We didn't drop bread crumbs, but the 1,900 cyclists who participated in Vélo Québec's annual grand tour last month - the first ever held in Ontario - left behind something better.

That would be detailed route maps that will lead you through the gentle countryside and well-behaved towns of Eastern Ontario all by yourself. You'll find those maps on the CitizenCycle website (ottawacitizen.com/cycle).

So, if you missed the big ride, if you prefer a more intimate cycling experience, if you want one last adventure before winter closes in, if you would like to travel with a partner, or a few friends, rather than an army of goodnatured strangers, you might consider a weeklong fall tour starting in nearby Brockville - less than two hours, by car, from Ottawa. (And, if you go this month, you'll be just in time for some small-town harvest festivals.)

Our route took us from Brockville to Perth to Napanee to Belleville to Kingston and back to Brockville. We covered 610 kilometres in seven days, but the actual Grand Tour includes two rest days when riding is optional and, every day, additional loops to add distance for those with boundless energy and expensive carbon bikes.

All to say the proposed route is elastic: if you have obligations at home, you can skip the day in Prince Edward County (it is really worth a weekend on its own, if you've never been) and take a pass on the side trip to Wolfe Island, near Kingston. You can decide to limit your daily distance to under 100 kilometres, too, but the proposed distances are not as daunting as they appear because the terrain is, generally, undemanding.

Our ride from Belleville to Kingston, for instance, ended up being 127 kilometres owing to an inconveniently located lunch stop, but we sailed through the day effortlessly thanks to a stiff tail wind and velvety pavement.

We were blessed, throughout the mid-August tour, with mostly sunny skies, moderate temperatures, favourable winds and light-to-moderate traffic. These, of course, are the uncontrollable variables of cycle touring, so, if you go, bring warm clothes and rain gear, sunscreen and water bottles.

The Grand Tour is a complete package - the approximately $800 price includes camping at a park, or near a school, all meals and medical, mechanical and sag-wagon support. But this year's route is ideally suited to individual B&B touring, because it takes you through five large centres with ample hotel, restaurant and B&B options.

This should be especially true midweek at the tag-end of the summer high season; a couple, or a small group, should have no trouble finding accommodation after a long day on the road, but it would be wise to book in advance. (See sidebar for helpful websites.)

What Vélo Québec excels at - and I have been on seven or more of its summer tours - is finding the quietest, most picturesque routes. It isn't possible to avoid busy secondary highways altogether, or potholed side roads, or chewed-up asphalt. But Vélo Québec's route planners do their best.

It turned out to be easier in Ontario than in Quebec: we enjoyed long intervals of fresh, black asphalt; rode on weathered but serviceable country roads; and found broad, paved shoulders on busy highways with relatively few bone-jarring stretches through active construction sites.

This tour was easier in another way: a few days feature rolling hills, and there are, perhaps, four steep, but short, climbs, but much of the route is flat. Some of it will be familiar to veterans of the annual Rideau Lakes ride to Kingston while, along Lake Ontario, we followed long segments of the Waterfront Trail.

Compared to Quebec, cycle touring is in its infancy in Ontario. You can be a pioneer. So be sure to post your discoveries - great meals, good accommodation, roadway obstacles - at the Citizen's cycling blog to help other novice, or experienced, cycletourists.

Many, especially younger riders, may not have the time or money to go to France. Eastern Ontario isn't renowned for its baguettes, or historic cafés, or magnificent ruins, but it does offer clean air, restful vistas and old towns of irreproachable virtue less than two hours from home.

Here is a brief description of the route. All distances are approximate and will vary depending on where you stay. And be sure to bring a good roadmap, or cycle map, of Eastern Ontario to get you from the route to your motel:

DAY 1

Brockville to Perth, 82 kilometres

Once away from the outskirts of town, you follow quiet country roads past the old church and cemetery at New Dublin, through Athens with its well-known murals (and upcoming harvest supper on Sept. 18), on to a stretch of busier road after Toledo, through leafy Rideau Ferry to historic Perth. Pack a lunch or grab a bite at Athens, at the 33-kilometre mark.

DAY 2

Perth to Napanee, 112 kilometres

After leaving town on quiet Scotch Line, you ride through forest and fields until the steep descent into the pretty summer cottage town of Westport. You can lunch here, 30 kilometres into your ride, or wait until you reach Verona (63 kilometres), or, better still, bring a lunch and find a sunny field.

DAY 3

Napanee to Belleville, 100 kilometres

This was the hilliest day - nothing approaching alpine, however - but also one of the most iconically rural. The "Mohawk road" of Tyendinaga is particularly picturesque, with weathered barns, wooden fences and quaint names, such as Mother Barnes Road. You also pass through Stirling, at 67 kilometre, sturdy and Scottish in its architecture, home to impressive brick buildings and a lively downtown theatre. The all-day St. Paul's harvest supper takes place on Sept. 25.

DAY 4

Prince Edward County (distance up to you)

You can jump on Route 3, once you cross the soaring bridge from Belleville, and then take 33, the Loyalist highway, which follows the county's west shore. Watch for signs to nearby wineries and galleries, and, if it isn't too far, stop for lunch in Bloomfield. Try to grab one of the excellent, free cycling maps of the county.

DAY 5

Belleville to Kingston, 125 kilometres

The day starts with a stunning ride through Prince Edward County - probably not the same route you followed the day before, since it stays in the less-travelled northern section. Rolling hills give way to flat, smooth pavement on a littletravelled road through pretty Deseronto and on to Napanee. The route then turns south, an easy descent towards Lake Ontario, then east through the old Loyalist town of Bath, with its Union Jacks, then along the lakefront and through a nature reserve to Kingston.

DAY 6

Wolfe Island, a rural ramble or the urban delights of town (distance up to you)

Check the ferry schedules if you want a simple, mostly flat ride on this quiet, rural island. Or enjoy Kingston's bookstores, outdoor market and cafés.

DAY 7

Kingston to Brockville, 100 kilometres

The final day follows Lake Ontario, past the Thousand Islands, along a somewhat bumpy bike path that's comfortably separated from the cars on the nearby Thousand Island Parkway. You can also ride on the parkway, but it is a fairly busy scen-

FOR A DO-IT-YOURSELF ONTARIO CYCLE TOUR

? ? Some 20 B&Bs and inns are listed at brockvilletourism.com.

? ? The Perth & District Chamber of Commerce has the most cycle-friendly website on the route at perthchamber. com. Besides listing local motels and B&Bs, it offers eight detailed maps of area cycle routes ranging from 15 to 93 kilometres long.

? ? At lennox-addington.on.ca, you will also find details for 12 local cycle routes, covering 600 kilometres in total, and a list of inns and B&Bs in the Napanee area.

? ? The bayofquinte.com site lists B&Bs in Belleville, but also in neighbouring Prince Edward County, which might be a better place to overnight if your legs will get you there. Check out the iconic Bloomfield Bicycle Company for suggested routes through the county.

? ? If you google "Kingston accommodation", you'll find a welter of confusing leads for B&Bs, high-end hotels and motels. Good luck.

ic route with no continuous paved shoulder. From the road you can see the lake; from the bikepath, less so. Stops at Gananoque's cosy marina and the lakefront town of Rockport break up a long, but easy, ride.

All you need now is a reliable bicycle, some early autumn sun and time. Happy cycling and don't forget to write. There's no reason Ontario can't be a cycling destination, too.

From:  Days of glory
By: Susan Riley
The Ottawa Sun
September 10, 2011