Friday September 11, 2015

A tough cycling day today, which is why we only managed to do 64 kms. We had a strong headwind and sidewind buffeting us all day. We left the hostel at 9:30 am and wound our way around the old city and the road closures to the port. Nobody would let us through the barricades so that we could take a short cut. The race didn’t start until 11:00, but I guess they wanted to make sure that the course was completely clear. As we approached the ferry dock, we saw the ferry being unhitched and we missed it by a few minutes.

We bought our ticket $3.50 one-way and waited for the next ferry. They run every 20 minutes. The ferry can take cars, but as a lot of the roads were closed around the ferry dock there was only one car on the ferry.

Of course, there was a big hill to climb as soon as we came out of the ferry terminal. I think all ferry terminals should have a moving sidewalk to get bicycles up and down the hills, similar to the one that we used in Spain, near the Portugalete Bridge outside of Bilbao.

We eventually found our way out of Levis and stopped at a gas station to make sure we are on the right road. We had left the hostel two hours previously and only travelled 9 kms. This was going to be a long day.

We followed Highway 132 and Route Verte 1 towards Riviéres du Loup. We had looked at two distances 60 ks and 80 ks. The 60 ks distance had the nicer campsite, but I was hoping to get to the second campsite. With the constant wind, that didn’t happen.

Although Ralf and I were doing ten and ten, we both had to work hard because of the direction of the wind. Sometimes I would get a break, other times I had to work hard even when I was behind Ralf. After Levis the route was farmland and rolling hills, no major hills to climb but the wind was relentless.

We stopped at a little casse croute (fast food) for lunch, and then headed back out into the wind. The only saving grace for today was the sun was out and it was comfortably warm.

We arrived in Montmagny at about 3:00 pm and Ralf went into the grocery store to get sauce for the pasta (pesto) and some juice to have with breakfast. We agreed that we would find the campsite in Montmagny and called it a day. The campground is located next to the St. Lawrence and our pitch is overlooking the river. This area is a migratory route for snow geese.

The campground is very nice and costs $25.00 for a site with water but no electricity, plus 0.25 cent for a shower, wi-fi is free for 30 minutes – no blog update today. The laundry facilities are cheap as well, but we don’t need to wash anything.

Tomorrow is going to be a long day – 130 kms to the hostel in Riviere du Loup, but we should have a tail wind and a bed to sleep in again. There are no warmshowers from Riveres du Loup to Fredricton along the route we are taking. Aynsley has already spoken to a friend of hers in Fredricton and we have a bed for the night when we get there. Thanks Aynsley and Kayla.

As usual when we are camping we are in bed as it gets dark, which is around 7:30 pm. We are definitely getting shorter days. Although the sun does come up at 6:30 to 7:00.

Now I have a confession to make. I stole a Brooks seat cover worth about $10.00. Ralf needed new covers for his panniers, his old ones had been ripped by a dog, chewed by squirrels and generally got battered around. This great little bike shop in Quebec City had the size pannier covers he needed. I also needed a new seat cover for my brooks saddle (I lost the other one a couple of days ago). I spotted one in the bike shop and put it on the counter. We were chatting to the guy behind the counter about the bike race and I asked if I could pay with the two remaining visa gift cards I had. Yep not a problem. He printed out the receipt and I stuffed it in the bag along with the pannier covers and the seat cover. Merci beaucoup and off we went.   When we got back to the hostel last night I checked the receipt the Brooks cover was not on the receipt. I can’t send the bike shop the money because I no longer have the receipt.   I feel really bad. Ralf says I should just pop into one of the catholic churches say a few \”hail mary’s\” and I will be absolved.