Day 44

Starting to feel like I'm in the home stretch.

Rode out of Charlottetown and caught the ferry over to Nova Scotia. Sure enough, the ride out was just as nice as the ride in. I didn't make it too far after that, but not biggie as I only have 300km to cover to make it to the ferry by Friday (my reservation). From there, it's a 16 hour ride to Newfoundland, and then 130km to st johns, followed by a few days of relaxing and the. A flight home on the 29th.

I've sent out a few warmshowers/couchsurfing requests, so hopefully I'll be able to stay with a few more interesting individuals before all is said and done. For tonight: I'm back in a park and feeling quite at home. I think I'm going to miss this lifestyle.

Day 43

Two day post.

Made it to PEI! The rest of the ride through NB was excellent as always, and I started to get a little excited when I first saw Confederation bridge. It's so long! Sadly I couldn't ride it, but the shuttle was as free as it was prompt and I was on the island before I knew it.

PEI is gorgeous. I was able to keep on back roads all the way along, and still managed to meet friendly people every hour or so. One was a France-French gentleman who showered accolades on me for my adventurous spirit, and another was a local who hooked up the best route to Charlottetown. The ride in has to have been one of the nicest of the trip: beautiful empty roads with gentle slopes passing by the oldest farms ever as well as a few little fishing communities here and there. Loved it.

As I was getting close to Charlottetown, I spotted some folks on a bridge up ahead getting ready to jo. Stoked. Hopped off the bike and stripped down quick as I could do go and join them. I ended up jumping with two guys visiting from the states, one of whom was clearly overcoming a dual fear of heights/water in the process (gun-show in the pic). After I brief but exhilaration fall, I hit the water. Salt water. Right. So much for camping tonight- shower just became top priority. Onwards to charlottetown.

After stopping to get groceries before heading for the hostel, an older man comes to check out my bike as I'm pounding back croissants and asks if I have a place for the night. Upon hearing I'm planning to go the hostel, he asks if I'd prefer to join him and his wife at their home instead. Obviously a yes.

I ended up staying two nights with Bryson and Joan, who were two of the nicest people I have met so far. They had done tandem touring earlier in life, and had always been picking up stray cyclists to come stay when they found them. It was really nice to be able to sit and just chat with such welcoming people for two days. I also got te chance to explore Charlottetown, which was great. Ended up spending quality time posted up in a coffee shop catching up on the blog before ambling around taking everything in. Hung out with a vagrant busker for a while and swapped stories, then head back to the MacDonalds for a lovely dinner and a sleep in a real bed. PEI is exceeding my expectations, which were high.

Day 42

After having a delicious breakfast with Paul, I set back out in uncertain weather. I'm mostly riding along the coast, and the clouds are grey but the water is lovely. Plenty of farms and rolling fields along the way- makes for really scenic riding.

No particularly exciting happenings today, just cruised my way down to Cap Pele, where I cooked dinner then set up shop next to the tourist info building. When I woke up I popped in to use the facilities, and they asks if I was camping outside and when I replied that I was they asked all sorts of questions about where I was headed. Niceness level: Maritimer.

Day 41

Today made for a very well-rounded day of touring. After waking up to clearer weather in my gazebo, I proceeded to go wash up in the (unused) children's waterpark area, using the jets as a makeshift shower. After drying off and having breakfast, I set off towards Paul's house. I connected with Paul on warmshowers, and he offered to put me up for the night. The ride went very smoothly with a few short breaks to wait out isolated rain showers. After zipping along and getting within five or so kilometers, disaster struck! My second flat tire. And of course right on cue the heavens open and it begins to pour. Laughing at my misfortune, I remove my panniers and he to work on changing my tube. Just as I'm finishing up, another helpful local pulls over, presumably to check on me. "Are you James?". Oh snap, it's Paul come to rescue me on intuition alone. I pile my stuff in the car and we drive the last leg to his place.

After the all-important shower and laundry, Paul cooks a delicious dinner which we eat outside looking out over the woods. He is Acadian and his english matches my french, so our conversation flows freely between the two. As we munch on a huge bowl of fresh picked wild blueberries, he tells me about his upcoming tour about PEI, and we compare gear and discuss bikes. I turn in pretty early and set up outside on the deck under cover, falling asleep to the sound of rain falling.

Day 40

New Brunswick is rad.

The people are so nice! I had several people pull over to make sure I ok and to offer route advice when I was stopped on the side of the road. Also everyone still seems to speak French; the Acadian population is huge. As I rolled along there were French flags with a yellow star on the everywhere, on houses, painted on telephone poles, on cars, tshirts, everywhere. Turns out it was Acadia day, that was the Acadian flag, and everyone was out celebrating. I passed through numerous street parties and generally had a wonderful time.

As I approached Bathurst the weather went downhill quickly, and I ended up outdoing the previous nights camping spot by several magnitudes. Just threw down the sleeping pad in a gazebo in the middle of a park downtown. The only person I saw was a guy walking his dog in the morning, and a few drunk teens at night. Great success.

Day 39

New Brunswick!

