DAY FOURTEEN-157K

Wet is the only way I could describe my nights sleep that night.With the rain pouring down outside and my body heat creating all kinds of condensation on the inside of my tent it was impossible to stay dry.Thankfully the contents of all my bags were dry so that was something I s'pose.I was really reluctant to get out of bed but once I did I realised that it was going to be a foggy old morning once again.No point bitching about the dampness though as I pulled on all my wet clothes and readied myself for another uncomfortable mornings ride.

It was so dark in the forest were I had made camp that I had to wait a little while until it was bright enough to hit the road.Once I did though I settled into a nice pace and was clicking off the kilometers pretty quickly.I figured I'd be in Gatineau by lunchtime and then be ablt to ride another 40 k or so on the other side of the city before I booked it for the night.

There were, as I had come to expect here in Quebec,lots of cute little villages which were at regular intervals along the highway.I didn't stop at any this time but did manage to have a long chat with a guy named Patrick who was stopped at a roadside pullout.He was really interested in my trip and we sat down at a table near a huge crucifix and talked all about travelling and bike riding.It was pretty cool to chat for a while with someone who appreciated being out on the road and all that goes with it.

I continued along the flat farmland of the river valley for a few more hours and as predicted arrived on the outskirts of Gatineau around mid-day.Getting into the city however,took a long time.The highway that I was following suddenly joined the expressway that led into the center of the city and I got stuck riding with all the trucks flying by at breakneck speed.That didn't last long though as I soon heard the unmistakeable sound of a police siren and was pulled over by a traffic cop who wasn't too happy with me being on the expressway.He told me off and then gave me some really bad directions for an alternate route into town.By some fluke I managed to find a cycle path that followed the river and I figured if I followed it I would evntually find the city.
As luck would have it,while I was stopped and studying a map of the park system,another cyclist stopped and asked me where I was going.I told him that I was trying to get through Gatineau and Hull to join the 148 on the other side of the city.He started giving me directions and then decide to ride with me himelf and show me the way.That was really nice I thought.We rode for about half and hour chatting as we went and finally came upon another bike path which he told me would take me all the way to hwy 148.I thanked him and rode off down yet another of the city's amazing bike paths until I decided to have a little rest by the river overlooking some really cool rapids on the Ottawa River.I sat there for about an hour and then headed off again to find the highway.

Along the way I met a lady who was riding by and upon hearing of my plans warned me against riding the 148.She told me that she lived on that road and that it was a very dangerous place to be on a bike during the afternoon rush hour out of the city.I really had no choice so off I went,yet again into a rain storm.The rush hour warning was spot on and I was soon being bullied off the road by some really crazy drivers in between dodging some huge potholes that were just everywhere.As another storm system approached I ducked into a gas station and had a coffee to wait out the rain.A young guy told me that I was looking to get killed if I rode that highway in the aternoon but again there was no other way so on I went.

Ten minutes later during a huge,huge,huge storm I hit a flooded pothole and it threw me off my bike and into the middle of the highway.My bike,trailer and myself were now strewn all over the road but thankfully relatively unhurt.It was the 4x4 with speedboat in tow that became my next comcern.As I crashed the driver hit his brakes hard but in the cyclonic conditions his truck and trailer aquaplaned and jack-knifed with the truck passing me on one side and the trailer passing me on the other.The trailer stopped just as the wheels bumped up against me and thankfully no-one was hurt.I was done for the day though and pretty much over this whole riding on shitty Quebec roads in the fucking rain.I turned around and headed back toward Gatineau and the bike paths I had been on a couple of hours earlier.

