Saturday, May 15, 2010

May13-15 Quebec-Sainte Anne de la Perade-Louisville

                              
May13 M-12.59,T-1.33.48,AVG-8.06,El-355. Quebec City
May14 M-70.67,T-6:51:49,AVG-10:29,El-1965 Quebec-SainteAnn de la Perade
May15 M-55.45,T-5:12:51,AVG-10.63,El-440 SainteAnn-Louisville

I left Quebec this morning after a entertaining and memorable evening listening to the 4 Sopranos randomly assembled on the esplanade in old Quebec. A free concert and a good finale as I exited the city and started my ride up the St.Lawrence river to Montreal. The road I'll be traveling on is the Chemin du Roy or some call it the Kings Hiway.  Heres some info. on it.  http://www.lecheminduroy.com/ 
 Today was quite breath taking seeing the St. Lawrence expand into Lac Saint-Pierre. The St.Lawrence is rather large, huge,grand,is it really a river and hard to describe being from my back ground of Washington State rivers. Strait of Juan de Fuca comes to mind as a comparison but it's not a river. With the strait you get the back drop of the Olympics or Vancouver island to help with framing the size. But out here there is no depth of field,nothing on the horizon, to help frame the St. Lawrence.Well worth seeing and one of my must sea's of the ride.


Another good link for some of the great routes I've been riding is http://www.routeverte.com/ over 4000k of designated bicycle paths in Quebec. 







Thursday, May 13, 2010

May12 St.Georges-Quebec

Entering Quebec.

M-71.40,T-7:49.39,AVG-9:12,El-1904

Almost there with Quebec in the fore ground.  A great day of riding pristine country roads along   the Chaudiere River Valley which I had all to myself, again.With one last obstacle to go, this challenge in the pic, and I would be in Quebec. A city I always wanted to visit and the scene above happened to be  the end of one of my attempts to finding my way across the St.Lawrence, as I could see my goal.  But I wasn't worried to much as I still had 1 1/2 hours of daylight left. I just stepped back for a minute and read the map and shelved my beeline method of navigation which works the majority of the time.

Across at last whilst floundering with a street map on the corner again when Guy, a local, stopped and asked if I need some assistance.  Of course, I said, giving him the directions to my nights lodging. He bettered the directions and upped it to a lift to the motel as he seen where I needed to go. It was a fine ending to a great day.
This day of riding, beyond my expectations, totally offset my dinner escapade the night before. I always find the first few days in a country or province with a different language challenging or intimidating till I see where my language navigating skills take me or parameters. So anyway I decided to brush up abit on my french right before dinner last night using my 1988 berlitz european phrase book covering 14 languages in 299 pages. Needless to say its not to thorough and it wouldn't of probably made a difference anyway.
 A glass of red wine was going to be my first attempt at french in this fine establishment. Vin rouge pronounced "vang roozh" by berlitz as I practiced in the safety of my hotel room as someone might here me. Finaly the moment came as I walked into the dining area of the Grand hotel. The waitress obviously seen I was language challenged with my American "Bonsoir" a dead giveaway.  "Vin Rouge"my first attempt and then repeatedly to no avail as I could see the young waitress was getting more frustrated the more times I  repeated it, vin rouge, and a tipping point was coming I sensed . Finally one more time, "Vin Rouge" ,and she snapped and marched off then followed by a new waitress who helped me with the universal pointing method as I got my glass of wine finally. She also reccommended the english menu.   
Chaudiere Valley

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

May 11 Jackman-St.Georges



M-47.1,T-5:16:45,AVG-8.92,El-2581

Another excellent day of riding from Jackman to the border. Even less car traffic then yesterday and I wasn't dissappointed and spotted a moose before I departed Maine.


Tuesday, May 11, 2010

May 10 Skowhegen-Jackman

M-74.79,T-8:39:21,AVG 8.64,El-4772

A chewy Clif Bar day today with the temperatures hovering around 46 and a slight headwind As the day progressed they slowly worked there way down to a balmy 29. Luckily I had a extra pair of socks I could use as mitts to keep my hands warm and bearable.
What I like about touring.
It was a great day despite the temps and 201 was as I expected.Wide shoulders, sparse traffic and couteous log trucks. From 4 on I was pretty much by myself enjoying the panoramic vistas and fresh blacktop. Things you appreciate on a bike.

Sunday, May 9, 2010

May9 Belfast-Skowhegen


May 9

M-64.5,T7:08:07,AVG-9.03,El-3866

Firewood Mountain

A great impovement in the weather today but still cold and blustery with some strong head winds going down the hills so much so I was looking forward to climbing up the next hill which was sheltered from the oncoming wind. I did part of a tour today which was in a book Val gave me  back in Belfast. I bagged the tour after a few miles and instead just road north on 201.Which is the best Hiway I've ridden on so far.Nice wide shoulders and  thigh burning climbs these Maine country roads seem to  have. It was sunday to which helps for low traffic volume though I don't think there will be much traffic the rest of the way to Canada. Only 2 days til "Tim Horton's".

A rare sign.

May8-Bike Shoe!




M-8.81,T-37.52,AVG-10.55,El-214

The ol'steed is now easily identifiable in the corral and this day we  happened to be at the Belfast Co-op on a cool NW rainy day. I was debating on bringing the horseshoe of which I had 4  of them laying around my shop on the bench when the idea came to mind. They must of been remnants of a slower time on Camano Island. Yes, it would add some flavor to the trip but how will I get it on the airplane if I only have a carry on bag. What the heck! I'll give it a shot and hopefully it will skate by the TSA inspector.
 Off goes the shoes, bag on the conveyor belt as I walk through the metal detector watching the TSA scanner employee start to get a one eye open,cocked head, confused look on his face with a slight pause. Questioning what he was seeing on the monitor. Maybe to embarrassed to say anything, I don't know but I was home free shoe and all.
 I took a day off today following yesterdays  Long Haul on my Surly the Cadillac of bikes and a joy to ride. Pick one up from Mark at Stanwood Velo sports today!!
While staying at the Penobscot Inn a warm  friendly establishment I asked Val the proprietor for some route suggestions heading north being I'm winging it with little planning and he obliged with some great suggestions and even bettered that and through in a map and a book he had stashed away in his file cabinet . Yippee for me.... exploremaine.org the map and  Explore Maine by Bike a book with 28 routes which I'll incorporate 3 of them on my trek through Maine to Quebec.
I had the same helpful experience with Noreen the Acadia Park Ranger to offering me up a scenic and quieter route off Desert Island  and some touring tips to being a XC vet  herself,2X at that.