July 29; 85km; 167M vertical

Lancaster to Pointe Claire
We crossed the Ontario-Quebec border shortly after starting today. Another province done. Ontario is by far the longest and hardest province to cross. We climbed more meters in Ontario than in BC and we spent as much time in Ontario as the other 4 provinces combined. We passed through St. Polycarpe and St. Clet, both with nice churches in the centre of town. One more Tim Horton’s stop in Pincourt and we rode home to Pointe Claire to see our wives for the first time in 2 months.
We have completed 907km in the last 7 days and will now enjoy a 4 day break for bike and body maintenance.

July 28; 125km; 280M vertical

Brockville to Lancaster
We followed the Highway 2 along the St. Lawrence all day to Lancaster near the Ontario-Quebec border. After yesterday we were tired and we made sure to eat and drink plenty. We seem to be riding from Tim Horton’s to Tim Horten’s, but that is because their tea is the best we can find and their soup of the day easy to digest. We arrived at my brother George’s place in Lancaster in good time for a pre-dinner beer or 2. The supper was excellent (it is amazing how much we like real veggies these days) and the wine flowed freely. I think I went to bed after 1am.

July 27; 161km; 719M vertical

Belleville to Brockville
We decided to try for Brockville today so that tomorrow will be an easy day. We got underway at 9:30 and headed for Kingston. The nice weather and west wind allowed us to cruise to Kingston in good time and by 1pm we were in Tim Horton’s in Kingston for soup and tea. We then toured the Kingston waterfront before heading to Gananoque. Shortly before Gananoque we stopped at the McLaughlan Woodworking museum to check the woodworking tools. We chatted with another bike tourer in the parking lot having a cigarette break before finishing his 200km that day. (He was young and Irish). After Gananoque we took the 1000 Island Parkway to check the riverfront scenery. At the end of the parkway I navigated us onto the 401 highway for a 2 km stretch. There are no bikes allowed on the 401 so we put the pedal to the metal and zipped along at 40kph with the wind aid and the drafting from the cars and trucks. What a wild ride.
Brockville presented us with a problem - no motels along Highway 2. We had to ride 5km out of town to find a place for the night. After 161km we were too tired to ride back into town for supper so we just collapsed in our beds and drank tea and ate cookies.

July 26; 117km; 655M vertical; thunder and lightning

Bowmanville to Belleville
We took route 2 from Bowmanville at 9:30 this morning. Our first stop was Port Hope. As soon as I suggested we stop at a park bench and eat something, the skies opened up. The lightning started and the rain came down in buckets. The main street in Port Hope was closed for a street festival but the British Pantry was open for business so we ducked in for 2 pots of tea, pie and custard, and a packet of Digestive biscuits. Two hours later we were on our way. The whole day we seemed to be on the edge of a storm and we took shelter again in Brighton for more tea and soup. We finally rolled into Belleville at 6 pm somewhat wet and soggy, but a nice welcome from Tim, Lynn, Nancy, Barb and Brad cheered us up.
On an historical note we had 3 Tim’s eating, drinking and sleeping under the same roof . Lynn did a good job of not mixing us up and makng a great desert.