Early the next day I made my way back to the truck-stop and had a nice hot coffee and some pastries from the store to wake me up and give me some energy.I had slept really well and finding the tunnel was a real bonus as it really rained hard during the night.The weather that morning was gloomy but at least it wasn't raining so I figured I'd skip looking for a lift and head off in my quest to reach the St Lawrence River that day.I figured that it was an easy days ride away and from all the reports I had heard from my motorcycle friends,the worst of the hills were behind me.
I set off about 6am and was soon rolling along at a pretty good pace following the valley that headed north into the heart of Quebec.One thing I did notice straight away was the seriously shitty condition of the roads.After being spoiled by the awesome road surfaces in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick these Quebec roads were a joke.Pot-holes,deep cracks,tiny shoulders to ride on,I tell you if this was what I could expect from the whole province then riding through Quebec was going to be a chore. I though Aussie roads were bad but these were just crap!
Not long after starting ,the whole theory that there were no more hills was put to rest.I found the steepest hill of the ride so far and barely made it up the climb.All I can say is thanks for the MTB gears,I don't think I would have made it up otherwise.The hill also gave me a reality check on the state of my legs which four words could some up nicely "THEY REALLY BLOODY HURT"!!!It was not the kind of hurt that you get from a litle bit of fatigue but the kind you get when your muscles are damaged to the bone from days of hard work.Every minute or so of each climb I would have to stand up on the pedals to keep going.I was getting weaker all the time and the pain got worse and worse as I came across more and more hills in the approach to the lakeside town of Cabano.
My pace was just so slow that I started to hell at myself to harden up and keep going but in the end,as I passed through the constuction mess that leads to the little town I pulled over and sat down.It was around 8:30am and I'd only managed 40k since my 6am departure that morning.I was beaten and duly surrendered to the sanctuary of the motel that was behind me as I lay there on the side of the road.I couldn't go on and checked in for a days recouperation in the comfort of a hot bath and cozy bed.It was pure bliss to find myself an hour or so later warm clean and lying in bed watching cable t.v with a huge assortment of snacks spread out all over the covers. JUST AWESOME!!!
I spent the pretty much the whole day in bed either napping or watching t.v,with the occaisional trip back to the bath to soak my wearly legs.I did manage at one stage to hook myself up to the internet to check my emails to find out who had responded to the group emails I'd sent just before my departure from Halifax.Sadly, of the 145 people I had contacted about my ride only four people had responded.I could not believe it!I know people have lives and everything but really I thought that some of my "friends"might actually take the time to wish me luck,but no.I was also surprised not to find any comments from the Athletes in Kind people,that I don't understand.Not that I'm doing a very good job at raising money mind you.It seems that there are so many people doing charty rides this year that everyone is "charitied out"and I have not had a single response to my emails and phone messages to various media outlets along the way.Maybe it's me,I don't know,but it is all very sad.I have had lots of promises made to me regarding this trip and it looks like the novelty of what I'm doing has worn off,especially with my friends.I decided that I couldn't be bothered starting my trip blog or doing my daily interview that day.It was just too much work putting the blog together when clearly there were so few people interested.I went back to my room feeling pretty disheartened and lonely!
July 19, 2008
July 18, 2008
DAY SIX-145k
Today was one of those really lousy days on the road where you are just trying get the job done without really noticing what the hell is going on around you.Idid manage to do what I had planned in that I did ride 145k and I did get myself into Quebec but my legs were really starting to hurt and it wasn't fun.The wind however did ease off toward the end of the day but I have to tell you some of the hills that I can across were just killers.
One hill in particular really tested me and that was the one leading up to the Irving truck-stop at Grand Falls.My god,why do they have to put every single truck stop at the top of a frickin' hill.That 3k(I measured it)climb involved two rest stops along the way.Man did I feel lame!!Once there though I will admit that the views were pretty nice.Views not only of nice scenery but of an ever increasing presence of hot looking girls.It became quite apparent to me that I must be nearing Quebec as the women started to look prettier, wore more make-up,were more well dressed and of course they all started to speak French.
One hill in particular really tested me and that was the one leading up to the Irving truck-stop at Grand Falls.My god,why do they have to put every single truck stop at the top of a frickin' hill.That 3k(I measured it)climb involved two rest stops along the way.Man did I feel lame!!Once there though I will admit that the views were pretty nice.Views not only of nice scenery but of an ever increasing presence of hot looking girls.It became quite apparent to me that I must be nearing Quebec as the women started to look prettier, wore more make-up,were more well dressed and of course they all started to speak French.
