Sunday, May 6, 2012

Day 6

After leaving Bowmanville around 10 we headed east. The wind was blowing right in our face all day and it made biking pretty tough. By the end of the day (around 6:00 pm) we made it to Brighton. We got really lucky and one of the locals offered to let us camp in their backyard. Our original goal was to make it to a campground in Carrying Place, with the option of continuing for another 20 kms to get to Belleville. But because of the wind and the offer of a backyard campground we stayed in Brighton for the night.


Will and Harry biking on Highway 2 towards Brighton 



After undershooting our target, we admittedly felt a little discouraged, but the next day we powered through with some tailwind and biked from about 9:30 am to 7:30 pm for a total of just over a hundred kilometers. We went through a few smaller towns and ended up on the Cattaraqui trail which we would stay on for a total of 90 kms. By the end of the day we set up camp in an abandoned lot at the top of a hill, which turned out to be a great idea because of the magnificent thunderstorm that night. There is a great video we took of our campsite but there are some technical difficulties uploading the video so it may be uploaded randomly later.

The next day we followed the Cataraqui trail to Lombardy, just outside of Smiths Falls and stayed with Andy's family. It was our shortest day of biking so far at only 75 kms. We enjoyed the good food and good company (and hot tub), as Mitch and Fred even made the trip up from Brockville to see us. They drove though so its not that impressive.
Will and Harry biking on the Cattaraqui trail


After a good night's sleep in a bed we made our way to Ottawa, a city known for having a tremendous university and an even better hockey team, and will also be remembered as Will's Alma Mater. They have yet to erect a statue in his likeness but rumors and general buzz suggest it's well passed the discussion stage. Stayed with Tanner "Teej" and Breen "Weenman", right in the heart of centretown and enjoyed ourselves a nice evening out, knowing that the next morning we would have the privilege of sleeping in and doing nothing.
The next day we slept in and did nothing.

Will and Harry near a really big clock

Next stop, camping in Vankleek Hill and then off to Montreal.

Highlight of the day: We watched a Terry Fox mini-documentary on our day off, a great way to get pumped up for the road ahead.

kilometers traveled so far: 447
number of times people have honked the hell out of their horn, obviously in order to demonstrate their respect and admiration for us: 2