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

Bonaventure

Chandler to Bonaventure

Bonaventure August 5

Today 96 km, Total 994 km.

No photos today, camera battery dead.

Today, I thought I would hit the 1,000 km mark since leaving Quebec City.  Today, I thought I would do a century (100 mile day). Neither of these things happened.  

We were up at around 6am, got our camp packed and hit the local breakfast spot around 7:30.  The day was clear and sunny and it was obviously going to be a hot one. Said goodbye to our new biker friends and headed out to look for breakfast. 

Another home run, get this: two eggs miroir (sunnyside up), ham, bacon, sausage, creton (a kind of pate), baked beans, French toast and a pancake, toast and coffee, all for 7:50. And prompt and friendly service thrown in.  Pete accidentally ordered the #3 breakfast instead of the #4, but that was easily sorted out with an upgrade kit.

The still of the early morning quickly turned into the customary westerly and grew into a stiff headwind   This, combined with a series of moderate power climbs quickly made it obvious that we were not going to make our primary objective. 

I was able to crank over the climbs without a problem, but the repetition and the warming weather turned the day into a grind.

A couple of hours in, one of Peteís rear spokes gave way with a loud twang. The same thing had happened yesterday, so now he was two spokes short and was getting concerned that thi could lead to further problems. He carried on, but eventually stopped at a roadside hut and decided to fix it. Pete has had many spoke problems due to the weight of his Bob-yak trailer (and his aggressive riding style), and had loaded up with 20 spare spokes in Quebec city.  While Pete worked, which involved removing the disk brake rotor, I broke out the beef jerky and some left over brie for lunch.  Wouldnít you know it?  I had forgotten to stock up on Chablis again.

Our route is now back into the Route Vert territory, but for the most part follows the Gaspesie coastal route 132.  However, just outside the town of Bonaventure, the route takes off to the north into some pretty farm-land, so we decided to follow it to get a break from the traffic.  The road quickly morphed into a gravel country road, which wasnít mentioned in he guide.  We pushed on, thanking our lucky stars that Pete had fixed his spokes.

The country road gradually became more urbanized, finally emerging n the centre of  the pretty littte town of Bonaventure.  By this time, we were both pretty wiped, so we decided to stop for the night bin a waterfront municipal camp ground recommended by the tourist info.  Bit of an RV Jurassic park, but very convenient.

After pitching our tents and showering, we headed to the Acadian restaurant next door.  Not sure whether it was poor organization or a bit of cultural intolerance, but we waited for nearly Ω hour for service.  Finally we talked to the manager, who got us a better table and apologized (sort of).  The food itself was excellent. I had fiddlehead greens sautÈed in garlic (thanks for the recommendation of the GaspÈsie delicacy, Claire), and we both enjoyed the Acadian fish pie.

We found out today that the ferry to Dalhousie in New Brunswick hat we were planning to take tomorrow has not run for 10 years, so we are faced  with an extra ride of about 100km to the bridge crossing.  No worries, we are on a bike trip after all!

Anyway, we need an early morning, and Iím getting pretty sleepy, so goodnight all,

Barney  

Roche Perce

Gaspe to Chandler
A great shortcut

D escent to Roche Perce

The big rock

Chandler August 3
Today 110 km, Total 898
Ryan left at 3:30 am to catch the bus for Moncton. He slipped away into the night. We will miss his wit and enthusiasm and we look forward to seeing him in a couple of weeks in Sydney. Have a great trip, Ryan.
Pete and I were up bright and early to set out for Rocher Perce. From Gaspe, we picked up the Route Vert trail again, starting with a nice dedicated bike trail. After following the trail markers for about 10km, we suddenly realized that the road had turned into a sandy track. While we were discussing what had happened, a local rider came up behind us and told us that all we needed to do was drag our bikes up onto the adjacent railway embankment and push them across a girder bridge for a few hundred metres to cut off 10 km of trail. Shouldn’t need to worry about a train coming along, there won’t be one for four days. A worthwhile shortcut, but a bit of a workout as we more or less carried Pete’s trailer – the little wheel kept dropping into the gaps between the ties.
Back on the main road, we checked the map and saw that there was a choice of two routes to Roche Perce. The inland route is part of the Route Vert system, promising to be less hilly, and the coastal road (Hwy 132) which was marked with some steep climbs. We decided to take the inland route to save our legs, and headed off. Now Pete on a bad day is quickly out of sight when I’m on a good day, and unfortunately I was following along with the map. When I reached the RV turnoff, Pete was nowhere around; I knew that if he had recognized the turn he would have waited for me, so he must have taken the rugged coastal route. Nothing to do put press on. Up to this point, the road had been gently rolling with a nice tailwind, and I had been enjoying the idyllic coastal scenery, with many little sandy bays and seaside cottages. We could see The famous Roche Perce landmark across the bay.
Soon after passing the easier rout turnoff, the road started to rise over the limestone ridge that forms the Roche Perce headland, and we were into a series of significant ascents. Not in the same class as the monsters on the St Lawrence coastline, but still pretty imposing when you round a corner and see the road snaking uphill ahead. I’ managed to avoid the chain-dropping problems I experienced the last few days, learning to shift when spinning at a lower speed than my road speed to make sure that there is no tension on the chain when shifting down to granny-gear. Shifting early also ensures that I tackle the climb with even effort all the way up, which works way better than peddling like a crazy thing for the lower section followed by a struggle to keep going at the end.
Topping out the last climbing section, I was rewarded by a spectacular view of the village of Roche Perce with its famous arched sea-stack, with Bonaventure Island in he background. This is truly an Iconic Canadian Vista.
As I pulled into town, Pete was sitting on a bench waiting for me. We passed all the touristy restaurants, and had a great gourmet lunch as usual in the parking lot of the local co-op grocery store. Afterwards, I backtracked a little and spent a dollar to be allowed to stand in a field that has a good view of the arch, then we hit the road to our planned destination of Chandler about 50km away.
Over the last week, we have enjoyed the assistance of a constant westerly wind, but now that we have rounded the point of the peninsula it has become a pesky headwind, cutting my speed in places to less than 20 km/hr on the flat. Later in the afternoon, the wind died down a little, but it was still a longer day than anticipated. Later on; we could see a landmass to the south which is the Northeast part of New Brunswick, so the Quebec leg of our trip is almost done.
We found a campground at a pleasant golf resort in Pabos, just outside of Chandler. A group came into the next site, travelling with a van and two motorcycles. The were very friendly and interested in our trip and wanted to check out our bikes and other equipment. All members of one family, but hailing from across the country, BC, Ontario and New Brunswick. After a few beers, we all decided to go for dinner, and they surprised us by picking up the tab.
Then back to the camp for a continued vist, blogging, and so to bed…

