To Ottawa and beyond!

My time in Ottawa passed quickly. On Tuesday we held a rally on parliament hill which was well attended and very successful in terms of politicians and citizens alike being in attendance. I was put a little on the spot when I was asked to give a speech without any forwarning! Luckily Malkolm had known in advance and written something up so I said a few things a greatfully passed the mic on to him!

I passed out the remaining postcards that Nadia and I had been carrying since day 1 and talked to lots of people who were interested in the trip we had just completed. You can check out some pictures of the event here. We also got to meet the group from Quebec who had just cycled in that morning.

In the afternoon we all rode together from Embassy to Embassy in search of Canada's missing climate action plan. We heard from the Dutch Ambassador as well as from a representative from the Danish Embassy. By then we were all starving so a bunch of us headed over to a local cafe where Kesten's cousin had kindly offered to treat us to lunch. The MTV news girl joined us for lunch and conducted a few more interviews while we waited for our food so keep an eyeout for pedal for the planet on MTV canada's news airing sometime this week!

Yesterday I finally reached a decision about my plans for after Ottawa, nothing like leaving it till the last minute! I am going to continue riding on to Halifax! I spent the whole day planning route, searching for accommodations and getting supplies. I am going to post my itinerary below and like before I will indicate whether or not I have somewhere to stay and if you or anyone you know would be interested in hosting me for the night please let me know! As the weather gets colder a warm house to sleep in is more and more welcome!

> Sept 17 - Ottawa - Hawkesbury YES
> Sept 18 - Hawkesbury - Montreal YES
> Sept 19 Montreal - Trois Rivieres NO
> Sept 20 Trois Riviers - Quebec YES
> Sept 21 Quebec - Saint-Aubert NO
> Sept 22 Saint-Aubert - Riviere-du-loup YES
> Sept 23 Rest day in Riviere-du-loup YES
> Sept 24 Riviere-du-loup - Edmundston NO
> Sept 25 Edmundston - Grandfalls NO
> Sept 26 Grandfalls - Woodstock NO
> Sept 27 Woodstock - Fredericton YES
> Sept 28 Fredericton - Waterborough NO
> Sept 29 Waterborough - Moncton YES
> Sept 30 Moncton - Port Elgin NO
> Oct 1 Port Elgin - Charlottetown YES
> Oct 2 Rest day in Charlottetown YES
> Oct 3 Charlottetown - Caribou NO
> Oct 4 Caribou - Truro NO
> Oct 5 Truro - Halifax YES

Days 56-58 Watch out parliament here we come!

Kingston -> Westport 64km

Left Wolfe Island and headed over to Kingston in the morning where we were hoping to find some other people to ride with us. We set up outside of city hall to talk to passers-by and see if there were any cyclists to join us. We met some interesting people but when it appeared there were to be no more cyclists we packed up and hit the road.

The windy hilly road we followed was pleasant and the weatherwas good, a great day for riding. We had arranged to meet with our billet that night for lunch at a point half way but when 1 o'clock rolled around and we still hadn't found it we decided to have lunch number one on the side of the road. We found Gerrie a few km further on and stopped again for a second lunch. She had made us delicious dishes with ingredients from her farm. She even brought a table and tablecloth, the classiest lunch of the trip!

Westport was not far from there and we made good time. Although just outside of town on the way to the farm we did have to climb one of the top 5 steepest hills of the trip! Most of us managed to pedal all the way, but I can attest to the fact that we were all breathless by the top except maybe Ted who decided to go back down and do it again!

Gerrie's farm was great! She primarily grows produce and worms! Who knew red wrigglers were such a cash crop? I learned a lot about the benefits of having a worm compost. They will eat almost anything! All your food wasted and paper wasted can be digested by them and their own waste is some of the best soil you can get! Gerrie has introduced worm composters into many schools and businesses in the area which is awesome! I have been a fan of worms since I used to collect in my blue bucket when I was kid, but now I will be singing the praise of worms wherever I go!

Westport -> Blacks Corners 61km

A nice short day, it felt like we hardly did any riding at all. No sooner then we were on our bikes it felt like we had reached lunch. The town of Perth welcomed us at their museum with sandwiches and goodies. It was great to have such a wonderful reception, even the mayor was there to chat. Some of the locals rode out with us after lunch and I enjoyed chatting as we pedalled along. Nothing like a good conversation to make the miles fly by and again we had reached our destination in no time at all. We were staying on Goodwood farm and they had organized a barbeque for us! Although the sight of a lamb and chicken roasting on a spit doesn't appeal to me I know some in the group were very excited! Dinner was enjoyed by all and the good company helped. I noticed Malkolm in animated discussion with a neighbouring farmer who apparently did not share all the same views. We later found out he had been invited because our host wanted to stir up everyone's blood a little and get some good discussion going. He was certainly successful!

We slept that night in the backyard and I was only allowed to pitch my tent after being warned about all the animals which had the potential to attack. Bears, wolves, coyotes, coy dogs, raccoons and vampire bats were all mentioned. I couldn't tell if Keith was joking or not so I climbed into my sleeping bag feeling less then settled that night. When I woke up in darkness to see the silhouette of an animal circling my tent I was petrified! I managed to convince myself that it was just a neighbours dog, and after a few minutes it took off. The rest of the night was uneventful and I slept well.

Blacks Corners -> Ottawa 77km

The final destination! We had finally reached it and it felt kind of surreal. We took a great path into Ottawa, I really enjoyed not having to worry about cars and trucks and took time to enjoy the beautiful fall colours surrounding me. We had lunch in Stittsville and from there you really have reached the outskirts of the city so we passed through numerous subdivisions on our way to the riverside where we would find another cycling path leading us right to parliament hill.

Once in Ottawa we took the obligatory pictures in front of parliament before our hunger got the best of us and we took off in search of one last ice cream cone! A double scoop of gelato later and we were all pretty content. I left the group then to search for my friend Dom's house as that is where I was staying. Only then did the clouds burst and I was soaked within minutes! I got lost a couple times on route so by the time I was outside the door I was looking more and more like a drowned rat. Rain like that really makes you appreciate a roof over your head and hot shower!