Day 6 - Huntingdon back to Ormstown

81.8 km - Total so far 451 km - https://ridewithgps.com/trips/9797593

Petite Aventure 2016 - Journée 3

The presentation last evening went well and we might have encouraged (to the great chagrin of the gentleman's wife) at least one person to try cyclo-camping.

Pulling pole in Huntingdon

We got up at the usual time to have breakfast with the gang but could have slept in till 8:30am. For the last day of the ride, we were the last team to leave and our task was to sweep the course for stragglers. The sweep (balai) team only leaves after the last participant has left. This occurred around 10:30am.

Late starters finally leaving the village

Helene and I were assigned to sweep the optional course which meant that by the end of the day we would have pedalled the longest of the routes. We did not get very far as we found a number of participants stopped at an alpaca farm less than 5 km from the start. We knew then that it was going to be a long day. We made the best of it by checking out the alpacas ourselves.

Kids and furry things go together like ,,,,,,

Once again the high winds made it a challenging ride for all concerned and it was amazing to see families with kids pedalling the optional course. Being stronger cyclists than some of the participants we acted as wind protection so that they could pedal easier.

Water taxi service from Valleyfield handles passengers with bicycles

Part of the bicycle trail runs through farmers fields.

There is a long-standing tradition on these rides that all of the Encadreur(e)! and participants that have completed the ride welcome the last cyclists of the day's ride and their Encadreur(e) sweeps. It was our first experience as sweeps and it was awesome to be welcomed with cheers and whistles.

We want to salute all of the families who, in spite of the challenging high winds managed to successfully complete today's ride. Well done to all!

Quiet times after everyone had left. The field beyond Helene was full of cars