Total distance: 4563km
Average speed: 24.2km/h
Weather: sunny
I was all prepared to quietly camp by the river last night when another miracle happened. As I was sitting on the steps of the closed Moon Cafe, the owner walks by to do some work inside. Not only did he not mind that I had plugged my phone in an outlet outside, he proceeded to give me the Wifi password and then told me about a women's shelter that I can stay in just around the corner. A few moments later, another man on his way home to Ottawa takes a pit stop right in front. He told me all about the neat places in Ontario as well as his motorcycle travels across the continent. Before he left he gave me his business card and said I could even camp in his yard in Ottawa. Somehow it was already 9pm and I decided I was going to check out the women's shelter. It was in a very nice big house and before I even start to knock, the door opens and the lady invites me to come in. And that's how despite not being at all the targeted population of women in crisis I was welcomed with open arms into the Mattawa Women's Resource Centre for the night. In the morning I met more of the women who worked there and was treated essentially like a celebrity. They were incredible and even said to tell other female cyclists about the centre! I could have stayed there and chatted the whole day but finally got going a bit after 10. It was another gorgeous windless day for cycling and the Laurentian hills were just perfect, steep enough to get enough momentum down that you don't have to work too hard going up. 25km later I found two girls who were also biking across the country and it turns out that they had biked with Natalie for days! The very interesting thing is that their dad was driving a motorhome carrying their stuff and he would drive to a spot and then bike back to meet them a few times a day. I went ahead arranging to meet them later and rode all the way to Driftwood Provincial Park. It was one of the hotter days and I couldn't wait to cool off in the Ottawa River. I swam to check out a tiny island before laying for what felt like eternity on the rocks sunbathing. When the park rangers came to install a new dock I packed up and did the last 20km or so to Deep River. I had lost track of time at Driftwood so my hosts Steve and Kate were already gone for their afternoon run when I arrived. When they came back we had a great BBQ with two of their friends featuring grilled liver. Then for dessert I showed everyone the Tim Tam Slam with the Tim Tams that I'd brought, a perfect end to a spectacular day!
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