Point-a-la-croix August 6

Today 115 km (or 125 if you count the beer-run), Total 1,109 km.

Check out Pete's blog www.transcanada09.blogspot.com 

We knew from the get-go that this would be a tough one. It was time to get Quebec behind us; itís been a wonderful 11 days since QC, but we wanted to make the crossing to New Brunswick today. For the third day in a row we awoke to a stiff westerly so nothing to do but grit our teeth and get on with it - after the usual mega-breakfast, of course. The usual Gaspesie special, this time with both French toast and tortiere in addition to the usual fry-up.  Just to be on the safe side I ordered the porridge appetizer as well. We had a few extra coffees just to postpone the inevitable, then we hit the road.

It was brutal.  On the flats, we were well down into climbing gears. Pete was having a bad day, which usually means that if I'm having a good day I can see him a couple of kilometers ahead of me.  Luckily for me, today he slowed his pace so that I could draft him for long stretches.  Drafting means that I can tuck into his wind-shadow, so I ride in a pocket of relatively still air.  This is an effective technique often used by racers, allowing you to save energy and ride faster than your unassisted speed.

Some time this morning I passed my 1,000 kilometer mark for the ride.

The road was a series of power climbs over the wooded bluffs separating the villages. To save time, we ignored most of the scenic detours shown in the Route Vert guidebook, and stuck to the coastal highway 132.  Our track was roughly parallel to the route we took last week - we passed about 100 miles south of Rimouski.

Our objective today was Point-a-la-croix, where tomorrow a bridge will take us across the inland tip of Chaleur Bay into Cambelton, New Brunswick. As the day passed, we could see the New Brunswick shoreline becoming more distinct, until we could clearly see buildings and the smokestacks of a large factory (pulp mill?) at Dalhousie.

By the end of the day we were both struggling; Pete in particular was getting hypoglycemic, as he had passed up his usual sugar-jolt at lunch time in favour of a lunch of beef jerky.

We finally rolled into Point-a-la-croix at about 4 pm and immediately hit a gas station store to load up on sugary drinks and chocolate chip cookies to give us the energy to make camp.  Point-a-la-croix has a single campground, which is pleasantly grassed and treed. Pet set to changing his rear tire, which had developed an alarming sidewall bulge, and I rode into town to find some beer.  Town is a bit of an exaggeration.  The business district seems to consist of an adult video store and a sex shop.  There were several "depanneurs", small grocery stores where you can usually find six-packs of the local micro-brews, but not in this burg! Each store is stacked floor to ceiling with 24-packs of beer, mostly watery brews like Coors and Budweiser - not what we need.  And you can't get a two-four into a bike pannier.  Conventional groceries were almost absent.  One of these places actually had a drive-through lane so that you can load your beverages into the car without the inconvenience of getting out.  I think part of the reason for this specialization is the proximity of the New Brunswick border, which probably has more restrictive licensing laws.  I eventually found a gas station that stocked O'Keefes IPA - better than nothing.

When I got back to camp, I found Pete yelling at his bike.  This is a phenomenon that Ryan has described, but it's the first time I have had a ringside seat.  Cracked a beer and sat down to take in the show.  As an encore, Pete blew out a valve while inflating the tire and had to start over.  Cries of "author!" from the audience.

Sorry I have no pictures today, my camera appears to have died.  I'll try to get it checked out tomorrow in Cambellton.

Goodnight to you all,

Barney