A Double Century in The St Lawrence Valley, 2004

*** Pat Buckley ***

I'm testing out a NEW double century bicycle ride that starts in Ottawa, Canada's capital and goes along the St Lawrence River. I rode this twice in 2004.

This tour follows the valleys of the Rideau and St Lawrence Rivers and skirts the valley of the South Nation River. Both Rivers are water ways. The Rideau River has locks for small boats; the St Lawrence has larger boats and ships.

Historic Sites

The Rideau River, itself, is a historic site: it was declared a National Historic River in the year 2000. There are many historic sites and markers along this route. On one trip, I took a break and walked through one historic site, the railway tunnel in Brockville. At the time, I was following Brockville's waterfront, and happened to ride over the tunnel. I decided to explore further. The tunnel gave trains access to Brockville's waterfront. The tunnel is no longer used.

Tourists

Historic sites are sometimes places to meet people. On my second tour, I had an interesting encounter with a tourist at "The Windmill" near Prescott. She claimed to be bicycle touring from Kingston to Montreal -- and beyond -- to, at least, Gaspe. Sue had just come from Brockville that day, and had 2 months left in her tour. Her mountain bike was over-loaded with equipment. She was trying to adjust the chain with the aid of tire irons. I think she was trying to put the bicycle into a lower gear. Communication was difficult - we had language problems. First, I showed her how to use the derailleurs to make the bicycle change gears. Next, I adjusted a few other components of her bicycle and let her take my picture. That's about all that I could do at the side of the road. Her bike had other problems. The rear bearings had their constant drone. I'm sure the bike worked for a few kilometers, anyways? I hope she has a good trip.

Terrain

The terrain of this tour is flat and rolling. There are a few hills, but just a couple that require changing gears. Most hills are conquered by standing and pushing the crank a bit harder for a couple of turns. The largest hills are on Oak Leaf Road between Athens and Lyndhurst. This road is a roller coaster ride.

Weather

The weather was excellent on both of the days that I did this tour in 2004. The weather was warm, but not hot with a few clouds and no precipitation. This good weather is often found in this region in the summer. However, some years do have their hot days and smoggy days. The worst is hot-hazy-and-humid AND smog. There was none of this on my tours this year. I chose the right days to travel.

Traffic

Traffic -- you know, cars -- is mostly good on this tour. The worst part is returning to Ottawa in the evening. Obnoxious traffic sometimes starts 30 to 40 km before enterring the built up part of Ottawa. It is hard to know which roads to take to avoid traffic since some roads are busy on some days, but not at other times. It is hard to predict which roads will have less traffic on which days. The roads listed below are either less busy than other routes most of the time, or have a good paved shoulder.

There are almost no traffic problems on the first half of this tour. The route out of Ottawa in the morning has no traffic problems. Are the car monsters sleeping? All the roads to Gananoque have a few cars, but no real problems. There's lots of room. There was a bit more traffic near Athens on one day when there was a special celebration occurring. However, I could still ride on the road without feeling intimidated. Everyone was polite and laid back about it all.

There are minor traffic hazards in the 3rd quarter of the trip -- between miles 100 and 150. There is charity casino at the east end of Gananoque and the traffic is busier there. Road 2 (old Highway 2) between Gananoque and Lansdowne is very busy and narrow so is awkward riding. This Road 2 has little traffic between Lansdowne and Brockville. The St Lawrence Parkway is busier between Gananoque and Ivy Lea Bridge than after that. There is a narrow bicycle path along the St Lawrence Parkway which one can use in an emergency.

There is room to cycle through Brockville -- at times the road has wide lanes; at other times it has paved shoulders. After Brockville, near Maitland and Prescott, the highway has gravel shoulders. I find that I can cycle OK on this road, and still look at the scenery, because the traffic is just light to moderate in this stretch.

Scenery

The scenery of this tour is excellent for this part of Canada. I like rivers. Much of this tour follows two rivers, the Rideau and St Lawrence. A highlight is viewing the 1,000 Islands of the St Lawrence River.

Much of the trip is through farmland and cottage country. This placid landscape is broken by outcrops of the Canadian Shield on Road 3 after Lyndhurst. On one tour, I had a pleasant stop overlooking Charleston Lake on Road 3. My picture from this stop includes a lake with many bays and some rocks of the Canadian Shield.

