Out of Quebec
Day 1 - 6/15/2014: 64 miles (64 total), 1190 feet (1190 total)
10:03 pm (709)

 

 

 

 

 

Good but hard day. 64 miles, nasty headwind for at least a third of it. Campsite is gorgeous, right on the water.

Leader regaled us with stories of his trips up the iconic mountains of Le Tour.

Good group of guys: 11 paying customers, a leader-in-training, and an instructor leader. The leader-in-training is also the guy who is creating this ride and route. As such, it is very much a work in progress. This is a bit frustrating for us (today's estimate was 10 miles short of the actual mileage), but it's great having a guy who passionately believes in this route and thinks it's wonderful.

Interesting group, as usual. Two Tims who have been carless for over a decade: one in Denver and one in Philadelphia. The latter guy rode in from Philadelphia. Two also rode in from Portland Maine. There's a guy from Maine who owns his own island (and has invited me to come up and stay for free). We have a taciturn texan whose son went to Rice (yes!), but was unable to get a job (not good). We have two guys who have had hip replacements, both in their 50's. The replacements went great, but one guy's is now being recalled, and he's faced with having his replacement replaced. Sucks. One female, an ex-army prof at a community college in Long Island. Kind of an adrenalin junkie

The day started with a group photo in front of the Chateau Fontonec (spelling?), followed by a quick coast down to the ferry platform, where we went across the St. Lawrence, I think. Maybe not, as we are still on the south side.

We finished at a gorgeous site by the water. Tomorrow, more of the same, but hopefully less headwind.

More
Day 2 - 6/16/2014: 65 miles (194 total), 1160 feet (3510 total)
4:44 pm (713)

 

 

 

 

 

Sun up at 4:18, back to sleep by 5:18, up at 6:18. Problem is breakfast not until 7.

Another pretty day mostly along the water, ending in a municipal campground in the forest. No water view, but a nice wooded site. Only problem is that we had real issues finding the place. The directions given sucked, and we were forced to take a milkshake timeout to regroup.

 

 

 

 

 

Aliens? (Top left)

Relatively short
Day 3 - 6/17/2014: 54 miles (302 total), 1218 feet (5946 total)
5:04 pm (719)

 

And the tail wind returns!

The ride was unspectacular, but fun because of the tailwind. We had some real nice segments of riding 20 mph for 5 to 10 miles at a time.

The campsite, though is hilarious. First of all, it is behind a cesspool. Literally, a cesspool. You go past, and then up to an open field where there are restrooms. After that you can take paths to these nice wooden platforms that are set out among the trees. Unfortunately the mosquitoes under the trees are absolutely voracious. So we went down into the field and have set up there and it's not all bad. There is a nice picnic table, good showers, and we are able to bring beer from the nearby grocery store.

However, the lack of preparation from adventure cycling is really getting a bit annoying. No cue cards GPS tracks despite the fact that the leader actually gave the trucks to the office over here and a half ago. Just wanted to grocery store is challenging if you don't know the proper French words for them because most people here don't speak English! I know, WTF!

Wi-Fi is across the street, hence this short message. Tomorrow will be 80 to 85 miles, so we are going to try to get an early start and just keep on going. If the tail wind is still with us, it could be spectacular.

I'll post some pictures tomorrow of our dinner. Should be interesting, with 4 to 5 people wearing mosquito nets head to toe.

There was an enormous slug in my biking shoe this morning.

The knee continues to be okay!

Sent via iPhone

Blood on the walls, redux
Day 4 - 6/18/2014: 86 miles (474 total), 1455 feet (8856 total)
6:00 am (721)

 

Killed about 60 bugs in tent, blood smearing the inside of the tent, several dozen mosquitos waiting for me outside the screen tent. 80 miles in the rain today, yee-haw! .

Sent via iPhone

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I woke up at 4:50, mostly because I heard Bill and John chatting outside the tent, debating on whether to wake me. The plan was to meet at a nearby restaurant for breakfast rather than eat at camp, mostly because of the bugs (see my foot in one of the pictures). I rolled out at 5:30 which is a) an all-time record for rolling out of a tent for me, and b) kind of slow (40 minutes) because the mosquitoes were there. It was pack (slap, slap) pack.....

