It was a day of pure road trip: sunshine on the rolling blacktop, endless hills and valleys stretching out in front of us, the smell of warm cedar on the wind. Our morning ride along highway 35 from Carnarvon to Dwight was an incredible surprise. A new road for all of us, it felt like it was the best of Ontario cottage country crammed into 70km of pure riding joy. Little lakes at the bottom of valleys, lots of twisting turns along the waterfront, and some great views. It could have just been the glee at not being cold and wet for the first time in days, but there were big smiles all around as we pulled onto highway 60 and headed into Algonquin Park.
After a cup of pretty decent gas station coffee (they brew it fresh to order for the road crew working at the entrance to the park), we rolled east along the newly paved highway, stopping at Lake of Two Rivers for a little beach snooze before heading for lunch at the Mad Musher in Whitney overlooking the Madawaska River. We made a new friend, organic farmer Tom Logan from SunRun Farms outside of Maynooth (he and his partner Natalie own the SunRun Cafe in town – stop by if you’re in the neighbourhood!), and Mike took him for a ride on the BMW. Hopefully he’ll trade for a plate of those famous SunRun Cafe french fries when we come back through the area in late July.
The rest of the day was just as beautiful, continuing east in the late afternoon sunshine on highway 60–through the first Polish settlement in Canada, Wilno–until we turned off for Bonnechere Provincial Park just west of Killaloe on Round Lake. Pierogies for dinner!
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