As usual, here's my TLDR; Thank you for your support! - together we managed to raise $5680 on behalf of The Royal Hospital's mental health initiatives. Bravo!
Oh where to begin? This blog post is long overdue since the ride back in late May. I've been unbelievably busy (a good thing) - mostly with travelling to see both the daughters and a 3 week trip to Japan. Then trying to catch up on all the home chores I ignored for months. Oh and there was this thing called the World Cup happening (I'm a huge football fan) that successfully distracted me for days
This year's Perth 700 ride was different. For those of you who were familiar with the 7 Days Ride for Pancreatic Cancer, this year each rider was raising money for a charity of their choice. The details are described in my previous blog post. Final donation tally was over $75k for 18 different charities - pretty good for totally rider supported event with no sponsor!
Preparation for this year's ride was a bit more challenging due to the extended winter/spring we had in Ottawa. The snow didn't clear up in Gatineau Park until late April and the temperatures were quite cold. The good news though, was I was in relatively decent fitness (although not cycling fit) because this winter I took up cross country skate skiing in addition to classic skiing. And it was one of the best winter's in years for cross country skiing in the area
So I was outside skiing more than sitting on my basement cycling trainer for hours. I crammed in some outdoor rides in the final few weeks leading up to the Perth 700, but I was nowhere near as good cycling fitness as I was say in 2024
Because we had riders all riding for charities of their choice, the organizers of the event decided to make the logistics as easy as possible - to allow for maximum flexibility in terms of attendance. So they chose to base all the rides out of Perth Ontario so that participants would not need to figure out travel logistics in a multi day loop, as had been done previously. Each day of the 7 days would offer a choice of a loop of 100 km or 160 km (100 miles). On 2 of the days we started from remote locations less than 30 minutes from our Perth home base. So we never had to change motels or re-pack our belongings to switch accommodations. A bonus for me is that Perth is less than 1 hour from my house - so if I needed to get home and back for some reason, it was manageable
My plan was to attempt to ride the 160 km route for each of the 7 days. Here is a breakdown of the imperial century routes for the week (all rides leaving from Perth except where noted)
Day 1 - Merrickville - Delta (168 km - East then South)
Day 2 - Gatineau Park (incl Champlain Lookout) starting from Carleton Place {163 km - NE)
Day 3 - Syndenham (164 km - SW)
Day 4 - Kemptville (164 km - E)
Day 5 - Plevna - Snow Road Station starting from Westport (164 km - NW)
Day 6 - Fallbrook - Almonte (163 km - W then NE)
Day 7 - Inverary - Perth Road Village (164 km - S)
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| Perth 700 Routes |
Our motel in Perth was about 4 km from the official start point at Last Duel Park, so on some days I added 8 km to the distance
We varied in number from about 15 to 25 riders at the start on a given day. Given that about half the riders or more were riding the 100 km route and then with differences in riding speed, that meant that the riding groups got small pretty quickly. On some days we'd start out all together (many of the routes had overlap for the 100 km and 160 km for the initial portions) and then gradually break into smaller groups. So, typically I was riding with maybe 2-3 people and sometimes alone although we would typically end up reconvening at the rest stops
Each day at the start, we'd continue some of the traditions that were developed on the 7 Days rides. Jack, our route director would give an overview of each of the routes, updates on roads, weather, planned lunch stops, etc. That would be followed by a daily riding safety tip. And then one of the riders would provide background on 'why I ride' - with details about their preferred charity and usually with a personal connection to their cause
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| Our morning pre-ride gathering |
Day 1 was pretty uneventful. It initially looked like we were going to be starting in the rain but it stopped before we got going and we only experienced some mist in the morning. By afternoon it had cleared. Temperature was perfect. I was riding fine but started to fade at around the 150 km mark near Lombardy and ended up sitting on John's wheel for the last bit to get me in
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| Day 1 at the "Fork in the Road" near Frankville |
Oh boy Day 2. We'd had such a cold spring and then this was going to be the first really hot day (29c) with high SW winds in the afternoon with gusts up to 70 km/hr. I wasn't daunted by the forecast and of course I'm super familiar with the route up into Gatineau Park as it's one of my gotos. But nobody was acclimatized to the heat and I do especially poorly in hot weather. I could start to feel it just north of P3 parking (km 63) at the lower end of Gatineau Park. I really concentrated on hydration and electrolytes. By the time we got to our rest stop at Les Saisons Cafe in Old Chelsea, I was still feeling fine. But now we were heading back into the wind. And it was relentless. By about km 133 I was totally done. I couldn't push the pedals anymore (we were averaging about 18 km/hr at that point) and when I stopped I felt woozy. I sat for a bit in some shade. Luckily, this happened just south of Bells Corners which is about 8 km from my house! When the other riders came round, I suggested that I might need a rescue call home. So I called Desa who came to pick me up and drive me back to my car awaiting at the remote start location in Carleton place so I could drive back to Perth. I had a bit of leg cramping but I mostly managed to keep it at bay