After overshooting the turn off to Campbellton and only finding out when I ran in to some fellow BC tourers who laughed while pointing me in the right direction, I decided today would be. a short day. After doubling back and crossing the bridge I made it about 20km before it started to pour. I hunkered down in a tiny park to cook dinner under cover, and when the rain didn't let up decided to just set up behind the bathrooms. Tons of people saw me and several waved, but no one seemed to care. I have a feeling the Maritimes are going to make for some pretty blatant camping.

In the morning the people who lived across the street to say hi.

Pictured: melted my spoon, and discrete camping spot.

Day 38

Today marks my final day in Quebec. The ride today reminded me of riding through Ontario; amazing forest and little lakes an rivers and very little in between. There were finally some hills as well, a few of which serving as reminders that the riding out here has been pretty easy.

I caught up to Seb for lunch at a casse-croute, then split up for good. Probably going to be doing the rest of the ride alone, and kind of looking forward to it now. It's nice to just be with your thoughts and to be able to stop/start as the mood strikes. Need to find a new book though- my poor phone is not an acceptable substitute.

Passed by dozens of fishermen floating the river before settling on a spot for the night: ended up at the edge of a telus outpost. Despite my proximity, I still did not have reception. Why telus, why.

Pictured: a huge blurry coyote

Day 37

Today was better weather wise, and marks my last day on the coast of the St. Laurent. Seb and I peddled up towards Mont-Joli through what felt like dozens of little riverside communities. We were able to follow a route vert, which is a dedicated bike route, rather than sticking to the highway. I love Quebec.

On a sadder note, Seb and I decided to split off. We're at different points in our trip, with me having the end in sight, and him coming back from quality time at home and wanting to take a more relaxed pace. So we camped out a cool little site in Mont-Joli, and in the morning we'll take off at our respective paces.

Day 36

Today was savage. Relentless rain and full on headwind all day. The route was easy and there was no traffic, but maintaining 15km/hr was a struggle. I lost Seb pretty much right away and hunkered down under one of the many road-side Jesus's to wait. He had taken two weeks off In Toronto after his brother had an accident, and is still working on getting his legs under him. I can sympathize.

We made it to Trois-Pistoles and found a perfect camp site at the local tourist info spot. Flat grass, trees, water, power, bathroom- it was perfect. Fell asleep to the pitter-patter of rain on my rainfly.

Total bonus: stopped at the cheese curd factory and ate all the cheese. It was glorious.

Rivière Ouelle

Ended up taking a rest day so Seb could get in a good visit before setting back out. Had a great time touring around this little community! We went out for seafood and I enjoyed the tastiest lobster bisque, which may have been he best soup I've had to date, and a shrimp panini. Then off to the grocery store where I tried fresh cheese curds alone for the first time. I will be eating them every chance I get from here onwards.

We went back home for a tasty dinner, watched some olympics, then turned in. Back to it tomorrow!

Pictured: the beautiful coastline, a cool lever machine that spits out good advice (fundraiser to build a new wharf), tastiest meal, our gracious hosts + Seb

Day 35

Another short day to Rivière Ouelle. Legs are starting to feel better, definitely not sad today wasn't a long one though. Got to the cabin while everyone was out, so I stretched out a relaxed with my book while I waited and took in the beautiful sunset. When they got back, Seb brought me a poutine and all was well in the world.

Day 34

First day back on the road after my body rejecting all forms of nutrition for 48 hours was a slow one. Legs weren't feeling great, and I got a late start so I settled for a short day. I took the ferry to leave QC and the view was top tier.

I got back in touch with Seb as well, and am going to meet up with him the day after tomorrow at his friends cabin in Rivière Ouelle. Stoked to see him again!

Ended up crashing at a rest stop.

Quebec City

First full day in Quebec can pretty much be summed up as me lying on the ground throwing up and sweating profusely cursing my poor decision making. Started feeling better around dinner time and tried eating some dinner and some water. Total snake- that stayed down for approximately no minutes before making a break for it. I continue to be the lamest house guest ever. Thankfully Marc and N'oemi are the nicest people ever and let me know I can stay until I am in better shape. They are now my cycling inspiration; Marc has toured all over Canada and Europe and they are planning an indefinitely long trip from QC to Alaska and then down the west coast to South America. So cool.

Second day I am actually feeling better, and take off to explore and take in the old city. Still feeling pretty weak, but food is staying down so that's good. Quebec City is beautiful, and I spent the day ambling around checking out the fortifications. I imagine this is what walking around Europe must feel like: everything is just insanely old. I really enjoyed it.

When I called home to check in, my parents offered to put me up in a hotel for a night to finish recovering, which I great fully accept. I spend one more night with M&N and was hopefully better company, then the next day took off for another day of exploring, then settled in for a luxurious evening in a queen sized bed with my own shower.

Overall Quebec City was awesome. Big ups to my lovely hosts, and many thanks to family for setting up such a lovely final evening!

Day 33

On to Quebec city!

Today was hot. Hot hot. Yet another fateful decision was made regarding trip length: I was getting to QC tonight come hell or high water. I had gotten in touch with a fellow cyclist in QC via warmshowers who offered to put me up for the night, and the lure of a shower and good company was strong. 180km to go!