The day was supposed to be 78 miles, so I assumed 82. Turned out to be 86 for a variety of reasons I'm not going to bitch about here. For the most part, it was a great ride. We had beautiful views, many smooth roads, and a TAILWIND! We also had moisture, which varied from dampness to a downpour, but was very rideable for the most part. The coastline is gorgeous. The crepes maison were expensive and nowhere near as good as Rosana's. You rule, love!

Few random tidbits:

• Our Canadian member claims the slugs are called Flor de Leis Slugs in Quebec. Hmm..
• Bill: "It's a slugfest!"
• As we ate sandwiches on the steps of a church yesterday, the subject of the afterlife came up. John: "You're going to be unhappy if you're wrong." Me: "I'd be ecstatic if I'm wrong!" John looked a bit taken aback for a minute, then: "Maybe so, but I'll have a nicer bike."

Recovery day?
Day 5 - 6/19/2014: 60 miles (594 total), 2010 feet (12876 total)
4:04 pm (723)

 

 

 

 

 

I amaze one and all with my mosquito/fly bites. I really don't know how many I have, but probably hundreds, literally. I'm not kidding. I was an unbeliever, all the horror stories of black flies just seemed like people talking up their local issues and trying to make themselves sound tough. Not any more. I've used 100 0eet (works okay), the mosquito mesh that covers the whole head and neck (they can still bite you where the mesh touches your skin).

Today we are in a simple wind-swept campground on the cost. The wind keeps the skeeters away, and there is a clean, dry, well-lit room for computing and relaxing. Awesome!

Tomorrow is a very short 40 mile day, mostly easy. After than, another 40 miler, but this one hard, and including the 2km 13 0ll. The day after, though, is the beast. We are working on contingencies.

2
Day 6 - 6/20/2014: 44 miles (682 total), 1429 feet (15734 total)
5:56 am (726)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was simultaneously the best and worst of days. Absolutely breathtaking scenery: craggy cliffs above, volcanic rock, crashing waves, long swooping downhills (I hit 40, using the brakes). The campground has a great location overlooking the bay; no mosquitos because the wind blows so hard.

On the other hand, the wind blows hard! Also, the bluff on which we are camping is very cold and windy. For me, at least, this is mitigated by my setting up the tent w/ sides pulled down to the ground today, preventing too much wind getting in. It rained all day and was cold (~50 degrees or less). This was another day where our expectations were not quite correct. Our tour leaders had led us to believe that it was flat, which it very definitely was not. The total climbing seems pathetically small, but it was concentrated over a few miles, leading to a small amount of pain.

Pics: just a small sample of my mosquito welts, many bonfires being readied for summer solstice in a few days, a couple pictures at the campground, and several pictures of the run into Mont Louis. I didn't get pictures from the first two thirds of the day as the rain and moisture was fogging up cameras. However, the first two thirds was, if anything, more spectacular.

Grande vallee
Day 7 - 6/21/2014: 34 miles (750 total), 2285 feet (20304 total)
2:31 pm (727)

 

 

We stop in Grande Vallee for the night. Beautiful spot on a small bluff again, overlooking the ocean. The bugs are back, but our spots are pretty breezy, and I will not stint on the deet.

Note the 11 0ownhill grade sign. We also passed a 14ign, but I was, uh, going rather quickly at that point. No picture.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Today the weather finally passed us by. The sky was spitting a bit as we left, but it quickly dried out. Today was advertised as the day w/ the steepest hills, and I believe it, but I think it was actually worse the other way. We topped out at long stretches of 12% while signs warned us of descending grades of 14%.

The hills were fierce. Understand that I'm towing a 15-lb trailer, plus maybe 40-45 lbs of gear, + a heavy bike (w/ U-lock), plus, well, me. Most of us just biked by ourselves because going uphill is determined so strictly by your body: muscles, joints, which side of the bed you woke up on. In my case, the muscles were fine, I limited my uphill speed by when my knees complained.

I biked part of the time w/ Charlie, a 63yo texan who is extremely slow on the flat. Uphill, though, he passed me up. Then he stopped to take a piss, and passed me again. Sigh.

The downhills were extreme: I hit 45 mph despite some braking. After that, I tightened up the brakes and started braking a bit earlier.

The elfin figure in the picture is of our supreme leader, A'lain.

