Grand Valee to Gaspe
tairway to heaven
Dude City
Grand Vallee to Gaspe August 2
Today 93 km Total 727 km
Today Pete and Ryan pounded a golden nail in the ground to mark their crossing form Pacific to Atlantic. That’s not as easy as you might think, as we had followed the St. Lawrence from Quebec City East, and it gradually changes from fresh-water river to salty sea and there is no place to say ”we have arrived”.
Pete and Ryan decided to stop on the bridge that crosses the salt-marsh to Gaspe. They were a few minutes ahead of me, and when I arrived they had already had their “little moment”. I congratulated them on their monumental achievement. Incredible.
Early start today. The morning was bright, wit a few clouds, and for the first time this week there was no dew on the tents. However, the downside was the cloud of mosquitoes that descended to dine on my AB+ while I packed my gear and tent. Now for some reason mosquitoes have never bothered me much; not prone to the big welts that most people seem to complain about, I just run my hands over the affected areas occasionally and crush the little buggers. But the resulting blood-bath really freaked out the other guys.
Breakfast at the restaurant across the road from the campground was up to the usual standard. We all ordered the house special, bacon, eggs. Sausage, ham, spuds and a slab of tortiere. And we needed it. Spent some time trying to remember the high-school physics imparted to me by Maurice (“Tonk”) Landau in 1961 to understand how those calories would drive us up the days expected climbs, but couldn’t remember the conversion factors.
As expected, today’s ride was a challenge. Gone were the long seaside stretches, and the precious tailwind had veered to a still-useful tail/cross wind. We could see the wind from the orientation of the wind turbines scattered across the hills.
Today’s ride took us over a succession of rocky spurs with climbs that range up to 15% grades, mostly over distances of several miles. By lunch-time, my cumulative ascent read-out already shoed over 3,500 feet, mostly a grades higher than anything we saw in the BC mountains. We were all sucking wind to get over these climbs, followed by brief descents (I saw 72km/hr on one of them). But amazingly, I was able to do this stuff, and to go from one climb to the next without any real long-lasting pain. Pete says this is because I’m getting TITS. Time In The Saddle. Really very gratifying for an old geezer.
Another thing that really keeps me going is Double-bagging. Top-of-the-line Sugoi bike shorts have great padding where it counts. But two pairs really do double the pleasure, although I think I’m getting a preview of 6-hour Depends!
We decided to pass on the coastal route around Forillon Nation Park to Gaspe. Instead we cut across the peninsula on Hwy 197, thinking that we might spend a day in Gaspe and do some unloaded touring in the park tomorrow.
No camping in downtown Gaspe, but an enquiry at the Tourist Info got us a 4-bedroom apartment (!) in the University residences for a really good price. Ryan is happy to have his own room; he had sworn off hotel stays because of an alleged snoring issue.
Off now to find some good grub and good wi-fi to get this posted. Pete sent me on a you-fly-Ibuy mission to find some of that great Quebec micro-brew, so here we are chillin out in the University Dorm having a kegger.
Good-night, Dudes and Dudettes
Barney
PS don’t forget to check Pete’s blog at www.transcanada09.blogspot.com I haven’t seen todays post yet, but the Dude has been typing for 2 hours, so there’s probably some good stuff there.
Today 93 km Total 727 km
Today Pete and Ryan pounded a golden nail in the ground to mark their crossing form Pacific to Atlantic. That’s not as easy as you might think, as we had followed the St. Lawrence from Quebec City East, and it gradually changes from fresh-water river to salty sea and there is no place to say ”we have arrived”.
Pete and Ryan decided to stop on the bridge that crosses the salt-marsh to Gaspe. They were a few minutes ahead of me, and when I arrived they had already had their “little moment”. I congratulated them on their monumental achievement. Incredible.
Early start today. The morning was bright, wit a few clouds, and for the first time this week there was no dew on the tents. However, the downside was the cloud of mosquitoes that descended to dine on my AB+ while I packed my gear and tent. Now for some reason mosquitoes have never bothered me much; not prone to the big welts that most people seem to complain about, I just run my hands over the affected areas occasionally and crush the little buggers. But the resulting blood-bath really freaked out the other guys.
Breakfast at the restaurant across the road from the campground was up to the usual standard. We all ordered the house special, bacon, eggs. Sausage, ham, spuds and a slab of tortiere. And we needed it. Spent some time trying to remember the high-school physics imparted to me by Maurice (“Tonk”) Landau in 1961 to understand how those calories would drive us up the days expected climbs, but couldn’t remember the conversion factors.
As expected, today’s ride was a challenge. Gone were the long seaside stretches, and the precious tailwind had veered to a still-useful tail/cross wind. We could see the wind from the orientation of the wind turbines scattered across the hills.
Today’s ride took us over a succession of rocky spurs with climbs that range up to 15% grades, mostly over distances of several miles. By lunch-time, my cumulative ascent read-out already shoed over 3,500 feet, mostly a grades higher than anything we saw in the BC mountains. We were all sucking wind to get over these climbs, followed by brief descents (I saw 72km/hr on one of them). But amazingly, I was able to do this stuff, and to go from one climb to the next without any real long-lasting pain. Pete says this is because I’m getting TITS. Time In The Saddle. Really very gratifying for an old geezer.
Another thing that really keeps me going is Double-bagging. Top-of-the-line Sugoi bike shorts have great padding where it counts. But two pairs really do double the pleasure, although I think I’m getting a preview of 6-hour Depends!
We decided to pass on the coastal route around Forillon Nation Park to Gaspe. Instead we cut across the peninsula on Hwy 197, thinking that we might spend a day in Gaspe and do some unloaded touring in the park tomorrow.
No camping in downtown Gaspe, but an enquiry at the Tourist Info got us a 4-bedroom apartment (!) in the University residences for a really good price. Ryan is happy to have his own room; he had sworn off hotel stays because of an alleged snoring issue.
Off now to find some good grub and good wi-fi to get this posted. Pete sent me on a you-fly-Ibuy mission to find some of that great Quebec micro-brew, so here we are chillin out in the University Dorm having a kegger.
Good-night, Dudes and Dudettes
Barney
PS don’t forget to check Pete’s blog at www.transcanada09.blogspot.com I haven’t seen todays post yet, but the Dude has been typing for 2 hours, so there’s probably some good stuff there.
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