Double century
Montreal >> Ottawa | 217km | 744m | 9h06m
September 9, 2024 | 20ºC, partly cloudy (and lots of headwind)
Early morning Montreal
The only cold and rainy day of our entire trip was yesterday, when we took a day off to rest up for the longest stage: 200+ kilometers from Montreal back home to Ottawa. At 6:30 in the morning we left the apartment and were ready to roll. The sun was just about to rise and we were ready for long day ahead. It was going to be a challenging one: right at the start of the ride my Garmin device gave me a weather alert, “Strong Wind Warning!” Knowing that today’s wind direction the exact opposite of our direction of travel, this is not exactly the most motivating good morning message.
Getting out of Montreal was still enjoyable, given its great bike path networks and the early morning hours, with not too many folks out yet. The temperature was around 10 degrees but the real downer was the that constant headwind. And when it’s already that windy early in the morning, you better mentally prepare for more of it later during the day. But this was our last trip after two weeks of cycling and we’d be sleeping in our home tonight!
Headwind all the way
Once we left town, the rest of the route would either be along wide parts of Ottawa River or through open farmland in Ontario. Either way, enough space for wind to uninterruptedly blow into its designated direction, which just happened to be west, while we were travelling east. We remembered two days ago, when we experience the opposite, effortlessly sailing north. It always blows my mind how much of a difference wind direction makes when you’re on a bicycle. While on Saturday I was moving at 35km/h with my heart barely beating more than 100 times per minute, today I could hardly cycle faster than 25km/h, my heart pumping 150bpm or more. Each kilometer was a fight and we had to find a balance between a reasonable speed to be able to make it before sunset, and a reasonable effort to sustain for the whole distance. Defintely fun type 2 today!
The course we chose today itself was really nice for the most part. Ontario’s roads are overall not as smooth as the ones we cycled in New York, but with a few exceptions our chosen route was calm, flat, and pothole-free and included long stretches just straight, no curves.
Don’t bike on Russell Road!
Kilometer after kilometer passed and we were making our way east. Exhausting, but also rewarding in a weird way. Between kilomter 40 and 100 the biggest climbing took place, a long stretch of gradually going up all the way to Vankleek Hill, were we treated ourselves with some Tim Horton’s food for lunch. And still more than 100 kilometers to go! At this point we were confident that we’d make it before sunset, though, with an average speed of around 25-27 kilometers per hour against the wind.
When I planned today’s stage, I wanted to make it as short as possible. I’ve cycled from Ottawa to Montreal in one setting before, and had used different routes – some going all the way through Quebec, others staying along Ottawa River on the Ontario side. All of those alternatives would have been longer, though, and I wanted to make this last part as short as possible while still being able to do it in one day. It turns out that going into Ottawa from the south-west on a bicycle was not the best idea. We ended up on Russell Road, which on paper is a nice, direct towards our destination. In reality, on a Monday afternoon, it was an awful experience. No usable shoulder at all, potholes and bad asphalt, plenty of traffic in both directions, and some of the most angry Ontario drivers I have ever experienced. Heavy SUVs, trucks, construction vehicles and even school buses passing us at high speeds, not giving much space. 30 kilometers we stayed on that road and it was really stressful – and I usually don’t get stressed to easily by traffic.
200+ kilometers and we’re home!
Just before the sun started setting we not only made it through that awful Russell Road experience, we also hit that magical 200 kilometers mark. Tara’s longest ride so far, and her first metric double-century ride! With all the wind, the luggage, and two weeks of long distance cycling in our tired legs this felt like an extra special accomplishment. We still had 15 more kilometers to go, but now being back in our home town Ottawa, on very familiar streets and bikepaths, this was just an easy finish line stretch.
After more than nine hours of cycling today we finished a great adventure: 15 days on the bike, 1940 kilometers of pedalling, and creating countless unforgettable memories. Coming home feels good, but once you experienced that form of travel, you already can’t wait to plan the next tour. And we certainly will do this again!
South-bound: Day 01 | Day 02 | Day 03 | Day 04 | Day 05 | Day 06 | Day 07 | Day 08
North-bound: Day 09 | Day 10 | Day 11 | Day 12 | Day 13 | Day 14 | Day 15