1. Odyssey milage goal: 92 miles

Terrain: Fairly flat with a few dipps.

2. My riding goal: Ride the 52 miles to Checkpoint.

I got up early enough to do 30 minutes of yoga to loosen and stretch my tight muscles. It feels good to do this. I need to stretch more often.

Breakfast was good. I had scrambled eggs, bacon, a muffin, fruit, orange juice, and tea.

I left round 7:30 am. I saw Lynne Miller leaving just before me, so I hurried to catch up with her. We rode together out of Ottawa. We rode through town shadowing the bike path on the other side of the street.

Ottawa had a canal built through the city over 100 years ago to provide a way to transport raw lumber to the major river near the city. The bike path was right next to the cannal. We rode right past the residence of the Prime Minister of Canada. (It is like riding right past the White House in Washington, D.C.)

Soon we were riding in the countryside. I have really enjoyed seeing the deciduous trees all newly leafed out in a bright spring green. Upper New York State and Canada is filled with many different inds of wetlands... streams, marsh, ponds, rivers. I see and hear many, many Red Winged Blackbirds. I love their calls. I like seeing the flash of brilliant red as they fly by me.

I decided to ride only to Checkpoint because I didn't want to stress my left leg after it had rested for two days. I was ready to get off and stop riding when I reached Checkpoint. I was at a fruit and fast food stand. The owners were quite excited to have the Odyssey riders stopping there. They gave out fresh fruit platters to the riders.

I asked to be put on the sag list as soon as I arrived. I waited only about 45 minutes before I was called to load up my bike on the sag wagon. Five women including myself rode into camp. I was tired enough to sleep a bit in the van as we drove to camp.

We arrived around 2 p.m., so again, I had time to set up my tent, clean up, ride back out to the entry gate of the park to make a phone call, and write some journal entries before dinner was served at 6pm. WOW!

Dinner was delicious! It was the same catering company we had two nights ago. We had steaks! We had baked potatoes, salad, bread, and yummy chocolate desserts.

Our camp was next to a lake so we had lots of mosquitoes. I put on long pants, a long sleeved shirt, and bug repellent on my face! I slept well with the repellent on my face. The bugs did not bite me. Yea!

I chose to put my tent up under an evergreen tree. It seemed softer with the dead needles on the ground and drier. I was proven correct when I woke up the next morning. My tent was basicly dry because I was under the evergreen tree. Those who set up their tents out in the open meadow had wet tents from the dew. All of us campers prefer to put away a dry tent if given a choice!

3. Evaluation: I am practicing what I learned earlier...asking for a ride from checkpoint as soon as I arrive. I did make it to checkpoint. I rode the 52 miles!

4. What I learned: I hope that it will continue to be relatively easy to get a ride from checkpont as we continue our tour in Northern Europe.