DAY SEVEN-40k

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!