Posted by Les Faber in Oh what a weekend! Months of preparation led up to 2 days of cycling joy on the Rideau Lakes Cycling Tour (RCLT) between Ottawa & Kingston. My buddy Barry & I had trained hard for this 360 kilometer ride.
Our day started at Carleton University with registration, last minute instructions, and a nervous trip to the washroom. Cameron (pic below) told me that being nervous was a good thing.
The Cameronator
The 3 of us set out around 7 AM – sunny skies. So far so good!
Los Amigos!
The tour’s organizers did an excellent job of planning our route out of Ottawa and towards our first stop in Ashton. With 37 years of experience, they know what they are doing! This year’s tour attracted upwards of 1800 riders from all over.
The great thing about these rides is that you meet so many great people along the way. They just pop up. You ride together, talk, and get to know new and interesting people.
Alan & Caroline
The Road to Ashton
Flat riding to Ashton and our first official break. The thing they drill into when you do long rides is that you need to constantly fuel your body and replenish liquids. More on that to come.
Things start to get rolly polly as you enter Ashton. From there it is on to Perth (a very nice town) and our next official stop. More rolling hills. I wasn’t really into this next leg of our ride. It was nice, but boring at the same time. This is the leg between Perth & Westport. Somewhere around 105 kilometers in something happened. I was cruising with a group at around 35 kmph and dropped back because I thought we had lost a rider. When I attempted to regain my speed…. nada. I had BONKED. This has never happened to me and I was dumbfounded as the group pulled away from me rather quickly. There was no apparent warning as my “legs” just disappeared from under me. About 15 minutes in, Cameron showed up. He had figured things out and had come back to fetch me. “Les, what have you eaten? Did you drink enough? You are dressed too warm.” Okay, I get it…… Eat (like I hadn’t been stuffing my face all morning!)… I guess I you really need to pig out on these rides. 1 Gatorade, a pile of nuts, a banana, and 4 electrolyte capsules (thanks Cam!), I was back riding. I had basically emptied my tanks without knowing it.
Westport is the last big stop before the final leg to Kingston. Stop, refuel, etc… The last leg of this ride is a killer. Under 50 kilometers with some big ass hills. All of the stories I had been hearing had me worrying somewhat. Could we get through this last part? We did!
Editor’s Note: The pic below is from our ride back.
Les at Westport
To make a long story a bit shorter, the hills were big. But our training had prepped us quite well. I never felt any of the hills were insurmountable and always arrived at the top with energy to spare.
We arrived in Kingston safe and sound.
A well-deserved jaunt to the downtown core for some Guinness and a pile of salty french fries was in order (sorry no pics). The beauty of cycling is that you can eat almost anything you want and in high school boy portions when you are doing a big ride.
The night ended with Barry and I falling asleep in a common room at Queens University (where we stayed) during Don Cherry’s first intermission rant – Wings|Penguins game.
Sunday was really not all that nice. We were chased (and caught at times) by rain all the way from Kingston. It finally caught us in ernest as we entered Ottawa. So what! We did it. 360 kilometers over 2 days!
Barry after 360 kilometers
Les after 360 kilometers
A warm bath, a glass of Scotch, and a wonderful supper with Helen! It doesn’t get any better than this!
What I liked:
Most everything
What I’ll do better next time:
Invest in high quality shorts. You don’t want to know…..
What I Didn’t Like:
The moronic car drivers who felt it necessary to try and squeeze by a group of riders with oncoming traffic through a blind corner while crossing over a double yellow line (frequent sightings). BTW, to the guy who yelled “*ssholes” out the window of the pickup truck ….. Say “Hi” to your other brother Daryl for me.
End post…..
Hi Les!
Congratulations… you did it!
It’s a small world after all… Allan and Caroline rode with us for approx. the last half of the trip back..
Mr Pinarello
Thanks man. It was superb! Next year the 250 km. ride?
Wow Les, this sounds awesome. I did a hundred miles yesterday and theres no way I am going near my bike today, so huge credit to you my friend.
Thanks David. We had a great time. There is after all hope for guys your Dad’s age!
Congrats on your CENTURY! Did you use your fixie or another ride?
Les,
Y O U R O C K
Hey thanks Greg. I am feeling pretty darned good (sore… tired)! For some reason raising my arms above my head has been difficult today!
Congrats! My 2nd year doing this (last year I did the classic with 3 others who had done it twice before, but only the century this year as there were 8 of us, 5 rookies) … the guy in the pickup who yelled “*ssholes” must have been following anyone with an OBC# on their back, unless there was more than 1 of them out there.
Thanks Kiefer —- congrats to you and your friends also. There were numerous idiots out there. Barry actually got run off the road by a ParaTranspo bus as we entered Ottawa. In general, drivers have lost to learn about cyclists and mutual respect.
Hi Les!
We had fun with all the riders we met and rode with last weekend. Could you believe that we look forward to doing it again next year? What an awesome picture you candidly took of us, merci!
Hey guys — we really enjoyed meeting and riding with you. Too funny that you ran into my good friend Sergio on the ride back!
Let me know if you want the pics. I also have another one of Alan that I did not publish.
Wow good ride! 360km 2 days… that’s great!
Long ride! Merci mon ami!
Hi Les!
Congrats, wow, I’m in awe!
Thanks! It was fun…. How are you doing Maureen?
I’m doing good, but haven’t been on the bike as much I’d like. I’ve started bike commuting again, working on my pedaling technique which seems to be really helping on the hills.
Hi Les,
Congratulations… you did it!
I knew you could.
Guess it’s on the schedule for next year again…
Helen
Thanks honey!
And you’ll have to tie me down to stop me from doing this ride next year!
Congrats, BIG ride. Sounds like a lot of fun.
Me and my rear end had a marvelous time!
[...] familiar with Highway 15 and having cycled it (by accident when we got waylaid during the Rideau Lakes Cycling Tour 2 weeks ago), I am well-aware of the dangers associated with cycling on that particular road. It is especially [...]
Hi Les
What a great blog. I am going to do the Rideau lakes tour next year. As you know it will only take a few creme brules to fill my tanks!
My estimate is about 10 creme brules! Trust me….. You’ll need ‘em.
See you there then?
Hi Les:
Impressed with your nice website and also the planning/ determination and stamina to train for and complete a 360 km Rideau Lakes roundtrip in 2 days. You did not mention any bike technical difficulties so common in my biking days some 70 years ago which required to take tools and spares on the road then.
Thanks Douwe. I was fortunate to have no flats or other mechanical issues along the way. I did determine that I needed to increase my “cycling shorts budget”. There is no replacement for a good pair of high quality shorts with superior padding. Too bad I discovered this on the way back from Kingston!