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| Day 3 |
I was still concerned about the effects on Day 3, so I decided to ride the 100 km instead of the 160 km as a safety precaution. The winds were still very strong (and would be all week) but the temperature was back down to more seasonal values. Day 3 took us SW down towards Westport and Portland (the 100 km route skipped the portion down to Syndenham). Weather was good and the ride was pleasant. I mischievously changed the return portion of the route on the return to avoid a road that I dislike. I was able to convince several riders I was with and they all agreed that they enjoyed the return
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| At Narrows Lock |
Day 4 had us heading east to Kemptville along the Rideau Canal system and river. After Smiths Falls, it becomes a beautiful scenic route and one that I'm very familiar with. I felt good enough to try riding the 160 km again and did. The weather was perfect (save the wind) - sunny and low humidity. I felt pretty good at the end
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| With Peter at The Boathouse Cafe near Burritts Rapids |
Day 5 had us on some of the more remote roads in the region, north of our remote start location in Westport - and a few roads that I have not ridden previously. The route took us through the town of Sharbot Lake - a popular camping destination during the summer and then to Plevna (there's significant Polish settlers in this part of Ontario) and the iconic Shamrock Cafe. The winds were still strong but the temperature and humidity were good. Unfortunately I was encountering some problems with my GPS routing on my bike computer. It seemed that it was trying to get me to turn around at every instance. This became very apparent once we reached Sharbot Lake, where I was constantly making incorrect turns. Eventually I shut off the route guidance. But now I was riding a bit blind. Saving grace is that there aren't too many roads in the the area so you can't make too many bad decisions. But the bad news is that if you do, you're probably way off course. Unfortunately, I didn't stop and analyze the route as we were nearing our afternoon rest stop at Back Forty Artisan Cheese (km 116) which required a little out and back. Instead I asked one of the other riders if we continued on the main road past the side road where the shop was. He said yes, so off I went - I wasn't all that keen on stopping there anyway. With the wind I was more interested in completing the route. At that point I was riding on my own. About 8 km later, I noticed an intersection that I had turned at earlier in the late morning which was very odd. It seemed that I was retracing my earlier steps back rather than continuing the clockwise loop that would have taken me though Elphin and Maberly. I continued to the next intersection to see if there was a way that I could rejoin the route. But by that time, the distance to rejoin the route would have been greater than me retracing the route back from the morning. So I retraced the route (I have a pretty good sense of direction so I wasn't worried). It was starting to warm up and the wind was still strong. In the end I cycled 174 km on this frakenroute of my own botching. I was fine though. The rider who I asked for directions back near the cheese shop didn't fare so well though. He ended up going back towards Plevna and eventually called for a pick up when he was over 150 km with more than 70 km still to return to Westport!
Day 6 went pretty smooth. I was riding alone for a lot if it, but finally got a tailwind after turning SE in Almonte on the return, which pushed me pretty well all the way back to Perth. And my cycling fitness was starting to return as the little hills became easier to climb
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| Obligatory Dairy Queen post ride treat with Sharon and Mia |
We had a larger contingent of riders on Day 7, including my friend Gustavo from the 401 Bike Challenge who joined for the day. We headed down to Inverary and then back up to Perth Road Village and onto Opinicon Road - with a stop for tasty ice cream at Opinicon Lodge. I wasn't riding alone on Day 7 which was very welcome. The weather remained good and the wind finally died down
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| "It's done!" 7 Days alumni Terry joined Mia and I at the finish |
A few of the riders (who were from all over Ontario and western Quebec) came to realize during the week that Perth Ontario is very likely the best starting point for a varied cycling experience in Ontario, and would be candidate for one of the best in all of Canada. It has everything - hills to the north, flat the south and east, rolling terrain, gravel roads, wonderful paved roads with little traffic, scenic views of rivers and lakes, the UNESCO World Heritage Rideau Canal lock system and within trip distance of Gatineau Park. If we had to pick a location for a hub and spoke multi day cycling event in the future this might be it
It now seems that Perth 700 organizers are going to try and make this an annual event. They've incorporated and will now approach the city of Perth to see how they might be able to support the event. Many details to be worked out about how this event will move forward next year
Once again, I thank all my donors and supporters - without you none of this happens. Arigato gozaimasu!
Take care,
Dan
