This September I only managed to bike 274km of which 226 were to or around Perth. So yay Perth!

The first trip was for our anniversary. Last year we were running around so much we barely managed to go out for dinner. This year we’ve decided to indulge and get away for a day or so. The kids went to stay with their uncle, aunt and cousin and we biked to Perth.

The route we took was maxed out for comfort. Between Kanata and Carleton Place we stayed on the Trans-Canada Trail. From there to our destination we stayed on winding quiet country roads.

The weather was overcast but apart from drizzle here and there, there was no rain. The wind blew lightly in our face the whole time but we managed to get to Perth in good time and in reasonable comfort.

We had plenty of time to take a walk around Perth and go out for dinner. Our B&B was nice, the dinner was nice and Perth is nice. The next day we took a stroll around town and then headed home along the same route.

A thing that surprised me is that I found the trip hard. Not just hard after 40 or 60 kilometres but equally hard the whole way through. It might be the overnight luggage that we were carrying or the wind, or my saddle not being completely broken in or the change from summer to fall weather.

Our anniversary trip was a fun part of preparation for a longer ride we were planning to so in late September. We were going to do the 100k route for the Perth Cyclosportif event. However, given that we found the 70k trip hard and that one or both of us was sick with cold for the last three weeks we decided to take it easy and do the 40k route instead.

I would really like to continue to do long distance tours but it is going to take a while to get there. My bike is not comfortable as can be and we would need to do a lot more training than we do now to do 100k ride at the drop of the hat. We are not far from it but we are not there yet. Something to look forward to in the future.