June 8 - 5:30am - 7:37am
(Kingston)
The next dawns... sunny (whew - I really don't feel like a rainy ride). We manage to get to the breakfast hall before the massive horde. The usual breakfast fare is served, but it is quite good. Jen is having a hard time with her food - she isn't feeling so well.
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
Riders ready for depature
Riders ready for departure
Back go our bags into check in, we return our room keys. Jen is really not feeling so well, but she musters up the strength and starts off with us at 7:37am.
7:37am-8:52am
(Kingston to Perth Road)
We all decide to ride out together with the realization that we may end up splitting up along the way. The morning weather is very nice - there is more sun today but it still isn't too hot. And there is still no wind. Bonus.
Heading north from Kingston
Just outside of Kingston I pull ahead to get some more cool motion shots. Which I do, but not of us. I wait and wait and wait but no one shows. Eventually I assumed they've passed by without me noticing and so I charge off at a high rate of speed to the first stop (Perth Road). Soon after I see Markus and Caroline and Dave arrive... they explain that something must have happened to Jen, since they themselves had waited many minutes before deciding to go on. We try to raise Jen on her cellphone, but to no avail. Perhaps she is still not feeling well and has decided to go for the Sag wagon.
9:05am-10:06am
(Perth Road to Westport to Perth)
Dave has a severe pain developing in his knee, and decides that it probably isn't a good idea to continue. I feel a bit bad about our little group breaking up but I suppose that there is not much we can do when stuff like this happens. So we leave Dave to either slowly ride or to just wait for the van....
courtesy Markus
Off we go towards Westport. Markus and I have decided that if another big pack comes along, we should join it. It is quite fun and efficient to ride in a pack, and not a few times we were tempted to join one. Eventually one does come by and we carefully nestle in behind and ask if we can join in. As long as we pull our weight, we are welcome. Which is good, because this turns out to be a wonderful bunch of people. And they are going at a clip that is quite compatible with our own pace.
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
From then on we make great time, often averaging a speed in the low 30s. Markus and I put in our duty at the front. Caroline somehow gets separated from us at Westport, and we wait up but can find her nowhere. At the westport hill Markus makes it up without having to walk his bike! Yaayyy! now I don't have to listen to Markus lament about how he can't make it up that hill on his old junker bike. This makes me quite happy! Also on the westport hill one of our "new" group breaks a chain (name?), and so we wait around for a bit while his chain gets fixed. I find out from one of our group members that he has been checking out RLCT info from my webpage! so cool! He knew who I was when I had mentioned my name and my web page. Definitely good inspiration for continuing to add reports and images to my page!
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
More Chain Repair Waiting
We have another 20 or so kilometres of pleasant hill-and-dale riding before the flats leading u to Perth. We cruise along at a high rate of speeed, chatting and talking. Often we are lambasted for going too fast up front - usually I'm paired to a guy named Rick who has a combination of a fast pace and no bike computer - so he is always slowly speeding up, and I'm caught trying to match his speed while not leaving the pack behind.
courtesy Markus
12:05-4:43pm
(Perth to Ashton to Ottawa)
In no time at all we are in Perth (before noon). The weather is turning hot and sunny, and we have only 77 km left to go before we are done! Believe it or not, that is a comforting thought after having done 277 km! So far I am still going good in the physical sense - no soreness or excessive fatigue. Much better than last year.
New tech against old tech
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
Scenic Farm Scenery near Perth
Shortly after Perth we encounter the annoying gravel road again (although this time dry). One of our group (name?) suffers a flat as a result, and we spend another 15 minutes or so with that.
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
The route is fairly flat from here on (to Ottawa), and we again make good time. Near Goulbourne I get the group bunched together for an at-speed group shot. Shortly afterwards, on Eagleson Road, there is a miscommunication and a 3-bike wipeout occurs in our pack. no one is seriously hurt, but there is a fair amount of bike damage. One rider, Thomas, suffers some major frame damage to his bike. When the repair truck arrives, it becomes clear that his bike is not rideable and so Thomas is forced to ride out the last 20 kilometres in the Sag Wagon. Drag. Still, at least no one was seriously hurt. These types of crashes can be quite bad.
After about half an hour we are on our way (minus Thomas). All that's left to do is ride through the streets of Ottawa back to Carleton university. We triumphantly arrive at 4:45pm. Turns out that all of our mishaps were, in a way, good from a timing perspective. The baggage truck had broken down and only arrived just as we did.
courtesy Markus
Arriving back at Carleton in Ottawa
Markus arriving at the finish.
Baggage being unloaded at Carleton U
Interactive trackmap with photo points - RLCT Kingston to Ottawa - click map to view
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
So.... another year, another RLCT. And quite a good one for myself. I had a lot of fun, and I am pleased with being able to do the ride this year with relative ease. I want to thank Markus, Pu, Caroline, Dave and Jen for their perserverance. And I want to thank Sylvie and her pack - you guys were great to ride with, and it was so nice of you to let us join in. I appreciate it!
courtesy Markus
courtesy Markus
Next year we should all do the
Golden Triangle! now that'd be fun!
Anyone who is interested in geek-ish graphs, maps, and statistics of our ride is encouraged to click [
here] to go to the gps data page.
