Stopped near Mallorytown Landing to check out a National Park site there....neat place, with beautiful views, and an old Gun Boat exhibit that was neat - for free! Overstayed though - so, had to push to make Brockville in time for my lunchdate. Heather and I went to a local pub for fantastic food, and my first couple of beers since leaving - they were so delicious, she convinced me to stay the night and go to a friend`s birthday bbq...so, after lunch, I went down to the waterfront to finish off the book Dan and Norm gave me to read....and, then fell asleep for 20 minutes. Thank goodness Heather came and woke me up - and brought some gatorade to replenish me! We went back to her apartment where I got to meet her new Hubbie, Tom - who seems pretty awesome! Visited with him for a bit, showered and off to the BBQ for the world`s largest cut of steak, some beer, a late night swim and great company. Even a campfire to close the night out. Glad I stuck around!
Unfortunately, all good things come to an end and the next day it was back on the road. This time, aiming for Cornwall - goal was 120 km in the day - equalling my longest day of cycling ever! Had to replace my kickstand first - apparently the one on there wasn`t meant for the weight I`m carrying around. The ride from Brockville was fantastic!! Small towns all along the St. Lawrence - history, great views, etc! Spent most of the day on Hwy 2 with some short detours down along bike paths. Stopped for Ice Cream and a read at a small town`s waterfront, then time to boot it to Cornwall.
The Second half of the day went pretty quickely - I was making great time and not really taking many breaks. About 60 km from my ice cream break to dinner - and only with short stops! Cornwall was less then exciting, but I did find a spot to get my Perch Rolls which Ryalen suggested...they were good, but I stopped literally 1 km before the Blue Anchor - which is THE place to get them. Oh well. Dinner was good - a whole new set of single serving friends - there was the girl making food who froze my water bottles and pumped me up for the short ride left to the campgrounds, a man from Montreal who lived in Cornwall and ate dinner with me, who is a cyclist as well, and the sketchy couple who came when he left!
Then, continued on the shore of the St. Lawrence to a beautiful sunset - and stopped at the first camp I saw....which turned out to be the world`s sketchiest trailer park - no, I`m not exaggerating....I got hit on by a 60 year old while the guys all laughed at me. They didn`t take overnighters - unless you`re a relative. They were hashing out a plan to make me a nephew for the night, but there were too many drinks in my new friends for them to put together a good story, and honestly, after my 2$ beer, I was ready to move on to somewhere a little less scary.
Unfortunately, sun had mostly set, so I brought out the shiny jacket, turned on the lights, and made the 1 km trek to the next campsite. Only 25 bucks a night - a deal!! So, had myself a campfire to reward me for my big day, then to sleep - where I got to try to tune out my 6 16 year old neighbours and their mundane conversations about all that teenage girls will talk about....
Good Day in the end...129 Kilometers!!! New Record!!
Way to go Chris! Keep on Peddeling, Watch out for Mike V. He should pass you on the way!
ReplyDeleteEnjoy riding- I will be at work tomorrow!