Ottawa to Fredericton - Day 2

Saturday, September 8 - Ormstown, QC - 149 km

It remained hot all night. It also got very windy making it difficult to sleep. In the end I figure I slept a sufficient number of hours and I got up just before 06:00 as dawn began to break. I cooked up a bunch of potatoes and the other sausage for breakfast. Chased the lot down with an apple and a handful of wine gums. Hit the road around 07:30 and zig-zagged south-east pulling out of the forest and into areas of farm land. Today I had three goals. Find water, buy a phone card, and ride at least 140 km. All three were met with success. First water. I was running low after dry camping last night and drinking plenty because of the heat. I rode for a couple hours without passing a single town. I also passed several streams but they were completely dried up. I crossed a river, but it was so full of mud I decided not to draw water from there. I finally reached a town with one tiny store, and ended up purchasing 2L of bottled water, something I was none to pleased about, but I was near empty so my hand was forced. I rode on. The next town I stopped at a little store and bought a phone card. There was a sink in the back room so I asked if I could fill my bottles. The cashier told me that it was not suitable for drinking. I think he just wanted to sell me water. I did end up purchasing a phone card here though. Around Williamstown I was following a river. There I found a way down to some small rapids and filled the remainder of my bottles. This will be a good test of my filter. Ther water was clear, but bound to be full of nasties due to the cow fields around. I turned east on Hwy 2 at Lancaster and rode past the Ontario tourist infomation stop on the 401 where I stopped for lunch on the picnic tables. I also filled another 1.5L of water from the fountain here. I crossed into Quebec and was greeted by a tiny little sign and a "Bienvenue au Quebec" spray painted on the road. The Route Verte bike path appeared and I took this for about 10 km until it ended. Traffic began to get heavy, but it was slow. I crossed over a busy bridge onto Grande Isle and then battled traffic to the south-western bridge. I stopped briefly in a park for a snack and then followed a bike path up onto the bridge where there was a sign prohibitting bikes. I biked across anyway as it was short and the traffic was being polite. Signs at the other side guided bikes onto another bike path connecting to the bridge. I looked back and again, a sign prohibitting bikes. Go figure. I followed the 201 for the rest of the day. This was busier than I would like. I cannot figure out where everyone is going though... maybe to the US border? I passed through Ormstown and began looking for a place to stay. I found a trail into a forest of mature maples. There were maple syrup saplines everywhere, criss-crossing the trail and the woods, so I decided to move on. After about another 5 km, I found a skidoo trail which I followed into a very young maple bush where I found a place to camp. There was lots of poison ivy on the way in. I hope I managed to avoid it. Had a relaxing supper of noodles, broccoli, and fallafel, and then sat and read my book for an hour as the sun set. It is cooling down slightly, but sitill very warm. At least the mosquitos are not too bad here.