Hill.

I crossed the Alexandra Bridge and at 16:00 reached the Auberge des Arts where I am staying. My wife had amazingly sent over a couple of beers and a piece of cheesecake to help me celebrate!

The tire was flat again when I checked on the bike after a shower, but I opted to simply wheel it back to Escape Cycle instead of deal with it myself. I was done!

With the North Bay to Ottawa gap closed, I have now biked from the Pacific Ocean to Moncton, New Brunswick, and probably just have one summer left to get to the Atlantic Ocean!

North Bay to Callander, Ontario (again)

In 2018, I had intended to ride from Sault Ste Marie to Ottawa, but only got as far as North Bay. The problem was the shoulder, or lack thereof, on Highway 17. For the most part, past North Bay, there is no paved shoulder whatsoever or, where there is, it is all rumble strips so impossible to cycle on. At that time I spent a couple extra days in North Bay planning an alternative route, including cycling south of North Bay to explore. I concluded the best option was to head south, not east, from North Bay to Huntsville, then head east on Highway 60 through Algonquin Park, across the Ottawa River into Quebec, and south to Ottawa. This is certainly a longer route, but the piece that makes it most challenging is that from North Bay to Huntsville, while easy on the freeway Highway 11, is much more complicated by bike (bicycles are not allowed on Highway 11) and involves a lot back road riding. So, to make it work I not only needed more time, but a bike with bigger tires than I was using in 2018. 

I decided 2021 would be the year I would close this North Bay to Ottawa gap so started booking for around the May long weekend. Although I have now equipped my bike with tires adequate for the riding I would be doing, I opted to rent a bike in Ottawa, since I would be flying in and out of YOW anyway. The friendly and helpful Maria of Escape Bike Tours was brilliant in arranging what I would need.

Unfortunately, COVID-19 lockdowns made May travel impossible, but a few weeks later, here I am. I flew into YOW yesterday afternoon and picked up a rental car at the airport. This morning I visited Escape to pick up the bike.

I took it for a spin and all seemed well, so loaded her into the Jeep.

Four hours of driving later, or so, I was in North Bay. I dropped the Jeep at Enterprise, loaded up the bike, and rode the 17 kilometres southeast to the town of Callander. This was along the same route I biked in 2018 when I was exploring options. 

I am spending the night in a lovely suite at the Terrace Suites, just across the road from a lookout over Lake Nipissing.

Maynooth to Ottawa, Ontario

Yesterday morning I drove from Maynooth into Ottawa, stopping in Eganville to get some laundry done and eat breakfast.

I am not really sure what this region of Ontario is called, but it was beautiful country to drive through early in the morning early in autumn.

This was my view from my breakfast restaurant, out over the Bonnechere River.

And this was an adorable poster hanging in the laundromat!

Since I am still thinking about how to eventually connect North Bay and Ottawa by bike, I crossed over into Quebec to see what the cycling would be like on that side of the Ottawa River.  Here is a map of the road trip I did between Friday and Saturday:

In Quebec they have been working on the "route verte" for decades, and they are obviously way, way ahead of Ontario when it comes to developing long distance cycling routes (which I already knew from living in Montreal in 2009-2011).

Obviously I cannot go the whole way between North Bay and Ottawa in Quebec, but I can do the last 100 kilometres or so that way.  I took some pictures of the trail.

I got to Ottawa early in the afternoon.  Because of the tornado that hit the city on Friday, power was out all over the place, such that traffic lights were down at many, many intersections downtown; so, traffic was chaos.  I eventually made my way to the Greyhound station, where I was able to buy a box for my bike (but had to pay cash, because their debit/credit machine was down due to the power loss).

Then I parked my Jeep as soon as I could, and took out my bike. Clearly, on a day like today, cycling was going to be a much faster way to get around than driving.  I stopped at the YMCA to shower, then headed down along the Rideau Canal to see the Edmonton Eskimos play the Ottawa Redblacks at TD Place.

TD Place is gorgeous, and it was a beautiful afternoon to be at a football game.

Unfortunately, the Eskimos lost.

I headed off on my bike back to the canal path.  

It was getting dark, obviously, but I biked down to the Ottawa river, and up to Parliament Hill before getting back to the Jeep.

This morning I started my day at St. Andrew's Presbyterian Church, just across from Parliament Hill.

After church, I got back on my bike to get a ride in before I fly back to Edmonton this evening.  I decided to cycle from downtown to the airport and back--mostly that is a nice route along the canal and Rideau River, but could possibly serve as part of my cross-Canada route as well (as in I could cycle from North Bay to the Ottawa airport instead of all the way downtown).  For my final day in Ontario I had great weather again, and I was very impressed with Ottawa's trail system.  I am still very disappointed I could not finish my route as planned, but my little ride this afternoon was a nice way to end my trip anyway.