Day 8 - 6/22/2014: 63 miles (939 total), 5375 feet (36429 total)
9:50 am (729)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

David, Bill, and I met up at a milkshake stand near the lighthouse (go figure). David is the closest thing to a globe-trotting, jet-setting playboy I've ever met. Incredibly personable, he lives on 280 acres near Toronto and travels the world, though he still spends about two months a year in his tiny 1-man tent: backpacking, canoeing, and bike-tripping. The lighthouse was very pretty, though I think we were more appreciative of the milkshakes

Our campground was supposed to be Bon Ami, but it was closed so we were shifted to Camp Rosieres. Just as well: Bon Ami was up an insane climb and the supposed world-class views were completely blocked by foliage. For the climb, the highest grade registered by my very conservative altimeter yesterday was 12%, on a hill widely acknowledged as the most challenging in the area. Today's registered 16%.

I biked that hill because I wanted to get to a lookout behind it. I never made it, because the bear in the picture stared directly at me for 15 seconds, and then started ambling towards the road in front of me. The lookout was only half a mile behind the bear, but I took a couple pics and high-tailed it back down the hill.

Stupidity
Finally, I should add something about speed. I work hard to get up hills; I think I should be able to enjoy going back down them. Furthermore, big guys go down faster than small guys. I have now reached 40+ mph in 5 straight days. Yesterday I hit 45. Today I hit 47 while braking, and then 49.5 while braking on a different hill. Note that I only do this on absolutely clean, clear, and dry roads where I can see ahead and there are no sharp turns. Stupid, but fun.

 

 

 

 

After four of us got out of the campground this morning, exhilarating in the freedom of not needing to tow the bobs/panniers, we received word that our tour leader (Mitch)'s wife had been killed in a car accident this morning. Horrible, horrible accident. In the end, the other riders never did get on the road; the four of us were the only ones to do the ride.

We didn't even know if we wanted to continue at first; it's kind of hard to keep biking after something like that. However, I've often found that biking is therapeutic, and the others felt the same, so we continued.

The actual ride was pretty stupendous. I didn't take many pictures, especially during the first half of the ride, because we weren't sure that we were going to continue. Rest assured that it was far more exciting and beautiful than these poor pictures show. Easily the most scenic day. Easily the best weather (blue sky!)

Layover 3
Day 9 - 6/23/2014: 35 miles (1044 total), 3380 feet (46569 total)
12:53 pm (731)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have to say off the bat that as a "layover" day, this was odd, as the climbing was ended up being the second most over all the days.

That said, it was really a great day. Forillon National Park was nationalized back in the 70's, which meant that the government just told everyone who lived here (a couple small villages) to leave, sometimes giving people jobs demolishing their own homes.

The reason they did this is that it is truly a gorgeous area: natural beauty, flora, fauna. For the latter, folks in our group had close encounters with: 2 bears, a fox, 2 moose, and many fin and minke whales.

We started the day by climbing the aforementioned ridge across the peninsula's spine, which was a nasty 11�limb. Our goal was a whale-watching expedition. However, that wasn't until 1. Before then, A'lain convinced some of us to ride to the tip of the peninsula: Cap Gaspe. "There is a little up and down, but it's mostly flat," says our leader. Ha! Think unrelenting hills, capped by an 11 0rade up a gravel path.

The view at the top, however, was very definitely worth it: we ended up on a sheer bluff with a lighthouse overlooking where the very large Gaspe bay empties out into the larger body of water. The cliff edges were sheer; the view was nearly 360 degrees, and it was a beautiful day. A fox trotted across the grass 30 feet away. Only a few of us made it up on bikes, the others resorted to hoofing it for the last kilometer (ha!)

Moving on, we biked up and down, up and down, up and down, and maybe up and down a few more times back to the whale watching harbor and took a small, 40-ft boat out. It kind of looked like a large rubber boat, though all was metal. We had to don their raincoats, as we were low in the water (close to the whales), and got sprayed a bit. We probably saw a dozen different fin whales, two very close. Fin whales are the second largest of any whale, averaging 25 meters in length (twice the length of the boat we were on). I was on a very good whale-watching expedition last year out of Bar Harbor; this was at least as good, and we only had to motor out five minutes before we were with the whales. Suffice to say that whales were close enough that even the jaded whale-watchers among us were oohing and ahing.

