Still in Ontariario

Camping on the Ottawa River

After a great night's sleep, we hit the road around 10 am. Brent is really sleeping well and also enjoyed his TV fix, watching the golf at St. Andrews. It was a windy ride, just like the golf at St. Andrews, and frankly, not too exciting.
The weather was good, however, so we managed to put on quite a few km's.
We have passed about 50 cyclists so far, 99% of them are heading the same direction as us. It made me think about our cycling pals and I am in awe of the ones who have cycling this portion of our great country. Koodos to Rhonda, Roy and Hans- you are all amazing! I think we should all lobby the government to add to the shoulders on this highway, especially east of Brandon and well into Ontario. It's amazing how much safer it would be for the riders if they just had an extra foot or two of pavement on the side.
We skirted Sudbury and North Bay and headed towards Ottawa. We are currently staying at a campground on the Ottawa River in a town called Mattawa. Maybe Matt discovered this town, as Otto discovered Ottawa? (history, re-written by Nance...) Actually, Mattawa means meeting of the rivers.
Strange things seen on the road: 3 guys waling along the highway with the same white shirts, with red text on the shirts, holding water bottles...What's strange about that, you say? Well, they were spaced out about 5 km's apart. In the middle of nowhere...Maybe they had a disagreement and needed some alone time?
Between Blind River and North Bay, there are many farms, and a lot of them have these huge old barns, which are really stunning. I also noticed a lot of houses with front doors that had no steps going to them. I guess they just use the back doors around here... Maybe I have had enough alone time in my helmet...
My editor, Brent, tells me that I should let all know that we didn't need to stop in Thunder Bay for tires, as it seems like the tread is wearing better than expected. We will probably get the bikes serviced and new tires now in Quebec City.