Oh Boy! We're coming Ottawa... There are just some ditches...

Well, we have managed to weave our way through back roads from Toronto to the nation's capital of Ottawa. I will set out a little bit of a recap:

Sunday, we left the Greater Toronto Area with some advice given to us by a fellow cyclist we met up with on the road. He told us it was in our best interest to take Highway 11 Northbound. Initially, it seemed like a great idea, with its dreamy 8 ft. shoulders. Soon, however, those 8 ft. shoulders shrunk and we were stranded on a 1 ft. shoulder with rumble strips. This is not the most comfortable ride. We decided to pull out the map and check out the back roads. For any cyclists moving out of the busy southern Ontario toward Ottawa, I highly suggest doing this. The people on these roads were extremely friendly. Many pulled over to show their support, and again there were a lot of waves, honks, and thumbs up out of the sunroof! I think the highlight of this day for me was when a man who is in the Military stopped with his wife to show their support.

The following day, I had set a goal to reach Ottawa. Through back roads it was nearly 230 km., which I thought was completely possible. Especially, with the low amount of traffic that flowed through the roads we were taking. These roads were absolutely stunning, lush forests that you could smell while you were biking. We were around 30 km. outside of Calabogie which is a small town about 80 km. outside of Ottawa. My brother decided since the roads were great he was going to hop on a bike and ride with me for a bit. We were cruising along having a great time. Little did we know that Ashley (the in-ride coordinator and tentative driver at this point) had a massive scheme set up to get public attention.

Brodie and I were climbing a hill when we heard an alarming noise.... a mean honk on the horn from the RV trying to attract as much attention as possible. I turned around to be frightened about what was unfolding before my eyes. Ashley's media scheme was in full force with the RV at a 45 degree angle, which happened in this case to be the angle of destruction.... I came back down the hill to a terrified media girl who was completely stunned. We removed her from the RV to ensure we could properly pitch this event to the public. This is where her plan really took off, and cars would stop and say something like "Seems like you fell a little short. Should have cut it closer." We even felt like at points we should have offered the public popcorn, as they were very entertained. We definitely garnered the attention. We had one tow truck come and he claimed it was too complex for him to pull out. That's when we met someone who we cannot thank enough for what he did:
Hans Van Den Hun, a 69-year-old Dutchman with a heart of gold.

Right away he was problem solving this puzzle, asking us questions about how full the fresh water was, how full our septic was, how much gas was in the RV, etc. He was quickly calculating the proper angle required for successfully pulling the RV out. We waited for a kind police officer to meet us to barricade traffic off so Hans could get our RV to safety.

His massive tow truck completely pulled our "home" to safety. It came to payment time, and normally these specialty case tows would cost upwards of $500. Hans told us everyone needs money to make a living. He claimed, "I need money to live, yet there are times in life where you just need to give." He also told us what we were doing was something close to his heart as he is a cancer survivor himself. That is when I tried to pay the man and he claimed that our money was no good to him and he was just grateful everyone was okay and thanked us for what we were doing. Then he was off with a sound of his horn and wave as he passed us. We cannot thank Hans enough for his generosity and heart of gold. If you ever need a tow and you're near Renfrew, call 613-432-5332 and Hans will take tremendous care of you!

Now, since this publicity stunt occurred, we were forced to spend the night Calabogie. We have to send a thank you out to Bob for waving the fees for us to stay in his campground! This morning we woke and traveled through backroads again straying away from ditches! Today's highlight had to be a family in a van who hollered out the window as they passed and then stopped ahead and clapped as I passed them. They made my day, and I cannot thank them enough!!! We're now in Ottawa safe and sound with an intact (not crumbled) RV :)