Day 63 - Griffith to Arnprior

85.5 km - Total so far 5,265.59 km - http://ridewithgps.com/trips/5848418

Day 62 has posted.

We had a really nice waterfront campsite complete with lawn chairs lent to us by the owners. They normally don't provide a camp site to 'road people' but they seem to have a certain interest in folks who travel by bicycle. We left at 8:30 under overcast skies and first headed to Calabogie, 45 km away. Once again a lot of up and down till we reached Calabogie. At Calabogie, we stopped for our second breakfast and saw many cyclists whizz by on road bikes. It was only later in Burnstown that we learned that the Ottawa GranFondo was taking place today.

Beach at Camel Chute Campground on Madawaska River

Bridge over one of the many lakes on our route

Time share lodge on Calabogie Lake

Once we left Calabogie, the route became a lot less hilly and we were able to make quick time to Burnstown were we had to stop for desert. We sort of ran out of wild flowers to take pictures of so now we are taking pictures of amphibians. The little guy in the picture below did not make taking his picture easy which explains why it is not as clear as usual.

Amphibian of the day

The Blackbird Café in Burnstown often hosts upcoming singers and bands. It is a well known place in the arts community around Ottawa and the Ottawa Valley.

We had delicious strawberry-rhubarb pie with lemonade at the café. Once desert over, we hit the road for what I remembered to be a big hill after the bridge over the Madawaska River. I could not have been more wrong. Yes, there was a hill but a relatively small one. As we negotiated the hill, we were passed by folks cycling the GranFondo.  We followed the GranFondo route for a while but eventually turned away from it as we were heading to Arnprior and they, to Ottawa. A few cars and trucks passed us on the road and offered us words of encouragement (that is what we think they were yelling at us ;-). I wish they would stop and yell at us from the side of the road so we could at least make out what they say and we could thank them for their kind words with a few choice words of our own.

The Madawaska River as seen from the new bridge.

Once in Arnprior, we quickly ran around town to pick up essentials and headed to the motel just in time. It did not take long for the skies to open and for a thunder storm to start. We sat outside for a while until there was a lighting pretty close to us and we decided to beat a retreat inside. 

Just like that day in Wawa

A lovely video of rain falling outside and not on us while in a tent

We did win at the lottery but just enough to buy a bag of Cheesies so we will be at Hog's Back Park tomorrow at around 3:30. Just look for two people on loaded bikes with mismatched flags. Hélène's parents will be there with refreshments and we will supply the Cheesies, everyone is welcome.

The park entrance is on Hog's Back which runs between Prince of Wales and Riverside Dr

53.13 miles - Total so far 3,271.88 miles