Monday July 30th

I don’t have map my ride marked yet and it is too bad because it was a bit of an interesting route.

I woke up around 6 but slept in for a it before joining Carol and Craig for some breakfast. My cold is still lingering but I think that is more to do with the drinking so I need to escape Ontario! This morning was on cooler side of things although not much cloud and the sun was well on it’s way to a scorching mid day sun but it was still a few hours before that. Craig and Carol drove me out to Julian lake which I don’t consider cheating since I lengthened my route coming up here and it was really worth it. I can’t thank Craig and Carol enough for really taking care of me and making sure I had a relaxing time.

The ride started with a lot of downhill and since the trees ran close to the road I was in a cool shade for the first 15 kilometers or so. There were quite a number of people along the way running or walking their dog. There is a park here with Petroglyphs too but since they didn’t open until 10am and it was only 8:30 I decided they weren’t worth the wait.

The road works it way around the two Stoney lakes before heading south. Being closed in by the trees was great but there were no views of the lake which is a good distraction when riding. Plus you can jump in to cool down if you like. At this point the road is has a lot of really tiny hills that are no longer 50 meters and some are on little 5 meter bumps. There was virtually no traffic so I had a very peaceful ride and rarely looked at my progress on the GPS or noticed the speed I was going.

Eventually I hit the town of Havelock which is where you get back on the Trans Canada which is the #7 highway. I went into Tim Hortons which I have only done once before and had a bagel sandwhich. While finishing up my meal a lady came and sat at my table. We said hello and her husband then joined me. My apologies on any of the accuracy here but there son and daughter were also riding across the country and were just a few days ahead of me. They were just using maps though and I think they had a few tough days in the wind. I related my similar experiences and understood their pain. Apparently they found a wind application that gave you a couple of days lead time on the weather. I have noticed that most weather application will list the wind speed and I have noticed that I have sometimes been a day behind a tailwind but weather can change quickly!

The highway here starts off kind of crappy and dangerous with no shoulder but then gets back to normal with about a half a meter of shoulder. By this time the sun is now cranking out a number on me and I am moving a little slower. I knew I couldn’t make the 187 kilometers to Perth so I picked the Sharbot Lake provincial park. A good 30 kilometers before the park the road is under construction and has been graded with no shoulder to speak of. It is absolutely the worst road to date and the only reprieve was the low amount of traffic. It was seriously stressful and the butt wasn’t feeling that great either.

Finally I made it to the campground where I was greeted by Hillary who was extremely friendly and found me a campsite close to the “Comfort Station” which is the showers, laundry and washrooms while also getting me close to the lake. I set up the tent and jumped in Black Lake (there are two lakes here) and it was a refreshing temperature that cooled me down. After a good shower I cooked some noodles and started blogging. It was a little noisey as the camps are close to each other but overrall this is nice campsite. On to Ottawa tomorrow!