From the Adventure Cycling writeup: "from the heartland of French Canada to the mountainous seacoast of the Gaspe Peninsula, at the northern end of the Appalachian Mountains. We pitched our tents in municipal, provincial, and national park campgrounds, and sampled fresh seafood and locally raised fare. The route follows quiet roads and pathways, most of which are part of La Route Verte, a 3,000-mile trail network in the province of Quebec that tops many lists of the world's best bicycle routes."

This was definitely Plan B for Bill, John, and I. My knee exploded in late April while walking across my office. The real reason was that I had biked little that winter (laziness, very bad weather), and hit the bike hard once the weather improved. Too much too soon. So this was supposed to be a tame alternative to Jasper through Missoula, where Bill and John wouldn't have to carry my carcass off the mountain. However, after getting in more than 750 training miles in the five weeks prior to the trip, my knee performed spectacularly. We surely could have done the Jasper to Missoula ride, but we didn't know that in advance. Luckily, this ride turned out to be much more challenging, and more spectacular, than we had hoped.