There is a variety of flora and fauna. This year, this region had good weather for growing. All the crops and wild vegetation are in full bloom. The leaves on the trees and bushes have multiple shades of green. The flowers and buds have a variety of colours. There's more than purple loose strife! I notice all the colours much more this year through my new sunglasses!

As for wild animals, I see many birds, some fish, and a small fox. I find the fox on the road's dirt shoulder, right by the Blue Church historic site, near Maitland. The fox looks like it is young and getting to know the world. It's that time of year, eh? I bet ma's den is close by.

It's amazing what you can see from a bicycle seat. All those cars just roar on by.

1st Route - 323 km

  1. start at Hogs Back lock on Rideau Canal and travel south on Prince of Wales Drive
  2. left turn to Manotick on Rideau Valley Drive - Road 13, Jockvale Drive on the right
  3. right turn on Roger Stevens Road
  4. left turn to Kars on Rideau Valley Drive South - Road 13
  5. left turn on Road 5 - old highway 16
  6. left on Road 44, going across Rideau River
  7. right turn on River Road immediately across Rideau River
  8. right turn on Highway 43 to Merrickville
  9. right turn in Merrickville continuing on Highway 43 to Smiths Falls
  10. left turn so take Road 29 going south out of Smiths Falls
  11. right turn at Addison on Road 30 towards Athens
  12. right turn on Highway 29 to Athens
  13. continue through Athens to first left turn on paved road outside Athens; road is marked Upper Oak Leaf Road - Road 40
  14. right turn on Lower Oak Leaf Road when Upper Oak Leaf Road ends
  15. left turn on Road 33 to Lyndhurst
  16. left turn on Road 3 to Outlet and Charleston Lake and Lansdowne
  17. left turn on Road 34 in Lansdowne
  18. left turn at Stop sign after about 5 km
  19. left turn at Road 2 (Highway 2)
  20. follow Highway 2 through Mallorytown, Brockville, Maitland, Prescott
  21. left turn under international bridge onto Highway 16
  22. follow Highway 16 over Highway 401 where make right turn on Road 44
  23. streets through Kemptville to get onto Road 19 going north along east side of Rideau River
  24. follow road along Rideau River back to Hogs Back Lock in Ottawa

2nd Route - 330 km

  1. start at Hogs Back lock on Rideau Canal and travel south on Prince of Wales Drive
  2. left turn to Manotick on Rideau Valley Drive - Road 13, Jockvale Drive on the right
  3. right turn on Roger Stevens Road
  4. left turn to Kars on Rideau Valley Drive South - Road 13
  5. left turn on Road 5 - old highway 16
  6. left on Road 44, going across Rideau River
  7. right turn on River Road immediately across Rideau River
  8. right turn on Highway 43 to Merrickville
  9. left turn in Merrickville so go south on main street
  10. right turn in Merrickville so leave town on Road 26 to Jasper
  11. left turn at Road 29 going south
  12. right turn at Addison on Road 30 towards Athens
  13. right turn on Highway 29 to Athens
  14. continue through Athens to first left turn on paved road outside Athens; road is marked Upper Oak Leaf Road - Road 40
  15. right turn on Lower Oak Leaf Road when Upper Oak Leaf Road ends
  16. left turn on Road 33 to Lyndhurst
  17. left turn on Road 3 to Outlet and Charleston Lake and Lansdowne
  18. left turn on Road 34 in Lansdowne which follow to Gananoque
  19. right turn on Road 2 (Highway 2) into Gananoque
  20. left turn on St Lawrence Parkway; alternative side trip into Gananoque - there is a water tap conveniently located on east side of McDonalds restaurant that is about 200 metres into town; there's a Canadian Tire store across the street for emergency parts
  21. right turn at east end of St Lawrence Parkway to take service road along St Lawrence River
  22. right turn to Brockville on Highway 2
  23. follow Highway 2 through Brockville, Maitland, Prescott
  24. left turn under international bridge onto Highway 16
  25. follow Highway 16 over Highway 401 where make right turn on Road 44
  26. streets through Kemptville to get onto Road 44 going north
  27. follow Road 44 across Rideau River where becomes Road 5 (old Highway 16)
  28. follow route took in morning back to Ottawa
  29. right turn on Road 13 to Kars
  30. right turn on Roger Stevens Road just north of Kars
  31. left turn on Rideau Valley Drive - Road 13 - to Manotick
  32. right turn on Prince of Wales Drive
  33. continue on Prince of Wales Drive to Hogs Back lock on Rideau Canal