Total distance: 4794km
Average speed: 23.0km/h
Weather: sunny
Lucky for me David makes waffles every Saturday morning! After breakfast I said goodbye to the Weiser family and left Highway 17 for good. I went along Petawawa Blvd all the way into Pembroke where I crossed over the Des Allumettes Bridge into Quebec. I followed along a great off-road trail called the PPJ that is part of Route Verte, Quebec's mass network of bike paths, until it turned into hard packed gravel and my bike didn't like it so much so I turned back onto the highway. Highway 148 is not too busy and had good wide shoulders for the most part. Farmer's fields occupied a great part of the day with the occasional view of the Ottawa River. Being in the Ottawa Valley, it was fairly flat overall although there were some steep 6-10% hills that I (fortunately) went down. The challenge today was the heat, and I stopped often to make sure I wasn't going to overheat or get heatstroke. While pretty much all signs were in French, I was surprised to be greeted in English at the supermarket in Shawville and gas station in Luskville. Katherine told me that apparently many people in this part of Quebec speak nothing but English. Just before 7 I got into Aylmer of Gatineau and crossed the Champlain Bridge into Ottawa. With the parliament buildings in view I felt like a million bucks riding along the river and then the Rideau Canal. And the best part is that I will be able to do this many times over the next few days. I arrived at my host Scott and Julie's place and was immediately brought over to their friend's place for a BBQ, where I was fed lots of delicious food and then watched an amusing game of washer toss, a popular game on the East Coast!
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