Busman's Holiday

Good-bye Ryan, have fun in CA!

Gaspe Continued, Aug 3
Gaspe to Cap-aux-Os and back
Today 61 km, Total 788km
So what to do on a day off? After this morning’s wet beginning and about three hours of coffee and internet, the sky cleared and I started yearning for some fresh air. Pete and Ryan were still in recovery mode, so I decided to retrace our steps and take a look at Forillon National Park, which occupies the end of the Gaspe Peninsula on the north side of the bay. We had decided to give this a miss yesterday, taking the shorter inland route across the end of the peninsula.
My destination was Cap-aux-Os, the site of an old whaling station rumoured to be strewn with whale-bones from the 19th century. I found a nice little sandy bay there with a waterfront casse-crout (snack bar) and a kayak rental, but not a bone in sight. I asked some locals about it and just got blank looks. Someone suggested that I try the museum another 10 miles down the road, but I have seen whale bones before so I didn’t bother. The ride was sufficient justification for going to Cap-aux-Os.
Strange that wherever you go the locals are the only ones that haven’t read the tourist information.
On the way back, I checked out Fort Peninsula, a Second World War artillery base. The British Navy built a major base at Gaspe after a German U-boat sunk a freighter just off Cloridorme, which we passed through yesterday.
Great ride back to Gaspe; my legs are feeling great today in soite of yesterday’s exertions.
Sat in a roadside park and Got Valerie on the cell-phone. Sounds like she is coping well in my absence, with lots of company and entertainment, even with the 35 degree temperatures. Great to hear your voice, Darling.
We just got back from a great dinner at the motel restaurant next to our residence. Pete and I have just cracked a couple of micro-brews, and we said goodbye to Ryan, who is catching a bus to Moncton in the morning. He will be flying home to Hudson, OH on Thursday, where he will pick up his five-year-old daughter, Quin and take her to California for surfing and Disneyland. He will store his bike at Moncton and return later in the month with Pete’s girlfriend Judy and friend Bill to finish the ride across Newfoundland. So for the time-being we are down to Deux Mousquetieres. We are going to miss him.
More tomorrow,
Barney

