Kicking into Kanata, we ought to be in Ottawa, WE ARE IN OTTAWA!

SNM Tour day #43

A bit of an ugly day today, I cannot lie.

It rained most of the day, the traffic was horrific (exceedingly busy) and we were treated to some angry yells and at least one "happy finger".  There were parts of the highway near Renfrew that had essentially no shoulders and large potholes and ruts, enough to be utterly dangerous.  When we finally hit the two lane section just after Arnprior, it started raining quite hard, so we couldn't even enjoy this section.  On the postive side (there is one, right?) we did get in all the extra mileage that we needed to ensure that we will be at Parliament Hill before noon tomorrow. It was the second longest day of mileage of the tour to date.  The closer we got to Ottawa we also did seem to get more and more honks of encouragement (at least they seemed to be honks of encouragement....)

Enroute we passed the (in)famous Chalk River, Pettawawa township and military base (all which seemed to extend forever)and later some of the older farmlands and homesteads in Canada.

At the end, I was wet, tired and very glad the road work was done for the day.  Bob on the other hand, was eerily non-plussed by the weather, looked pretty fresh and while wet, was not at all cold, nor miserable - what gives?? You've heard of Sponge Bob - well, I was riding with Steady Sponge Bob - a virtual machine on a bike who cycled the same whether it was at the beginning of the day, or the end, flat or hilly, wet or dry, cool or hot - this guy is the real thing and it was a pleasure to ride with him.  We shared many a conversation on the bike as well as after and all in all, we found so much in common in regards to appreciation of life.  Now if I could only get him to run, he assures me he will be right back on it very soon (and if he could only get me to cycle faster - these little short legs only go so fast Bobby) Thanks Bob for the pleasure of your company and for sharing your philosophies, and insights into so many divergent areas.  You were a tour guide extra-ordinaire and I have a new perspective on the area we travelled through and on almost all the small towns we passed through, all of which made this leg of the tour/journey more interesting and special.  Thanks Tammy again, for your hospitality and for letting him spend this time with us.  We will meet again and hopefully share a run or cycle or many in the future.

Tour Day Sponsor is Canada Diagnostic Centres, thanks for your kind encouragement and support. 

Random Quotes of the Day 

Nobody ever drowned in his own sweat

Ann Landers

If one dream should fall and break into a thousand pieces, never be afraid to pick one of those pieces up and begin again

Flavia Weeden

It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop

Confuscius

(I kept telling myself this today, it was one of those days)

I have a lot of presentations in Ottawa, a bit of a break off the road. Hopefully the media in our Nation's Capital will pick up the story and we can get some solid media - all will unfold in the next 24 hours.

Everyone who has travelled with us for any length of time, continue to tell us to post something about how long it takes (and how much effort it takes) to document this tour with photos and blog about it in a coherent and at least semi-literate manner.

Well it does takes hours each and every day - it is a labour of love. So there, done!