We set out from Kanata on our Ottawa Valley tour on Tuesday, July 4, with a support vehicle taking our gear for our trip.  From Kanata we headed to the Ontario/Quebec border for a crossing via the Quyon Ferry.  We had three groups: a fast group, and a slow group with another group riding somewhere in between.

Of note for those of us from elsewhere, this cable ferry runs on electricity, and ran in spite of the fact that the village of Quyon was severely impacted by the flooding earlier this year.  We arrived in the early afternoon at our destination, the Chemin de Pine Lodge.  A rustic old lodge for our first night on the trip.  

From this stop in Bristol we continued on the next day to Pembroke via a stop in Portage du Fort, where some of us had the local food outlet open early just to give us take-out lunch.  Shortly after this stop we crossed back into Ontario while crossing on the top of a dam on the Ottawa River.  Very pleasant country roads except for a short distance into Pembroke itself.  

We were to stay in Pembroke for 2 nights, which let us experience a little of the local colour.  We chose 2 different rides for the following day – the fast group took  ride around Allumette Island, while most of the rest of the group rode to Camp Petawawa for a swim (or wade).  The fast group had a 77 km ride; the others had a 40 km ride.  Most of us went to a new restaurant in Pembroke that evening.

The following day saw us head for Renfrew.  This was mostly a rural road ride, with limited places to stop (although we had one generous farm let us picnic on their site). 

The sag wagon came in handy to address a couple of flat tires we encountered on this ride.  As we reached Renfrew we were greeted with a thunder storm, encouraging us to finish our ride for the day.  That evening we went to the restaurant in our hotel for dinner, with some of the group partaking in some of the entertainment available elsewhere that evening.

Saturday was our last day, with a 75 km ride back to our starting point in Kanata.  We got a lovely tail wind for much of that trip, putting a big smile on most of the group.  We had 2 stops on this route: the historic town of Amprior and Carp, where we had lunch at Alice’s Restaurant before our ride to the finish.

This was the first tour put on by the Ottawa group, and was very well done.  All of us appreciated the work that the leaders and support did in supporting us with the van (with water, and assistance with bike repairs as required.)  An excellent start into the touring trips for them.  A big thanks to Geoff Kennedy, Don Taylor and all of the others from Ottawa who made this trip so memorable for those of us from away!