Day 110: Hawkesbury, ON to Gatineau, QC

August 15, 2017

Today was a great day, even at 66 miles. This morning, Jacques, his brother Pierre, and sister-in-law Sylvie, met us at our hotel. The plan was for Jacques and Pierre to ride with us to Gatineau while Sylvie took our panniers with her in the car. (We are getting very spoiled riding unloaded – and we love it!)

As we were getting ready to leave, Jacques realized he had forgotten his helmet (the one which gave him such a great hairdo!) so he went with Sylvie to buy another one at Canadian Tire. Canadian Tire apparently has everything. They caught up with us a few miles down the road where Jacques joined the ride.

Sylvie and Pierre, Kerry and Jacques, now with his head safely protected by his new helmet

For most of today's ride, we followed the Ottawa River (or more properly, the Rivière des Outaouais, since we were on the Quebec side). We passed through small villages and lots of farms. Jacques and Pierre grew up on a farm not far from our route.

Riviere Rouge - empties into Ottawa River - popular for kayaking and canoeing, but we didn't see anyone on the river today

One of the villages was Montebello. Montebello is the site of the Château Montebello, a beautiful old resort hotel built as a private club in 1930.

Multi-sided fireplace in Chateau Montebello lobby

Kerry and Jacques down in the great lobby

We saw a number of cyclists today. The road we were on is a popular bike route.

We stopped and talked to this guy, Serge, who was on the final day of his cross Canada trip. Serge started his journey by cycling from his home in Montreal to St. John's, Newfoundland. From there, he flew to Vancouver and then resumed his cycling adventure. He stated that he was really looking forward to sleeping in his own bed tonight.

Serge - home in his own bed tonight after completing his cross Canada ride

By the time we got close to Gatineau, we were getting pretty tired. The route Ride With GPS made for us took us into the city on a very busy highway. Fortunately, Pierre knows the area and found us a much safer route on bike trails and less busy roads.

Tomorrow there will be no cycling. We'll be tourists in Ottawa for the day, courtesy of Pierre and Jacques.

Today's ride: 66 miles (106 km)
Total: 4,417 miles (7,108 km)

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