Gasping in Gaspe

Gaspe August 3
Day off
Check Pete's blog at www.transcanada09.blogspot.com
Seven straight days on the road, and we're all ready for a day off. Pet was really in the bag with yesterday's climing. I think he hasn't yet fully recovered from his Marathon days before we met up in Quebec City; 100 plus mile days, constant power climbing and a semi-load of gear behind must take its toll. Ryan's not quite so vocal, but I'm sure he is tired too.
Somehow the climbing of the last two days hasn't really affected me in the sam, e way. Sure I was panting like a steam engine on the long steep ascents, but after topping out my pulse-rate would quickly stabilize, and after the screaming drop into the next valley I would be ready for the next one. I am definitely climbing much stronger than I did on my BC trip, I think that the weeks of recovery time between my two tours really consolidate the gains I made physically on the first one. I don't know how I would be faring at this point if I had done the whole coast to coast as originally planned, but I'm certain that I would be suffering more by now.
My bike and equipment are working well. My gearing is higher that the mountain-bike ranges that Pete and Ryan use, but this is balanced out by the extra weight they are hauling. Only problem I have been having is dropping my chain whenshiting into granny-gear, there is too much space between the small and middle ring, and my narrow 10-speed chain will wedge itself into the space between if I'm not really careful (and sometimes when I am). This can result in some engaging colour-comentary. Unfortunately, I had some miscommunication with the bike shop in Vancouver before I left. I had planned on replacing my drive train, but that didn't happen, and by the time I realized that had packed the bike for shipping and it was too late to do anything. My concern now is that the constant jamming could end with a broken chain. Although I carry a spare, putting a new chain onto my worn cogs could cause problems, so I would really liketo replace the whole thing. Just keeping my fingers crossed that it all holds together until I can find a decent bike-shop.
Yesterday I came up behind Ryan on a long grinding climb - the combination of my higher gearing and lighter weight was giving me a slight speed edge. It's not a race - you have to ride these climbs at the natural speed for your rig and your legs or your efficiency goes to hell. We were doing about 6 km/hour, and my front wheel was level with Ryan's yak trailer when Gilles Villeneuve came out of nowhere behind us and passed with a zig-zag thickness of clearance. I refexively hit the brakes, reducing my speed to less than required to remain upright, and consequently did a full Arte Johnson on to the gravel shoulder - Arte didn't have the benefit of clipless pedals to hold it all together, so I may have beaten him on points. No big deal, just a slo-mo tumble with a scuffed elbow and some damaged handlebar tape, not to mention damaged dignity.
Woke up this morning to pouring rain. We really timed our day off to perfection. We sat and watched a young back-packing couple breaking camp on the residence grounds. They pulled down their tent, stuffed the sopping gear into their packs and paused for a little hug before sloshing off into town.
Ryan had already headed out to Tim Horton's, so Pete and I decided to head out to the local internet cafe for breakfast. At which point I went to put on my goretex rain jacket, which came up missing. Major panic; I was sure I had packed it the day before, and my addled senior's brain couldn't remember unpacking it. Went through all my bags 10 times, checked all the cupboards and coathooks. Nowhere. Fortunately by now the rain had stopped. Last hope; maybe I had worn it last night when we went out to the restaurant. Got it. My favourite jacket is back in the fold.
It's 10:45, still in the internet cafe getting a start on my blog. If we have any adventures today, I'll post an update. The sun has come out now, so who knows what's in store. What do we do on a day off in Gaspe? We're thinking of a bike ride! Just getting a few clicks without gear sounds good.
Keep the comments coming, and sign up as followers. I would love to hear from my friends.
A la prochaine, Barney

Sea to shining sea

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.

We sure lived the heck out of that day!

St Anne du Monts to Grand Valee

Just Cruisin, on a forever coastal road

Surfin' Gaspesie -style

Heading for the sky

Grand Valee

Ste-Anne-des-Monts, to Grand Valee, August 1

Today 115km, total 634km

The musketeers spent an hour blogging away in the nice rec-room provided by the camp-ground, and then set out in search of adventure and chowder. Checked out the menu at the local pub, but not up to our exacting standards, so we had a beer and slipped away to the possonerie we had seen earlier. St Anne is a lovely little seaside town, well kept with a lot of old buildings. They have developed nice little parks, and a real boardwalk, with wooden sculptures everywhere. Pete and Ryan ordered the chowder, and I had the fish soup, and then we got into some serious seafood casseroles.

As we walked back to the campground, the sun was setting, and Pete got some great shots, including a special one of a staemy do-it-yourself carwash right on the foreshore. I guess that waterfront real-estate is not at the same premium we expect in Vancouver.

We paused outside a little cottage with gnomy sculptures all over the lawn, and through the window we could see two old ladies playing 10 pin bowling with a Wii and a big-screen TV. You couldn't make that stuff up!

Got back to the camp-site, and retired to our respective tents. As we are at the east side of the time-zone, it gets very dark by 9pm (and broad daylight at 4:30 to Pete's chagrin.

I goy the netbook fired up, found some wi-fi, and amazingly was able to get Valerie on a web cam conversation. Imagine that, sitting in a pup-tent a continent away, with real-time video. Technology is moving so fast!

This morning dawned bright and blue, and we were all packed and ready to hit the road by 7:30. Great scout Ryan had done anearly coffe-run and found a great greasy-spoon diner just down the road, so we stopped there for an early breakfast. Great, all the good stuff and homemade jam to boot. Better yet, Ryan picked up the tab for us.

The ride out from St Anne was nothing short of world class. 80km of sea-level highway that snakes along the shore-line, with just an occasional power climb over a rocky bluff to keep us honest and give us great views of the few little towns along the way. And our friend the tail-wind was stll there keeping our days average up to about 25km/hr, even with the climbs.

We picked up with a young biker named Chi, from Montreal, and swapped cycling lies for an hour before he stopped for some groceries.

The last hour into Grand Valee gave us a gnarly climb of about 1,500 feet over a big rocky headland. Definitely bottom gear stuff, but we were all so stoked from the day's ride that we just chugged over it, and enjoyed the 14% run down into Grand Valee.

Now sitting in an internet cafe, enjoying a pint and wifi, watching the seabirds (gannets?) thermalling over the bay.

Truly a great day.

Barney