Our day started with another good breakfast at Carleton University.

At breakfast Alain, Jacques, Elaine and Michel all showed up wearing identical cycling jerseys. They had all had their bikes fixed at the same shop yesterday and the bike shop had given them the jerseys.

Elaine, Jacques, Michel, and Alain sporting their new jerseys

After breakfast, and after loading our bags onto the truck, we were off. Our ride started with a beautiful cycle alongside Rideau Canal to downtown then onto Sussex Drive past the Prime Minister’s and the Governor General’s residences.

On the outskirts of Ottawa we caught up with Eric and he ended up riding with us for the rest of the day. Our route followed the Ottawa River for most of the day.

Around 40 km we crossed the river on a ferry into Quebec. Wow! We are finally out of Ontario. You don’t appreciate how big the province is until you’ve ridden a bicycle through it. We celebrated by stopping at a little cafe for breakfast #2. The Eggs Benedict sounded too good to miss and were fabulous.

Chateau Montebello

Chateau Montebello

Another 40 km saw us stopping at Chateau Montebello, the largest log structure in the world. Susan and I had stayed here in 1996 when I was attending senior management meetings during our company’s centennial year. Seeing the magnificent building brought back some great memories.

Chateau Montebello

In the village of Montebello I enjoyed a delicious Brie Burger at a local burger joint. Then it was back on the bikes until we eventually came to ferry number two for the day.

Elaine, Eric on ferry ride #2

Ferry #2 looking towards shore

On the other side we stopped for ice cream right by the ferry dock. As we were finishing Jacques and Alain arrived on the next ferry and decided to stop as well. As Jacques was looking to lean his bike against the building the owner yelled at him none too politely not to lean it against his flower box. Now there are polite ways to ask this, which wouldn’t have offended anyone, and there is yelling rudely. This guy opted to act like a total asshole and it cost him two customers. Obviously he had missed the customer relations course. We too regretted having spent any money at his establishment.

Bike sculpture beside road

The last 40 km into camp near Hudson continued the scenic trip we had been enjoying all day through farmland and past beautiful homes. Our route was mainly flat and with a tailwind we made good time. Overall it was a pretty easy 167 km ride.

In camp we met Marie-Andree who had ridden the tour in 2010. She brought with her a photo-book with some gorgeous photos of her trip. There were 40 that year and they all finished.

It was Mike’s birthday today but he wants to celebrate when we get to Quebec City. We did finally eat Rob’s cake from several days ago.