I found a motel by a nice beach not far from where I'd had my afternoon break and checked in for two nights to figure out what to do.Really I was over it and after having such a great time in Montreal my heart was not into this ride anymore.I didn't want to be a triathlete,I didn't want to be on the road,I just wanted to hang out with some friends and have some fun!To make matters worse I had lost my passport as well.Somewhere between checking in,storing my bike and having a shower I'd lost it.We searched and searched to no avail and now I was thinking that someone had found it and kept the damn thing.Great,now there was the possibility that I'd have to stay in Ottawa for a few days until I got another one.Bloody hell what was a guy to do but go to the store and buy some shit food and some Guiness to go with it.With that I set mysef up in my room and veged out in front of the television for the night.With 157k done that day I had actually had a great day riding,pity the rest went all to hell.I left it to the next day to make any decisions as if I was made to choose right there and then I would have hopped a plane and flown to Penticton the next day.

DAY THIRTEEN-123K

So, after finally deciding to get my lazy ass out of Montreal I packed my stuff and rolled out of my sisters place at about 1pm on a sunny Sunday afternoon.I had been in Montreal for fifteen days instead of the five that I had planned but to be perfectly honest I could have stayed a lot longer.The only problem was that now I was so far behind my ride schedule that I feared I would not be able to make it to Penticton at all.My attitude toward the ride had been lifted by a couple of old friends who had contacted me and told me that they would be contributing toward the Athletes in Kind cause.My old mate Lloyd also so told me that he and his wife Ead had decided to put another $2000US into an account for me should I need it.That was really all the motivation that I needed to get me on the road again and so the long trip through the city of Montreal was begun.


It was actually a lot easier to get out of town than I thought it would be but it wasn't all plain sailing as I did find myself hoplessly lost in Laval for about 40 minutes during which time I ended up having a nice tour of some really beautiful riverfront properties.Once I figured out where I was it was pretty plain sailing out along hwy 148 toward the city of Gatineau.




My target for the afternoon was to try and reach the town of Lachute some 80-odd kilometers from Montreal.I figured that would be a nice ride to get me used to being on the road again after my long break in the big city.It was great to be out and about again physically but mentally my head wasn't really in the game.I don't know why but even though it was pretty easy riding there was something that made me think I could be doing something way more constructive with my life. I did manage to hit Lachute in the early evening and after a promising entry into what I thought might be a nice town I found myself in one shithole of a place.I have heard joking remarks about some serious inbreeding in Quebec and I swear if those rumours are true then Lachute must be the inbreds capital of the province.Sitting outside a gas station sipping coffee I was amazed at the cast of weird characters that passed me by each slightly more eccentric than the next.I mean talking to yourself isn't really such a crime but arguing with yourself should be.I saw more than one guy do that.I also saw more redneck drivers racing around the streets of Lachute than I had seem anywhere else.It was very scary being on the road with them as I took off after my short stop.

I was pretty glad to be out of that town and was happy that I was going to far exceed my days planned 80k.It was only the fact that the weather closed in(yet again) that I started to look for somewhere to sleep that night.I was happily barrelling down the highway when I realsed that everyone had their headlights on and that it was getting really dark,really quickly.It was about then that the lightning started and the thunder rolled overhead!Damn it,I did not want to spend another wet night outside so I really started to look in earnest for a campsite.I found one by the side of the highway just over the bridge that spans the Riviere Rouge(red river).It was literally ten feet off the highway but was quite a bit below it and was hidden quite well.



As I wheeled my bike down the track along the road I realised that there must have been some huge weather here over the last day or so as the ground was soaked and there was evidence of a nice stream that must have flowed strong with the run-off from the highway.Luckily the campsite I chose was slightly elevated and I was pretty sure I wouldn't get flooded out.Getting rained on was something that I couldn't control.Just as I was setting the tent up the heaven opened and I had to cover my exposed tent with my tarp and hide under it until the rain let up.

Fifteen minutes later it stopped raining and I was able to set up camp and put all my stuff under cover.I did get caught myself though and by the time I crawled into my tent I was soaked yet again.There was not much I could do about it and after removing the outer layers of clothes I got into my damp sleeping bag wearing my wet under shirt and bike pants.I would be wet all night but at least I was warm and thanked my lucky starts for the tarp that covered me as the deluge that hit didn't add to the damp misery that I experienced for the next seven hours.After settlling in I ate a can of beans,did my daily report and tried as best I could to go to sleep.This was not fun at all!!