I woke up the next day feeling no ill effects from the long day on the road and was looking forward to trying to get some big miles in as the weather seemed pretty good.The sun was out and from where I was there didn't seem to be too much wind going on.That did change once I was out on the highway again.I rounded a corner about 5k into the days effort and was met with the same wind that had bugged me for the previous three days.It was then that I spotted a Petro Canada station just off the highway at the top of a hill.The wind had already sapped my enthusiasm for the day and I rode up for a morning coffee.
It was a very pretty location overlooking the surrounding hills and I sat myself in the sun and tried to summon up some positive enegy to get me back out and moving.In the end it was an old guy that came to cat to me that put everything in perspective.He was dressed in some kind of period outfit and I found out that he lives in a town nearby which is an 1860's period town based around the lives of the loyalists who fled here back in the day.I got a brief history lesson all about the Acadian community here in New Brunswick and how many communities to this day still cling to Acadian patriotism.His role in the historic community is working as the local cooper (barrel maker) and told me that he just loves living in that little community.He then went on to tell me more about the modern history of the region and suggested that I ride down the old highway which followed the river all the way to the town of Woodstock,which was my lunchtime destination.
I told him that I would love to visit all those places(including the town with the largest axe in the world) but as I was riding I couldn't really see everything there was to see on my way to Vancouver.There just wasn't time.He sat and had coffee with me for a good hour or so and I really loved the company as it gets pretty hard to be out there alone all the time.It is nice to be able to share stuff with people every now and then.All good things must come to and end though and at about 8am I headed back out onto the highway and turned northward,into the wind.
One big plus for the day were the views.I had ridden high up into the New Brunswick hills and the trees went on and on covering the rolling mountain tops as far as the eye could see.One cool thing that I did find were two Inukchuks perched atop a thirty foot cutting where the highway crested a big hill.It was really stange to see these cool "sculptures" out there in the middle of nowhere.God knows how long it took them to find a way up there to create them.Very cool though I thought.Every now and then I was treated to some glimpses of the river way below me an
d wondered if the road I didn't take was any easier than the hellishly hilly stip of tarmac that I was following.I mean really, it was starting to become a bit of a joke and I had resigned myself to a very slow day on the bike.It was sunny though and so I just decided to take my time and every half an hour of so I would find a nice scenic veiwpoint and have a little break for ten minutes or so.
I struggled at about 12kph all morning until finally at around 2pm I hit the outskirts of Woodstock and sought refuge in a Tim Hortons which was part of a huge truckstop on the highway.I stayed there for three hours alternating between lying on the grass and hanging out chatting to the Timmy's staff inside the store.I also was very sneaky as I washed my socks and bike pants in the washroom sink and hung them on my bike to dry in the sun.Five pm rolled around and I figured that I should get going again and so for the umpteenth time I found myself launching my rig into the wind for a few more hours of hell.
The afternoon ride went pretty well acutally and with a belly full of food I managed to tick the miles off pretty quickly.The wind did start to die down late in the afternoon and I made good time and managed to clock another 55k or so before I started to look for a campsite.I found a really cool place to camp on the top of an embankment just off the highway.I'm guessing that in winter the track I followed to my campsite was a snowmobile track but for me it was a path to a nice sheltered and level spot to put my tent.
The site was about twenty feet above the highway and provided excellent views of the line of wind generators which followed the ridgeline of a nearby mountain.Wind genterators,no bloody kidding hey!!!Actually the long line of propellers looked pretty cool spinning madly in the fading light of sunset.I had to take a picture.That was before I was driven to shelter by the sudden onslaught of,you guessed it,bloody mozzies!!Hundreds of the little fuckers all intent on draining me of as much blood as possible.I was pissed off cause it would have been really great to sit above to highway watching the sun set.Oh well back to the tent it was for me tired,happy and another 130k'ish closer to Quebec.
It was a very pretty location overlooking the surrounding hills and I sat myself in the sun and tried to summon up some positive enegy to get me back out and moving.In the end it was an old guy that came to cat to me that put everything in perspective.He was dressed in some kind of period outfit and I found out that he lives in a town nearby which is an 1860's period town based around the lives of the loyalists who fled here back in the day.I got a brief history lesson all about the Acadian community here in New Brunswick and how many communities to this day still cling to Acadian patriotism.His role in the historic community is working as the local cooper (barrel maker) and told me that he just loves living in that little community.He then went on to tell me more about the modern history of the region and suggested that I ride down the old highway which followed the river all the way to the town of Woodstock,which was my lunchtime destination.
I told him that I would love to visit all those places(including the town with the largest axe in the world) but as I was riding I couldn't really see everything there was to see on my way to Vancouver.There just wasn't time.He sat and had coffee with me for a good hour or so and I really loved the company as it gets pretty hard to be out there alone all the time.It is nice to be able to share stuff with people every now and then.All good things must come to and end though and at about 8am I headed back out onto the highway and turned northward,into the wind.
One big plus for the day were the views.I had ridden high up into the New Brunswick hills and the trees went on and on covering the rolling mountain tops as far as the eye could see.One cool thing that I did find were two Inukchuks perched atop a thirty foot cutting where the highway crested a big hill.It was really stange to see these cool "sculptures" out there in the middle of nowhere.God knows how long it took them to find a way up there to create them.Very cool though I thought.Every now and then I was treated to some glimpses of the river way below me an
d wondered if the road I didn't take was any easier than the hellishly hilly stip of tarmac that I was following.I mean really, it was starting to become a bit of a joke and I had resigned myself to a very slow day on the bike.It was sunny though and so I just decided to take my time and every half an hour of so I would find a nice scenic veiwpoint and have a little break for ten minutes or so.I struggled at about 12kph all morning until finally at around 2pm I hit the outskirts of Woodstock and sought refuge in a Tim Hortons which was part of a huge truckstop on the highway.I stayed there for three hours alternating between lying on the grass and hanging out chatting to the Timmy's staff inside the store.I also was very sneaky as I washed my socks and bike pants in the washroom sink and hung them on my bike to dry in the sun.Five pm rolled around and I figured that I should get going again and so for the umpteenth time I found myself launching my rig into the wind for a few more hours of hell.
The afternoon ride went pretty well acutally and with a belly full of food I managed to tick the miles off pretty quickly.The wind did start to die down late in the afternoon and I made good time and managed to clock another 55k or so before I started to look for a campsite.I found a really cool place to camp on the top of an embankment just off the highway.I'm guessing that in winter the track I followed to my campsite was a snowmobile track but for me it was a path to a nice sheltered and level spot to put my tent.
The site was about twenty feet above the highway and provided excellent views of the line of wind generators which followed the ridgeline of a nearby mountain.Wind genterators,no bloody kidding hey!!!Actually the long line of propellers looked pretty cool spinning madly in the fading light of sunset.I had to take a picture.That was before I was driven to shelter by the sudden onslaught of,you guessed it,bloody mozzies!!Hundreds of the little fuckers all intent on draining me of as much blood as possible.I was pissed off cause it would have been really great to sit above to highway watching the sun set.Oh well back to the tent it was for me tired,happy and another 130k'ish closer to Quebec.
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