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.