I didn't realise that the people here in northern New Bunswick spoke so much French but I guess it's all part of that Acadian thing.What really surprised me was when I hit my last rest stop for the day at the town of Edmundston just south of the Quebec border.I was really hungry as I rode up to the town and spied a really,really big MacDonalds store on the side of the highway.I took the exit and rode in parking my bike near a big group of motorbike tourists.On entering Macca's I realised that everyone spoke French,it was wierd to suddenly be immersed into what is essentially a different culture so quickly.I was really tired and didn't feel like socialising so I just ordered my meal sat on the back patio and ate like it was the first meal I'd had in days.
It did the trick though as I quickly perked up and headed back out on the road toward Quebec.It didn't take long to approach the border and I soon spied the huge Quebec flag flapping in the breeze marking the end of New Brunswick and the beginning of the third province of my trip.The one other thing I spied was the storm that was about to hit as well.I made the sprint to the local gas station just in time as the heavens opened and dropped bucket-loads of the wet stuff all around me for the next 12 hours or so.
I spent the next four hours at the gas station waiting in vain for a break in the weather and my thoughts turned to the possibility of catching a lift with one of the many trucks that were at the huge truck-stop.I didn't get a ride in the end but I did spend some time with a few of the motorbike guys who were trying to keep out of the rain as well.We all sat together in the truck-stop diner drinking coffee dreading the thought of going out into the weather again.A couple of the guys had checked the weather networks and told me that there would be rain and cooler temps for the next few days-great!!
Two of the motorbike guys decided to book a room at the neighbouring motel but I was determined to try and get a little further up the highway and rode off into a light drizzle on the bike path next to the highway.I didn't last long as the heavens opened again and I thought I was going to get royally soaked for the night.Good fortune favoured me though as the bike path went through tunnel under the highway which provided me shelter.I figured that there was no point going on and decided to set up camp inside the tunnel.I thought that with this weather the chances of anyone being out and about to disturb me was minimal.Thankfully the wind had stopped so in the end it was a really great place to camp,mozzies and all.I had survived a pretty bad day,with really sore legs and lousy weather.I feared though, that tomorrow would just get worse and had an anxious and fitful nights sleep.
DAY FIVE-130k
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.
July 16, 2008
DAY FOUR-165k
I woke up early again and went for a little 45min jog back down the highway to wake myself up and get some sort of run training in.After that is was a quick tin of beans for breakfast before once again hauling all my gear onto the highway to start another long day in the saddle.The funny thing about riding like this is that the average speeds that I am achieving are really pretty slow at around 22kph but when you take into account the amount of time I find myself sitting on the side of the road recovering from the wind it seems that I am travelling at a snails pace.That fact is brought home to me every kilometer as there are kilometer marker
s placed up and down the highways and no matter how much I try to tune myself out to the time I'm spending riding those damn markers keep reminding me of how far I still have to go to reach the Quebec border.Very frustrating!
The morning's ride was pretty good and after a brief shower the sun made an appearance and the temperature started to climb as did the surrounding counrtyside. I rode for a couple of hours before my short morning break on the side of the highway and was pretty surprised at how good I felt. It was another hard day after that though and with the ever increasing winds I was glad to have a three hour pit-stop at around 2pm in the army town of Oromocto.This time however my body was really craving some junk food.I felt pretty weak and the stuff on offer in the truck-stop didn't look to good so I headed to the airconditioned sanctuary of the golden arches-yes that's right Macca's.One large size Big Mac meal later and my belly was happy!
I spent a fair bit of time there chatting to a young army guy about my trip as he was keen to find out as much as he could about this bike touring thing.Seem's that he wo
uld be riding to the west in a months time and wanted to compare notes with someonewho had actually been on the road for some time.He was a nice bloke and bought me a coffee for my troubles.After my little conference I lay down in the shade for a nap.
With the afternoon sun beating down I hit the road again to see how far I could get that day.I'd already covered about 110k before my late lunch break and would have been happy to get another 40k or so down the highway.The wind was up so I would just have to try as best I could to keep going.What I didn't expect was that my MacDonalds meal would be a huge benefit as my best riding for the day was done that afternoon.I was even enjoying the riding and started to really appreciate where I was and how lovely the surrounding wilderness was.My appreciation was hightened by a pit-stop to check out a big beaver dam in a little pond on the side of the highway.It was pretty cool to see the little beaver hard at work doing whatever it is beavers do so I stopped to film him.The motorists on the highway must have though I was nuts.
