2020.09.08 – [CA] Mont-Laurier, Québec ==> Maniwaki, Québec (54 kms | Total: 505 kms) – After our brown bag breakfast, we cycled out of Mont-Laurier along the main highway 117. After 18 kms, we followed a pleasant secondary road leading up to Maniwaki. Before checking into our hotel for two nights, we stopped at another Tim Hortons for a light lunch. Once in our room, we looked at booking the remainder of our accommodation for our return home. We learned that our target motel in Gracefield had no vacancy. We managed to book a room on AirBnB which represented a detour of some 5kms on the outskirt of Gracefield. After struggling to find accommodation around Low, we opted to modify our itinerary and booked a motel in Wakefield. We had our evening meal at the restaurant attached to the hotel. We had a brief scare after returning to our hotel room following a walk. I discovered my wallet was missing. Thankfully, I was able to recover it from the restaurant as I had left it on the table!
2020.09.09 – [CA] Maniwaki, Québec ==> Maniwaki, Québec (0 kms | Total: 505 kms) – We started our day of rest by walking over to a local restaurant for breakfast. Later, we walked over to the small shopping mall to purchase some snacks and wine. As we learned that one restaurant that we planned to visit tomorrow was a “cash-only” business, we visited a few ATMs in an attempt to withdraw funds. We were a bit chocked that most ATM of local financial institutions were charging $4 for a cash withdrawal. We managed to get our funds for a $3 fee.
2020.09.10 – [CA] Maniwaki, Québec ==> Gracefield, Québec (38 kms | Total: 543 kms) – Before leaving town, we had a Tim Horton breakfast in our hotel room. We cycled out of town under the rain which persisted throughout the day. We cycled 15 kms on the highway 105 before we embarked on the start of the Véloroute des Draveurs near the village of Messines. The trail, another train track converted to a cycling path, was very pleasant and paved until Gracefield. In Gracefield, before starting the 5kms detour to our accommodation, we had a late lunch and ordered some take away food for a light evening meal as we would be far from any restaurants once we reached our accommodation.
2020.09.11 – [CA] Gracefield, Québec ==> Wakefield, Québec (48 kms | Total: 590 kms) – We managed to eat a reasonable breakfast from our left-over food supplies (fruits, cookies). The remaining 44 kms of the Veloroute des Draveurs were not paved. The trail’s surface was of varying quality which required more attention to ride on. We met a solo touring cyclist along the way who was camping wherever. We had lunch in Low before returning on highway 105 for the remainder of the route to Wakefield. After checking into our motel, we bought some snacks at the local bakery and grocery store which we ate for our evening meal.
2020.09.12 – [CA] Wakefield, Québec ==> Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario (62 kms | Total: 653 kms) – We had another left-over snack breakfast. The weather was very pleasant for cycling. Before taking the ferry in Quyon, we stopped at a very busy chip wagon for lunch. Once across the Ottawa river, it was another 6kms to our AirBnB accommodation in Fitzroy Harbor. We took advantage of our host’s offer to use their hot tub and pool. We had some take away pizza for our evening meal which we ate back at our host’s home.
2020.09.13 – [CA] Fitzroy Harbour, Ontario ==> Kanata, Ontario (47 kms | Total: 700 kms) – As predicted by the weather forecast, we would be cycling back home under the rain. After cycling 20+kms, we stopped in Carp for a late breakfast. We cycled without any stop the remainder of our route as the rain felt heavily at times.
