We had been saying it all summer, but hadn’t done it yet. Today was the last weekend for Bike Days, meaning the parkways along the canal, river and in the Gatineau Park are closed to cars. It’s been such a crappy summer, most weekends we cycled along the river and the canal. We had made it up to Pink’s Lake once, but that was it.

Sarah & Rob at Champlain Lookout ... 18 km climb.

I have been training though. When it’s not raining and I have my good bike, I take a longer route home along the canal, past Dow’s Lake, up the hill, through the farm. Sometimes I go a bit further towards Hogs Back before heading home.

So today was the day. We out the door at 8 a.m., with Timbit glaring at us as soon as he saw the bike bag coming up the stairs. I’m telling you he’s one smart cat. He knows what we’re up to. It was a bit cool this morning, but we were dressed for the uphill climb, not the starting out temperature.

It’s 18 km from the visitor’s centre to Champlain Lookout, and most of it is straight uphill. There are some downhill sections, but you need to remember that you’ll have to climb back up that section on your return trip.

Lots of people were out with the weather being so fine.  And a new group of users has taken to the hills: the cross-country roller skier. These are a menace. They travel in packs, at a minimum two abreast. They didn’t listen to bike bells, don’t move out of the way when they stop, and don’t heed verbal warnings in either language. We also encountered to skateboarders who were doing the same thing, walking two abreast kicking their skateboards up the hill.

Much to my surprise Rob only passed me on the Pink’s hill near the top. It was great not hearing him yelling, “Work it, work it, work it baby, work it!”  For most of the climbs I was ahead, and he took it easy. He was just waiting for the last climb so that he could sprint to the top. He did beat me, but just barely. And I should point out that I did slow down at the tops of several climbs because I couldn’t see him behind me.

The view from Champlain Lookout was spectacular today, not a cloud in the sky. Once you could see past all the annoying bugs that were buzzing around our heads, flying up our noses, into our ears and eyes. They even bit me a few times. Needless to say, we didn’t stay long before we turned our bikes around and headed down hill.

Rob’s maximum speed was 65 km/h. I reached 62.3. Not too bad, but I’m getting more used to the hills too. Don’t think I could do it my first time down a hill.  All in all a good ride. And I’m impressed how much my hill climbing has improved over the summer.