OTTAWA!

So the last post was in Trois Rivieres, and much has happened since. Rainer, Adrian and I rode towards Montreal, and actually past it, to my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins' place in Pointe Claire. The West Island is absolutely beautiful, but it took a hell of a long day to get there. Mikey's train got into the Dorval station for 5:00pm and after assembling his bike he had hoped to meet us in Pointe Claire by the time we'd arrived. Unfortunately we took a long time in crossing the island, turns out to be quite a bit longer east to west than we thought, so we only ended up getting there around eight. Mike used the spare time to bike around the neighborhood and get his legs in shape to account for the time he missed in New Brunswick and north eastern Quebec. However, based on how well he biked at the front of the draft on the first leg to Ottawa, I don't think he, or anybody really, should find reason for worry.

In Montreal we had a great time with my family. My Uncle had burgers sizzling on the barbecue when we arrived, and we spent that night joking around with the family and amongst ourselves, playing video games (Top Gear 2 for Super Nintendo, the kids' entertainment for many Christmas Eves in that house) and watching tv.

The following day was a welcome day-off. My cousin Britt took us to Smoked Meat Pete in St. Anne de Bellevue for lunch, because you can't make the visit without a little Montreal Smoked Meat. Afterwards, we drove down the shore to check out the gigantic properties we would end up passing on bike on our way off the island.

My wonderful grandparents, Gaggy (my brother's version of Grandma as a toddler, it's stuck since) and Granddad, hosted us boys for a great take out chicken dinner that night. Granddad at 91 is still sharp and has a hilarious sense of humour. The guys all had a great time and rifled down the delicious food. After saying our goodbyes, we returned to my Aunt's and got ready for a night downtown, where we would spend at Foufounes Electrique, for sure my favorite bar in Montreal. Our flip flops, the most sensible alternate to our bike shoes for packing in the panniers, were laughed at by the doorman. We watched the Sens lose to our delight, and then saw The Saint Catherines close out their Poutine and Cigarettes tour. Raw, energetic punk was exactly the kind of sound we needed to keep us at attention, and we all left the show fans of theirs. Rainer was singing their praises on the way in, but the rest of left with a great first impression. The lead singer had a pair of Macho Man Randy Savage green stripe sunglasses, inside-out leopard print coat, Billy Joel and Elton John tour shirt with sleeves chopped off, and by the show's end he was shirtless bearing a mammoth beer belly. Hilarious stuff. Two dollar pizza closed out the night and we couldn't have been more pleased.

Yesterday we left Pointe Claire and headed halfway to Ottawa, stopping in Alfred, Ontario. We biked at a crazy clip for Mike's first leg back in the tour, going over 25km/hr on average. We camped in a family's yard, cooked up some Chili on our little propane burner and called it a night. Mike and I played poker in our tent until 11 or so, and I hustled him for $5.75.

Today we awoke early, made our signature peanut butter and banana sandwiches for breakfast, and made the short trip to Ottawa, about 80km or so. Pretty good ride overall, very humid with some headwind, and I flipped over my handle bars on the shoulder after a particularly tight squeeze on highway 17. Only a few scrapes, meh. We made it into Ottawa around 1pm, and Mike and I are staying with friends Becca and Nat at their aweseme apartment.

Tonight is our pub at the Cabin, and if you're reading this the cover charge is $3. If you print out the following ticket and hand it in at the door, the money will go directly to CANFAR, the AIDS research foundation we're representing on our trek. Hope to see everybody there, and go to Mike's blog for the ticket because right now the computer won't let me insert an image.....bah.