The 2026 Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour

This is part of a series of posts on James’ preparation for the 2026 Ottawa Ironman Triathlon. You can read other posts in the series here.

Getting the wheels in motion

On June 6 and 7, 2026 I participated in the Rideau Lakes Cycle Tour (henceforth RLCT), a two-day round trip bicycle ride between Stittsville (a suburb of Ottawa) and Kingston, organized by the Ottawa Bicycle Club. The Ottawa Bicycle Club (henceforth OBC) was not involved in writing this post; cue the “not a spokes-person” joke. There were different routes to choose from, including road or gravel, supported (with rest stops and mechanical support) or unsupported. I chose to do the Classic Route, a supported road route of roughly 186 km each way; this route underwent some changes since I did it last year, now going through more quiet roads.

The Classic Route

Prior to the ride I had decided to do the outbound leg on my own, without a drafting group (where one rides behind another person to reduce wind resistance and save energy), in an effort to simulate triathlon conditions where drafting is prohibited. This decision would not backfire on me at all. I had also recently installed clip-on aero handlebars on my bicycle, which allow one to ride leaning forward on their elbows with hands out front, improving aerodynamics and hence speed. With some practice the aero bars were nothing I couldn’t handle.

I had a relatively late start to my cycling season this year because of the weather, but nonetheless managed to get in over 1,100 km of cycling prior to RLCT, all while training two other sports (running and swimming) and completing a triathlon and a marathon along the way.

Here is how things turned out.

RLCT 2026

Saturday (186.9 km)

Departure from Stittsville

I got a (car) ride to the starting point in Stittsville from a fellow cycling friend and his wife, arriving shortly before 7:00 am. We met up with the other group members who were already there, and waited for the others to arrive. Our original group was 10 people, with one or two other riders looking for a group who joined us last minute. We did a round of introductions, activated our bicycle computers, and set out around 7:15 am.

This is my bicycle computer

Ride

There was some light rain as I rode with the group for a few kilometers, and upon reaching the open road I switched gears and bade the others “See you in Kingston,” going ahead on my own as planned. From the start point there were 59 km to the first rest stop in Perth, and during this stretch it felt as if I was flying on my aero handle bars, and felt pretty cool when passing somebody (though even more passed me). At Perth I took a break, and bought two sandwiches from the little canteen on site.

After leaving Perth, the next 60 km rolled out similarly. This section of the Classic Route was quite different from last year’s iteration, with new scenery to explore on two wheels (revolutionary, I know). There were numerous small hills which required some effort, and I took some informal breaks on the roadside. My rhythm and pace felt good, I was well fueled and feeling unstoppable, and that remained the case for the rest of the ride… in an alternate universe that is not this one.

After 120 km the weather took a turn and there started to be a strong headwind. Thinking it would not last, I did not pay much heed and planned to ride it out. But as the kilometers passed the wind did not abate and my legs started feeling like jelly with over 50 km to go; I thought “This blows!” and mentally prepared myself for the possibility of being in survival mode the remainder of the ride. While earlier in the ride I had been flying at 28+ km/h, in the wind I was struggling to hold 20 km/h. For the final 25 km I forwent using aero bars in favour of regular handlebars (the hoods for those in the know) which provide greater control; I went even slower, but with the wind blowing my front wheel side to side combined with fatigue the last thing I needed was to fall over due to inattention.

The wind was unrelenting, and approaching Kingston in the final 15 km I was barely cycling at 15 km/h on flat ground, and 10 km/h going uphill, which was really grinding my gears (not literally). Winds did not ease up upon entering Kingston, and I hoped to be stopped at every traffic light for a break, which was in itself not ideal because having to start pedaling again was all the more painful on my legs. After what felt like endless cycles of spinning my wheels, I finally arrived on the Queen’s University campus around 5:10 pm, just shy of 10 hours after leaving Stittsville, too exhausted at the time to appreciate what I had just accomplished.

Arrival in Kingston

I collected my room key and overnight bag (which OBC had transported from Stittsville) and went to my room in the Queen’s dorm. My bicycle came with me into my room. After settling in, showering, and checking that my legs still worked, I walked (slowly) to the dining hall and gingerly sat down for a dinner of potatoes, vegetables, and more than a few scoops of well-earned ice cream. The group I had started with that morning rolled in about 20 to 30 minutes after me, and joined me one by one for dinner.