The ride was like any other in Quebec: total beauty. Passing along the water there were frequent rest stops with water and bathrooms, and overall I made great time. As I got closer, I called ahead to Marc to let him know roughly when I would be arriving, and he let me know him and his SO N'oemi would be heading out to some fireworks around when I was arriving, and that I was welcome to join. Sounded awesome, so he fills me in on where to meet and on I press. I skip dinner in favour of snacks, since I can eat heartily upon arrival. In retrospect, terrible decision.

I made it in time, and after some confusion we meet up (approached a cyclist to ask if he was Marc, and sure enough he was but he had no idea who I was. Wrong Marc). We bike on to the fireworks and grab some beer and snack on the way. I pound back a few granola bars and a beer while enjoying the fireworks and getting to know my hosts and am having a lowly time. After they wrap up, we bike back to their place and I start feeling less and less great. I figured I'll just crash and hopefully be feeling better in the morning.

No such luck- cue projectile vomiting and a restless night of not being able to hold down water. I am a terrible house guest :(

Day 32

Left Montreal to head east towards trois-rivieres along the north bank of the st Laurent. Perfect day for riding- beautiful weather, well rested, and perfect roads with wide shoulders and courteous drivers. Already noticing a steep increase in the number of cyclists, no wonder so many other tourers are quebequois- everyone out here bikes!

Had trouble finding a place to stay, but finally stumbled across a little worded field at the last minute. I think it was private property though, so was sure to pack up early and leave no trace.

Montreal

Montreal ended up being my longest stop by far. After the seemingly never ending day of riding to get to Zoe and Carlo's, we got our much on then promptly passed right out. Upon waking, it was time to refuel: onwards to all-you-can-eat sushi with Carlo. Definitely set a personal best for food consumed, ended up having to call it quits when everyone else had been done for such a long time that it was becoming awkward. So satisfying.

Montreal was essentially just a big wonderful haze of good beer, great food, wandering aimlessly, and meeting interesting people. I really enjoyed being in a "real" city again, and having it be bilingual as well was a total bonus. Got to practice my French a little bit before setting off in to monolingual Quebec. Zoe's place was air conditioned, which was a total highlight as Montreal was by far the hottest stop so far. My god it was hot. Quality mid-day time was spent indoors drinking beer and watching Olympic coverage. So happy I was able to catch a fair chunk of the action, missing the Olympics was one of my few reservations before setting out.

General highlights: air conditioning, meeting new folks, fooood ranging from smoked meat to burgers to Turkish to sushi and beyond, a wide variety of fine beers, bike upgrades (2x handlebar tape- take that hand numbness!), going climbing with Kai, people watching, bike ogling, Olympics, and of course getting to spend time with my wonderful hosts.

It was very hard to leave, and I ended up ultimately staying a day past my projected departure date. Sean stayed with us as well, but split off on the last day to head south-east to Maine. Final aside: losing weight like crazy despite eating everything I can get my hands on. Was down 12lbs in Ottawa D:

Pictured: a fire(!), delicious smoked meat sammich from Schwartz (sp?), view from the deck, wrapping the handlebars (took several attempts)

Day 31

Todays total distance: 204km

When I met up with Sean in the morning, we both agreed that we could totally make it to Montreal in one day. It was only what, 180km? No problem. Cue so many minor setbacks and the longest day of the trip.

The night before I had been told about a biking trail that will take us to Quebec. It's an old train route where the rails had been torn up, leaving nice crushed gravel. Sounds good- no traffic! Turns out Sean had been told about it as well, so we prepare to go give it a shot. Right as were ready to leave, Tom and Patti's neighbour Bob graciously offers to ride us out to the start of the trail. We obviously accept and head off on a scenic ride along the waterfront, passing the governor generals house as well as the PMs (pretty sure I saw his cat). We were about an hour in when we realized that we were still a ways from beginning our already lengthy journey. After another fourty minutes of riding and one brief scare from Bob ("I'm not really recognizing any of this!", we made it to the trail. No regrets though, the route Bob took us on was a highlight of the days ride.

Once we were on the trail we ripped along at a pretty good clip. The trail was well maintained and made for easy riding... For the first 60km. The last 30km were absolute murder. The gravel became loose and sandy, and I was slipping all over the place. After and hour and a half of slow riding and non-stop cursing, we bailed on to a side road and connected back to the main route, and once again the riding was good. Crossing in to Quebec it felt like a weight lifted from my shoulders: I was finally out of Ontario. The road shoulders widened, the signs were all better, people spoke French at rest stops- it was great.

We made it all the way to the edge of Montreal before we ran in to the next challenge: navigating in cities is mad hard. the sun had set and we were no in the clutches of a city we had no understanding of. It was literally 2+ hours of biking 5-10mins, followed by an equal amount of time being spent analyzing how many wrong turns we just made and how to adjust the route. After a seeming endless number of wrong turns, and with the help of one of Montreal security guard who seemed to know what was up, we bombed down a massive hill and pulled in up front.

Departure: 930am; arrival: 11pm
Total time in the saddle: 9h45m