We made it - home, safe and sound

Proof that we're home

Proof that we're home

Day 19 June 11, 2367.8 km Kingston

We knew that we were in for either a very long day or addition of another night at a motel close to Kingston.  We chose the former because we were as well rested as we could be on the road and home beckoned.  We left Eganville at 5:15 am in cool but clear weather with a forecast for thundershowers in the afternoon.

The road was initially flat and straight, then it gave way to a series of hills as we turned toward Denbigh.  Nevertheless, we did not find the hills to be particularly difficult; we just geared down and went up slowly.  We were quite comfortable to go up slowly with little pressure on our legs or knees, and would just find something to talk about.  The road was so much more pleasant than the section of the Trans-Canada Highway that we just left; it was less busy, much smoother and had a paved shoulder on most sections.  When we got to Denbigh, we confirmed that there were no motels operating, in fact there were no motels for about 100 km further; it would have been a problem had we gone to Denbigh assuming that we could find a place to stay.  Because this is no longer on the Trans-Canada Highway, the type of traveller must be different resulting in the need for fewer motels; this is useful information to know for future travels.  Whatever wind we had was as the forecast said, mild and from the east; thus, we made decent time and arrived in Kaladar around 1 pm and stopped at the restaurant for lunch.  As their breakfast menu was still active, I had a stick to the ribs breakfast of two eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon, sausage, ham and coffee.  Susie had the same minus the sausage and bacon; nevertheless her order happened to come with a slice of ham over a half inch thick, which resulted in difficult peddling for the next few hours.  It’s just as well that I ate a lot there because I looked at myself in the mirror at home later, and thought I looked skinny; I had lost 10 pounds and was the lightest I’ve been as an adult.  Proceeding south of Kaladar on Hwy 41was pleasant with good roads and little traffic, and the sky became overcast- less heat.  We took the short cut through Tamworth, where we stopped to deal with Susie’s bike seat.  About two hours from Kingston, just north of the 401 the skies opened up with lightning, thunder and rain; it rained until we got within 6 blocks of home.  Fortunately, it was a warm rain and not particularly uncomfortable.  We are home at last safe and sound, after a 208 km run home to Kingston.

This has been a wonderful trip.  The scenery was spectacular, and the people throughout Northern Ontario were very friendly.  We covered 2368 km in 17 days of cycling- 19 days including the days of enforced rest in Thunder Bay.  Our average ride was just under 140 km per day.  The distances were less at the beginning where we were breaking in our legs, and longer at the end with several daily rides dictated by the distances between motels.  There is satisfaction in having bicycled from Nanaimo to Halifax, and we look forward to completing the ride by bicycling from Halifax to St. John’s (Cape Spear) in 2012.