Dist, 188 km (inc. riding around town), 23.3km/hr Avg. Saddle Time 8 hrs.
July 1, Canada Day. Vive Le Canada !
A great day to ride.
Good weather. Nice roads. Interesting towns. Lots of cyclists and everyone else for that matter on the road today. There was Farmer Brown riding along on his rusty barn bike, there was Marianne and Danielle Beauchamp riding carefree on their old school bikes in plain clothes with hair in the wind.(This, I like), also, the local bike club of "roadies"in full colours and a few Touring Keeners. Canada Day by Bike , literally. Cool as Hell. The roads twisted and turned and had a small hill now and again. There was some light rain, very light winds, some head, some tail. (that sounds bad).
Then, something extremely cool happened...Cool part aside, I see a ton of motorbikes on the road. Some travel solo, sometimes in pairs. Often I see groups of chrome horses. Sometimes these beasts are pulling trailers that will, at some point be parked between trees or maybe in an empty field to be opened up into a grand camping tent. Awesome. Very often, motorcyclists pass me in the opposite direction and give me a wave of acknowledgement or at least a "Double-take". At first, this wave of acknowledgement would piss me off. I thought to myself; how could they possibly understand my highway scenario ? They are sitting on a motor. Effortless motion. No comparable discomfort at all. Yes, there is the exposure to weather and traffic, but again, no comparison to the level of discomfort, pain and uncertainty of bicycling in inhospitable conditions. Eventually, I would understand, but was never comfortable with it. But this day saw a motorbike of a different kind.
I will never know how many bikes passed me, but it was certainly enough to make my tired face smile. It was a very long stretch of flat blacktop. I could hear the rumbling behind me. My I Pod Nano Playlist of old school metal could not drown out the screams of the many Four Bangers.
I'm comfortable with:
5 Harleys passing me.
10 Harleys
20 Harleys
30 Harleys...
I didn't count, but there was a significant number of bikes passing me. Actually, there was so many bikes that it must have taken 10 minutes for the last machine to whirl by.(probably not) The thing that made this experience so amazing was not the bikes themselves or the number of bikes, but it was the behaviour of each and every rider that passed me.
At first I thought that it was nothing but a gesture to the following rider, but soon after, I realized that it was for me ! Imagine this, if you can. One hundred rumbling Harleys passing you and as they pass you, they raise both arms in the air, then slowly lower them as they pass. At first, I thought that this was something else, but, as it continued for the duration of all the bikes, it was more than obvious that it was for me. It doesn't sound like a big deal, but at the time, it was truly amazing. Words alone cannot describe. A huge " Devil Horn Salute "to me, the lonely rider of the Trans Canada. Ride on...
At the 130 k mark, I arrived at Riviere Du Loup. Nice place, but yesterday was a short effort and it was only 4 pm, so after some Burger King grease, I headed out.
At one point, I came upon a nasty road closure. My main route (#132 East) was shut down by construction) Its a holiday, so, the crew is gone except for a weathered lady directing traffic. Traffic witch sent from Hell to guide humans. She was french only, and therefore, no help to me. I flagged a motorist in desperation. There was no reasonable route around this blood clot unless you were in a car. Luckily, I was able to get by through some residential properties.
By the time I got to Trois Pistoles, my camping plan failed, and I got stuck in a "Nice on the outside, shit on the inside Hotel" Severely ripped off. I could've went with my gut and got the 'El Cheapo Motel "enterring the town. Idiot ! From now on, I wanna see the room before paying. F#*^ ! ( PS. dont stay at " Hotel Trois Pistoles") Its a cool little old town though.
I had a really good pizza at the restaurant. Highwaycat won't eat pizza, too messy...
HWC is bagged
Terrible on big climbs, but loaded with character and style
Fantastic rest stop. My first introduction to Quebecers hiking with Hiking staffs. A strange, but common practice here.
These birds were very still and silent.
Cycling friendly
Local bike club
At the waterfall...
Predictably, HWC is unimpressed
A lone Iron Horse blurrrs by
I'm here someplace
Major bird sanctuary areas
Nice bird viewing area. Move, dammitt.
Local habitat
She's very good
This lovely woman had no sandwiches
Colourful neighbourhood.
Blue Bird. The 2 dimensional one
More colourful street art
Lovely cycling
Another great rest stop with food. I had my own vittles though, thanks anyway.
I don't look thrilled, but I was OK. HWC was whining all day.
Big Red. Hey, I recognize that bike !
Less than perfect, yet perfect road.
Ummmmm...
HWC is not happy on this very odd and disturbing structure in a field halfway from somewhere to nowhere.
Ya, lets visit. Holy strangeness !
Other bike tourers ahead. They were a bit disorganized and a tad unfriendly. I said Hello and motored on.
Entering a town with it's welcoming art. Not sure where this is.
Awesome road Graffiti.
Bad news
I was able to get by on foot.
Nice cloud ensemble
Lovely Museum
Trois Pistoles street scene
My cramped overpriced jail cell
HWC was not fazed
Without a fridge, this was my cooling station. The air conditioner
The crowded creepy hallway
Overpriced piece of shite. There was camping nearby, but I bailed on that idea, so I guess I shouldn't bitch, eh ?
View Larger Map Lovely Canada Day ride !
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