We all discussed how crazy the headwinds were, with some having heard from veterans that this was the toughest RLCT ride they had done. This made us all feel better, me especially, since I had been unsure how much of my hardship was due to the wind and how much was due to riding alone without drafting. We ate to our respective hearts’ content, set a meeting time for breakfast the following morning, and dispersed. That evening I saw some RLCT participants walking around campus in street clothes and wearing their cycling shoes, no doubt having forgotten to pack walking shoes in their overnight bag. 🙂

As a former Queen’s student, unlike last year I did not tour campus nor visit my former neighbourhood this time due to fatigue and rain, and instead retired to my room for the night. My bicycle and I both had a well-deserved rest, as I was too tired and it was two-tired for anything else that night.

Sunday (185.5 km)

Preparing for departure from Kingston

The previous day’s winds were strong enough that OBC managed to arrange a last-minute bus to take home anyone who was unable to cycle back to Stittsville, on a first come first served basis; anyone who did not make on the list in time, well, they missed the bus.

For the return trip I decided to ride with the group. We met up in the dining hall for breakfast, arranged a meeting time, and returned to our rooms to prepare. After dropping off our keys and luggage, we regrouped and set out on the return trip around 7:20 am.

Ride

My legs were still very sore from the previous day’s ride, and I immediately felt it on the return ride, though fortunately the group rode at a reasonable pace. Conditions were much more favourable this time, and we rolled at a decent, consistent pace, with regular rotations so that everyone took a turn cycling at the front. It is best to use one’s handlebar hoods and not aero bars in group riding to have easy access to brakes, which meant I felt the road’s every bump and crack impacting my wrists (an angrier, less stable rider would have flown off the handle).

Our group did break up on several occasions, with slower riders dropping back. About midway through I found myself riding on my own for an extended period, trying to catch up to the group. I eventually saw them waiting on the side of the road, and upon regrouping we set out together again.

Arriving in Perth, there was an OBC-organized barbeque. I got a burger and drink, and while I would have liked to sit on the grass to eat, getting down to my knees with my body upright was as far down as my thighs would allow. By now we were in the latter stages of the ride, and set out in order to make it back to Stittsville in good time.

Leaving Perth with 59 km to go, our group organically gained a few new members who set out at the same time as us. I managed to stick with the group for most of that section, but then with about 20 km to go my legs could not keep up and I fell behind again. A few riders stayed behind with me, and we rode into Stittsville together around 5:30 pm shortly after the others, a little over 10 hours after leaving Kingston.

Arrival in Stittsville

After regrouping, we exchanged celebratory high fives and reveled in what we had just accomplished, before parting ways. I picked up my overnight bag, transported back to Stittsville courtesy of OBC, changed my footwear, and got a car ride home from a friend and his handy bicycle rack.

Results

My times are shown below, all measured by my bicycle computer save for total time (which I measured simply by looking at my watch). Recall that I rode solo on Saturday, and in a drafting group for most of Sunday.

Surprisingly, I maintained the same moving speed on both days, despite being on my own and cycling into the wind on Saturday. This is because I held a decently fast pace on Saturday on my aero bars leading up to the windy part, and held a more constant speed on Sunday. My Saturday calorie count is likely a huge underestimation because of the wind (for comparison, a typical adult male burns 2,200 to 2,800 calories a day). Both routes had many small hills (some up and some down), which skew the times and speeds compared to a flat route. Also worth noting that my total completion time was shorter on Saturday, because I took shorter breaks than on Sunday.

Adding my spin

A lesson learned from this experience is that unforeseen stuff will happen, and one must be prepared to adapt. In my case with the strong headwinds on Saturday, that meant taking more frequent breaks and dramatically lowering my target speed. In any endurance sport that lasts several hours or even an entire day, it is likely that something one did not (and could not) prepare for will happen, not unlike life itself.

Another lesson learned is what to do when it feels like there is nothing more to give, like in those final 50 km into Kingston. Giving up was not an option, since I still needed to get to Kingston and my bicycle was the best way to do it. All I could do was to take a break on the roadside, commiserate with other participants who had the same idea, and then continue pushing, no matter how painful or how slow. There are videos out there of athletes becoming wobbly-kneed or crawling on their hands and knees in the latter stages of a triathlon, and I now have a glimpse of what that feels like on a bicycle.

Having done this ride for the first time last year, I expected this year’s ride to be more tame with fewer surprises, which it clearly was not. Ultimately I learned a lot about myself during RLCT 2026, including things I did not expect to learn, and my experience can be summed up with the Latin phrase “temet nosce”.

“Know thyself”

Next cycle

On July 11 I will swim 3 km in open water in Bring On the Bay. Despite my hardship during this year’s RLCT, Bring On the Bay will likely be my most challenging event to date, since I (and likely most other people) am more comfortable on solid ground than in water. Here’s hoping things go… swimmingly.