Auteur: joanne clifford
Beschrijving:
Merrickville’s Lock station 23 - Rideau Canal
Peter and I cycled to Merrickville this weekend, staying at the lovely 1840 Guest House Bed and Breakfast, so named as part of the BnB is the original Merrickville schoolhouse, built in 1840.
We planned the trip as a quick out and back overnighter to test our new cycling bags and other gear before a longer multi-day trip planned for later this month. The route out was an easy 85km, mostly on rail trails (Trans Canada Trail and the Ottawa Valley Recreational Trail) followed by a shorter stretch on quiet country roads - paved and unpaved. The sun shone, the weather was warm (29 celsius) and it was a beautiful day for a ride.
Our good fortune was not to last, however. The next day we woke early and rechecked the weather - which originally called for a 40% chance of showers late in the afternoon - and were very concerned by what we saw. When we left the BnB at 10h00 it was pouring rain (Peter described it as a biblical rain). With no indication that the situation would change, we cycled the (thankfully shorter) ~70km route home as quickly as possible. Our route was once again unpaved country roads and rail trails (think dirt!), which was now heavily saturated with rain water. I won’t describe our return journey as it was too horrendous for words; we literally just put our heads down, gritted our teeth (which also contained road grit) and pedalled. Friends and family anxiously texted us as we rode - offering rides home and wishes of good luck. We finally arrived home filthy and soaked, and happily, just before the tornado warning was announced and Ottawa residents were advised to take shelter.
Happily, our bikepacking gear test was an overwhelming success. Not a single item in our bags was wet - or even damp! While it was an experience that we don’t wish to repeat, we now have complete confidence in our touring gear.
Of course, we took our cameras with us (and they too remained dry). This picture was taken just before sunset - when the future still looked bright!
Oh, and the tornado - it was a non-event - at least in our area!
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Merrickville hosts three of the Rideau Canal’s lock stations, numbers 21 through 23. The locks are spaced out and detached and take advantage of the natural topography. The largest blockhouse on the Rideau, built here in 1832, is now operated as a museum. Merrickville is known as the “Jewel of the Rideau” and features many beautiful heritage buildings as well as many boutique shops and restaurants.
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