Not long after leaving Oromocto I passed Fredericton and finaly felt like I was gaining some kind of headway with this trip.The highway would soon turn north and I would be in Quebec within a day of two and from there only about three days ride from Quebec City.Now if I could just do something about all those damn hills that just woudn't quit!
As the sun started to set I figure it was time to find myself somewhere to camp and after a wrong turn off the highway I found a really,really great campsite perched on the top of a little hill just off the highway,surrounded by trees.It was perfect and even though the ground was pretty rocky the lack of bugs made it seem like paradise.Finally I could walk around without being attacked so in some wierd form of celebration I took all my clothes off and poured the contents of one water bottle over myself in a sad attempt at have a shower.It was the best I had felt in days.The day itself was quite a moral booster for me as I managed to cover around 165k and was still feeling pretty good.Things were looking up in the fitness stakes and I went to bed a pretty happy camper.
DAY THREE-105k
After a really good nights sleep I headed off nice and early into another fog-filled morning this time however I did have a little bit of a tailwind,not that it helped much as the roads were under contruction all over the place and my speed was kept to a minimum.I shouldn't complain though as any wind that isn't in my face is a welcome one,what wasn't welcome was the huge climb that I had to face after about 15k of riding.This climb was surreal!I was in my smallest gear just crawling up a hill about 5k in length, into a thick fog all the time trying to dodge all the construction debris littering the road.Once over the climb and onto the plateau the riding became a lot easier and I ticked off the k's happilly all morning. I didn't end up stopping in Moncton for my planned swim and shower as yet again I found that the towns,or should I say cities,are so far off the highway that it just isn't worth it to log all those extra miles riding in and out off the highway.I'll ave to go into the double iron without any swim training and just take it slowly.
The afternoon brought the wind again and at my lunch stop which was at the huge Irving truck stop, the wind started to just howl and of course,in the wrong direction!!!It was a nice place to hang out for a few hours though as I got to chat to heaps of interesting people who came over to check out my bike.I met all kinds of folks including a guy from the Okanagan Valley just north of Penticton who was delivering speed boats to Nova Scotia and a lady triathlete who stopped and gave me some sunscreen for my sun ravaged face.She had been driving by and figured I was in need of some help.When I told her I was on my way to do a double ironman she just thought I was nuts and drove off shaking her head.My biggest thrill was finding a one kilo banana loaf for sale for only $2.Man did I just live on that thing for a day or so-just awesome!!
I tried to wait out the wind but to no avail, it just wouldn't quit so I made the decision that today was going to be a short'ish day and I would head off down the road for another hour of so and find somewhere to camp for the night.
It wasn't long before my legs decided the pit-stop for me as one one very long and slow climb they just started to ache.I looked for a good spot to camp and found one on the other side of the split dual-carriage highway.It was a nice,sheltered,grassy area which,once the sun went down would be hard to see from a speeding car.I decided to stop and settle in for the night.The bugs loved having me visit but at least there were no mozzies.Something to be gratefull for I guess.I had ridden about 105k for the day and was just beat.Hope fully tomorrow would bring some better results.
The afternoon brought the wind again and at my lunch stop which was at the huge Irving truck stop, the wind started to just howl and of course,in the wrong direction!!!It was a nice place to hang out for a few hours though as I got to chat to heaps of interesting people who came over to check out my bike.I met all kinds of folks including a guy from the Okanagan Valley just north of Penticton who was delivering speed boats to Nova Scotia and a lady triathlete who stopped and gave me some sunscreen for my sun ravaged face.She had been driving by and figured I was in need of some help.When I told her I was on my way to do a double ironman she just thought I was nuts and drove off shaking her head.My biggest thrill was finding a one kilo banana loaf for sale for only $2.Man did I just live on that thing for a day or so-just awesome!!
I tried to wait out the wind but to no avail, it just wouldn't quit so I made the decision that today was going to be a short'ish day and I would head off down the road for another hour of so and find somewhere to camp for the night.
It wasn't long before my legs decided the pit-stop for me as one one very long and slow climb they just started to ache.I looked for a good spot to camp and found one on the other side of the split dual-carriage highway.It was a nice,sheltered,grassy area which,once the sun went down would be hard to see from a speeding car.I decided to stop and settle in for the night.The bugs loved having me visit but at least there were no mozzies.Something to be gratefull for I guess.I had ridden about 105k for the day and was just beat.Hope fully tomorrow would bring some better results.