The return trip was more of the same, but steeper. Turning onto a road near the campground, Henry was waiting for us. "What's up?" says I.
"I was wondering if you guys wanted to go for a milkshake," says Henry.
"You're nuts!" I exclaimed and zipped past him, heading to the campground. It had been a very hard, hot day, and Henry was proposing biking three or four miles back to a lighthouse we'd past the previous day, just for a milkshake. Actually, though, it was a really good milkshake, and we were really hot,
"Fuck it, let's go!" I gave in, doing a quick 180. Henry and I picked up Bill and Charlie as we motored to the coast. Bill: "Where are we going?" ("A milkshake.) "No, really, where are we going?"

The milkshakes and ice cream cones were definitely worth the extra five miles we biked, even, or especially, at the end of a long hard day.

The day ended up being about 35 miles, kind of short, but over 3000 feet climbing, which was more than any other day other than yesterday. It was truly a stupendous day of biking in a beautiful, relatively undisturbed area of intense natural beauty. However, this essentially means that there are no days off: just 11 straight days of biking. Luckily, everyone seems to be doing well, even my baulky knees.

Tomorrow we bike 50 miles south along the water's edge, and then the day after we have a short 30-mile ride to Perce, where we will take a boat expedition to a small but beautiful island offshore. Then we will take a 1.5-day van trip back to Quebec City, where Bill, John, and I will pick up a rental and head home.

Eh
Day 10 - 6/24/2014: 50 miles (1094 total), 2960 feet (49529 total)
1:36 pm (735)

 

 

 

Today was routinely beautiful, to the extent I took almost no pictures. Fifty miles, in camp soon after noon, in possibly the prettiest spot we saw all day (see pics). The highlights were going to a Timothy Horton doughnut shop after running out of coffee this morning, and hearing that my daughter qualified for her "E" rating at fencing nationals yesterday. As an indication of how hilly this tour is, I have now hit 40+ mph seven consecutive days.

Tomorrow, things should get spectacular again. Sent via iPhone

Last day, into Perce
Day 11 - 6/25/2014: 22 miles (1116 total), 1370 feet (50899 total)
9:49 pm (736)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday we were a bit underwhelmed, as the pretty scenary didn't quite match up to the prior days. We were assured, however, that today's would measure up. At first it seemed we wouldn't even get the chance, as it was raining as we got up and there was a movement afoot to bag the whole ride, do a driveby of Perce, and head back early.

Ha! Not on my watch. A bit of carefully-crafted choice presentation later and we were on the road, where the rain soon stopped and the sun came out.

First stop was the best breakfast and coffee of the trip. I had a benedectine waffle w/ smoked salmon, plus a waffle w/ maple syrup. Took a while to find a good breakfast, but it was worthwhile.

The up a "few, leetle hills," as our leader put it, turned out to be a leg-searing set of 11 0rades, followed by a crazy 15 0ecent into the town. I got on my brakes early because the road was both curvy and bumpy, but still hit 48. Tom, a rider from colorado, retook the crown of "stupidest biker" from me by breaking 50mph.

Perce is known for it's view of Perce Rock, an enormous rock that split into two pieces one night in 1849 for unknown reasons. Also, Boniventure island is well know as an animal and bird reserve.

We are intending to take a boat trip out to the island, followed by a celebratory lobster dinner. Note the freaking awesome campsite. It is, however, a bit windy

Finally, I've been talking about grades like 11% and 12%. My computer aggressively smooths; Charlie's garmin briefly showed some 17% and 18 0rades. Scale up all those previous numbers I've given....

Headed back
Day 12 - 6/26/2014
6:17 am (738)

 

 

 

 

The last few pictures are of Perce Rock, as well as a Garnet rookery on the end of Boniventure Island. Hundreds of thousands of birds. Bill and John traipsed over the island to where they stood 5 feet from the birds, which packed the ground all the way to the cliff.

We are now all done, not a single more mile to do. The plan is to drive most of the way back to Quebec City today, stay at a hotel, and then arrive back in town before noon. We'll get dropped at the airport, where John, Bill, and I pick up our rental. The drive home should be 12 hours. We'll stop for dinner at Bill's, and then John and I will push home, hopefully arriving at my house by 3am or so.

Really, really good trip. Very challenging, great scenery, great bunch of guys.