Day 57: Owen Sound to Primrose, ON (106km)

We had a fantastic stay with Susan and Maria in Owen Sound. They treated us to vast amounts of delicious food, including homemade pancakes, before we set out this morning. Thanks again for the company and comfort!

We had some extra travelling companions today. Alex's father, Luther, and brother in law, Darren, came up to ride with us from Owen Sound to Shelburne. The four of us started out on backroads east of highway 10. We meandered along with little traffic but we hit some long, steep hills that Alex and I would have rather missed. As our loaded packs slowed us to a crawl, Darren and Luther climbed ahead with fresh energy. Eventually, we came out at the highway and met with gentler grades but also many more vehicles and much less riding space.

By the time we arrived in Markdale for lunch, Luther was fed up with the traffic and suggested we get off highway 10 and onto the east back line. Having built up a tolerance for near death experiences, Alex and I were more concerned about the steeper grades and risk of gravel we'd find on the back roads (when carrying 70+ pounds on the bike, both of those things are painful and potentially impassable).

After travelling together for another 10km to Flesherton, the already narrow shoulder on highway 10 started to crumble so Darren and Luther opted to try for more relaxed riding on the back line. Alex and I suggested they call us if it turns out their road was a dream but we kept to the highway. The shoulder returned sporadically for the rest of the ride to Shelburne but it was definitely close quarters on the road.

When we reached the town, Alex and I sat to gorge on granola and fresh Ontario berries while waiting for Darren and Luther to arrive. When they rolled up, Luther proclaimed we each had taken the right route. It turns out they hit more climbs on mostly gravel roads but were happy to have missed the speedway. Since we can't 'do' gravel, we were relieved to learn we hadn't separated the group without due cause. In the end the two had completed a great 108km ride when we left them to drive home as we moved on to find camping for the night.

Tomorrow we have a short ride to Newmarket where we have a Cardiac Rehab event on Tuesday morning. After that we're onto Toronto!