Brockville and Rideau Lakes - 2021

Saturday, July 31, 2021 - Ottawa to Brockville - 118 km

Kat and I left home just before 08:00 for a three day tour down to Brockville and back through the Rideau Lakes area. It was a cool morning and a north-west breeze kept us dressed warmly for the first part of the day. Riding out of the city, we pushed into the wind slowly as we zigged west and cosated along as we zagged south all the way to Richmond. It has been a few years since I have piloted a fully loaded bike, but it only took a few kilometers to get back into the groove and by the time we were out of the urban zone, the dump truck like handling felt natural and comfortable again.

We rode out on McCordick road for something different and it was unfortunately much busier than I had expected. Once across the river though, we turned towards Merrickville and the traffic diminished to a much more pleasant level. We stopped for lunch at the locks by Andrewsville and then pushed on through Merrickville following a road south all the way to Maitland. Highway #2 into Brockville was not ver pleasant as the pavement was very broken and traffic heavy. At least it was slow moving. We stopped at a chip truck for a final snack on the edge of town and then biked a little further to a friend's house where we are spending the night.

Ready to leave on a cool but lovely morning

Lunch break at Upper Nicolson Lock

A very extensive collection of lawn tractors. We joked it must be quite the task to maintain the grass around these!

Final snack break

Sunday, August 1, 2021 - Brockville to Narrows Lock - 70 km

It poured rain all night so we were thankful to have a dry roof over our heads. Fortunately the rain stopped during a lazy morning start. Though precipitation threatenned the entire ride, we statyed dry. It was cool however and we had to stop a few times to adjust clothing layers, even adding some towards the end of the day.

We left Brockville on a gently rolling and winding road with very light traffic, turning onto a more heavily travelled road a bit later. Everyone passing was polite however, and we enjoyed the ride. At the town of Delta we were given some beta from Brockville friends that there was a worthwhile bakery, so we stopped for some sandwiches and tarts, eating at a small parkette by an old stone mill building. A little more riding brought us to Narrows Lock where we stopped for lunch and decided it might be worth putting the tent up here before the immenent rain began. We spoke to the lockmaster and he sent us up the hill to a small open area with a couple of picnic tables which will be our home for the night.

The tent went up quickly as we anticipated the skies openning up, but the promised wet never manifested and we remained dry for the rest of the evening. Tomorrow is supposed to be nicer weather for the long ride back home.

Leaving the Coachman's House

Break at the Mill parkette

Katharina's bike found a friend

Narrows Lock

Camp for the night

August 2, 2021 - Narrows Lock to Ottawa - 114 km

Well last night was not one for sleeping. Went to bed around 10:00 but cars bouncing across the swing bridge and then accellerating up the hill beside the camp area was pretty noisy. Four kayakers arrived and banged around as they set up camp beside us. Finally things began to quiet down around midnight until I heard our pots clanging and I looked out to see a big fat racoon trying to get into my panier. Got up to shoo it off and then hung up our meager food bag in the only tiny tree in this field with an accessible branch. Settled back in and then had to shoo the racoon again later as it came sniffing around my face in the tent. Finally fell asleep for a brief instant until some arsehole drove up, and started blaring on the horn before squeeling tires and tearing off down the road. At 04:00 the kayakers noisily got up and spent the next hour packing and leaving. The sun then came up so I figured I might as well too since at this point sleep was a lost cause.

After a very strong coffee and some breakfast we packed up and started riding towards Murphy's Point on a beautiful morning. We stopped at the locks on the Tay River for our first break, and made a mental note that next time we will camp here and not at the Narrows, as this place is beautiful (and much more secluded). We continued on following back roads until Tennyson where we stopped for a quick snack at a boat launch along the lake. We said hello to a group of people who were also there, and after a few minutes they firmly informed us that this was not a park and was private property. We said goodbye and continued on our way. A little while later we were in Ashton so stopped at the brewery for a pint and lunch in a much more welcoming envrionment.

Lovely riding weather past Murphy's Point

Lock along the Tay River

We took the TCH rail trail home which is the fastest way back, but somewhat annoying as it goes through Stittsville and Kanata, since the road crossings are so poorly designed. Some new signs erected and autographed by the local councillor insist that you must dismount and walk at every street crossing. Perhaps it would be safer if some additional signs were installed on the street encouraging motorists to get out of their vehicles and push them in neutral across these portions... stupidity. My favorite part of this trail is that the builders managed to construct the trail all the way from Carleton Place (40 or so km away) to Bells Corners, and stopped construction 100m from the logical terminus connection of Moodie Drive. Instead one must ride some broken pavement through an industrial park to get to the street that you need get to (Moodie) which has great bike lanes to continue you on your way. Another 30 minutes or so riding home from here, completed a successful tour of almost exactly 300km. An afternoon nap was in order!

The End

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