Day 4: to Shawville

Hello from Quebec. Crossed the border late afternoon today. Oddly the stop signs etc are still in English. Quebecers must love that.

It was a hot ride today, probably the highest mercury of the trip if the forecast is accurate. 30 degrees and full sun pretty much all day. It was the edge of tolerable for me and I’m not generally opposed to warmth.

We started back on the K&P trail around 9 and could have taken it much of the way today, but decided to follow the official route in all its circuitousness. We crossed over the trail several times as we zigzagged our way to our destination.

The morning was primarily on minor backcountry gravel roads. Shady which was appreciated, and very buggy which was not. Chris’s hands barely look human anymore and I got one bite today 🤣. It’s terribly unfair and I’m ok with that.

Conveniently, at lunchtime we came to the largest city we may be in on this trip other than Ottawa. Someone on the trail recommended we stop at Ottawa Valley Coffee for food. It was a good call, we feasted and drank ourselves as silly as possible without alcohol.

After lunch it was a lot of rolling country dirt roads through farmland. Not the most exciting stuff, especially not in the heat.

Crossed the border into Quebec around 4 and had a celebratory cone in Portage-du-fort.

We are now camped legally and for free in a city park in Shawville. There are about 6 official sites in here with water, power and picnic tables, but technically you’re allowed to pitch a tent anywhere in the park. I don’t know why more places don’t offer this.

There were a few small but much appreciated acts of kindness today. A woman in front of her house in the middle of nowhere offered us drinks as we rode by, and a man camped next to us asked if we wanted anything from town as he left to go to the store. I love it when these things happen.

Maybe some rain tonight/tomorrow but I’m not buying it. We shall see.

Chris’s version

After our relaxing evening in Calabogie I was in need of resupply as my riding snacks were stolen away in the night by a very hungry raccoon. I hope he enjoyed my cola gummies. 

We started out on the K&P trail again. The first few km went by easily. Shortly we turned off the trail and onto the gravelly goodness. As we started to climb the early heat of the day was showing itself, as did the bugs. We made good progress, partially trying to keep ahead of the swarms of flies. I have decided to bravely be the decoy of the team to allow Chad to focus on the cycling side of things.

Some fast downhills and a short highway section brought us to Tom’s road. It started with a steep climb followed by more than a few km of amazing flowing gravel. It was shady and out of the sun with good riding. It was also absolutely heaving with deer flies. There was no escape but through. We pushed the pace a little where we could to see the end of this section as soon as possible. Unfortunately Chad did not make it out unscathed, he was bitten on his arm. 

Once through there it was another hour of good paced riding to Renfrew. We stopped at the Ottawa Valley Coffee company. A chicken pesto sandwich, iced latte, and a nonalcoholic beer was a much needed break. 

Moving on out of Renfrew the heat was really cranked up. The second half of the day was primarily rolling farm land. We made good time and soon crossed into Quebec. We stopped at the Deppaneur and got a couple cold drinks. 

The final hour or so to Shawville was a grind. Exposed and very hot we decided we preferred the crosswind to the tailwind we should have been enjoying. 

We rolled intro the municipal park and campground (free for cyclists, and just and all round nice park) and found some shade to wait out the sun. As Chad made a food run I cooled down in the splash pad. It was ice cold and just what was needed.

After a dinner of sandwiches, fruit, hummus and another round of nonalcoholic beers, we set up our tents and chatted until the mosquitos drove us into our tents.

Tomorrow we head deeper into Quebec.