We rose early and headed for breakfast in ByWard Market at Zak's Diner. We chose it because it offered an outdoor venue that allowed us to rest our bikes against the patio rail so they could be watched while we ate. Well, that and the good food. We pushed off a little after 9:30, taking a slightly different course out of town and across the Rideau Canal, crossing one of the last lock gates before the Ottawa River. This actually made the Ottawa River Path more accessible than trying to cross further upstream, like at Rideau Street, and then working our way down to the canal's trail.
The trail along the river is very nice and provides great views both upstream and downstream. And it was busy. We debated exiting town the opposite way, south along the Rideau Canal, but didn't find good connections to Smiths Falls. However, exiting along the Ottawa River gave us access to the TCT, the Trans-Canadian Trail. And that would take us a good ways to Smiths Falls.
Our original plan to overnight in Carlton Place and then Chaffey's Lock fell through when we couldn't find lodging at the latter location. Late July is a popular time for Canadians to be out and about, and with the sparse lodging available, rooms fill up quickly. There is plenty of camping, but that isn't our mode this trip (if ever again!). So our three-day plan to reach Kingston became a two-day plan, each in the 55-mile range or so. And we stayed pretty close to our original course with some modifications.
Along the way we took in some interesting sites, notably an art installation 3-1/2 miles out called the Remic Rapids Balanced Rock Sculpture Project. It changes annually and is worth a stop if pedaling by.
Sights along the way: a monument and a water taxi stop.
We continued along our way with the grade rising gradually and Parliament Hill fading in the background. Conversely, the city's grade was dropping down to meet our grade coming up. They pretty much converged at or around a major interchange we navigated our way through, all on the trail. Somewhere along the way, we fell in with a friendly chap, Jeff, an electrical engineer who works for Nokia. He rode with us for several miles before we needed to turn off for the TCT. He gave us some good pointers and an alternate route to a busy highway that kept us on a wooded trail all of the way to the TCT.
The trail is very popular, even further out from the central core.
That was great for us and a nice way to transition to the TCT, which in these parts is a rail trail that makes a straight line for Carleton Place. It was more shaded than I expected and quite scenic once you got beyond the exurbs.
It eventually joined with the TCT at this old railroad bridge.
About eight miles shy of Carlton Place, our new route had us turning left on Dwyer Hill Road, a numbered route with two lanes and a shoulder. It was not particularly pleasant to ride as it was long and straight with no shade. But at least it had a shoulder, at least for the first six miles, after which the road quality deteriorated significantly, as did the volume of traffic. But it was starting to get hot, and with the turn, we picked up some crosswind that would at times become headwind.
So after eight miles of that, we turned right onto a road in even worse condition, which eventually led to a dirt road after about 1-1/2 miles. This was not unexpected. I knew these roads were coming up and had warned Jerry.
But it wasn't like the ride Tuesday, where we had low spots and water. These roads were, for the most part, well-graded with enough firm spots to allow us a decent speed. Still, it was 14 miles of rough riding, especially when you would sometimes hit the inevitable washboard effect that you sometimes find on dirt roads. I was happy to turn onto a road labeled "Drive" that I anticipated would be paved . . . and sure enough, it was!
By then we were only four miles from Smiths Falls, and I blew into town looking for Gatorade. I was parched and almost out of water. Spotting my first convenience store of the day, I made a beeline for it and quenched my thirst. Next stop, our lodging, an Econo Lodge down on the Rideau River. I was in a little after 3:30 with exactly 55 miles on the odometer. But I felt tired. Time to rest and then EAT . . . which we did, after a tour of the locks. We were back on the Rideau Canal!
There is always a reward at the end of the journey.
