Well I'm running down the road trying to loosen
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my
cover, she's so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own
Wheels make you crazy...
As I sit here in my tent I can hear a fire cracking outside on the beach where a fire has been set up and the wind has completely died down. The sunset was stunning tonight which is a good sign for the weather tomorrow. We checked the forecast and it looks very promising – nice to finally have some sun to look forward to and zero percent chance of rain..!! Hooray!
my load, got a world of trouble on my mind
lookin' for a lover who won't blow my
cover, she's so hard to find
Take it easy, take it easy
Don't let the sound of your own
Wheels make you crazy...
Atholville to Petit Rocher – Day 61
101 kms / 62 miles
It was definitely a chilly morning this morning which made crawling out of a warm sleeping bag one of the most difficult and challenging things I did today. The early morning due to the time change from yesterday also made getting up particularly difficult. I must say though, I slept incredibly well thanks to a soft bed of pine needles under the footprint of my tent. I could definitely have slept for another few hours though..!
Pancakes were on the menu for breakfast so we devoured a few of those and then headed to Tim Hortons in Campbelltown for our second breakfast, the opportunity to catch up on the Olympic medal count and read the paper. It was a very civilised way to start the day..! It l
ooked like the sun was trying to break through the clouds but it remained cold and the wind had picked up tremendous speed making it feel even colder than it already was. Fortunately it was a tail wind for most of the day but a cold one.
Todays ride was only 100kms which was a nice change and we approached it as a ‘take it easy’ sort of day. After our Tim Hortons breakfast we continued on to Dalhousie (not the university town..!) where we had to climb a challenging hill to get out of the town. On our way out we had a pit stop at a gas station where we filled up on chocolate bars and drinks. We also chatted to some very friendly locals in the gas station. It’s cool how many people are so interested in our little adventure and everyone has so many questions about our experiences, the weather, the condition of our butts etc.
101 kms / 62 miles
It was definitely a chilly morning this morning which made crawling out of a warm sleeping bag one of the most difficult and challenging things I did today. The early morning due to the time change from yesterday also made getting up particularly difficult. I must say though, I slept incredibly well thanks to a soft bed of pine needles under the footprint of my tent. I could definitely have slept for another few hours though..!
Pancakes were on the menu for breakfast so we devoured a few of those and then headed to Tim Hortons in Campbelltown for our second breakfast, the opportunity to catch up on the Olympic medal count and read the paper. It was a very civilised way to start the day..! It l
ooked like the sun was trying to break through the clouds but it remained cold and the wind had picked up tremendous speed making it feel even colder than it already was. Fortunately it was a tail wind for most of the day but a cold one.Todays ride was only 100kms which was a nice change and we approached it as a ‘take it easy’ sort of day. After our Tim Hortons breakfast we continued on to Dalhousie (not the university town..!) where we had to climb a challenging hill to get out of the town. On our way out we had a pit stop at a gas station where we filled up on chocolate bars and drinks. We also chatted to some very friendly locals in the gas station. It’s cool how many people are so interested in our little adventure and everyone has so many questions about our experiences, the weather, the condition of our butts etc.
After passing through the quiet town of Dalhousie (not to be confused with the University!) we continued on Route 134 through villages such as New Mills, Nash Creek, and Belledune until we reached our campsite. We made quite a few stops along the way for short breaks and to relax in whatever sun managed to burn its way through the thick cloud. Brendan had some problems with his right knee today so we took slow which was nice. There is no point in rushing a short day as the truck won’t be at the campground anyway. We took a long rest next to a lovely old white church overlooking the St. Lawerence from atop a steep cliff – very picturesque…!
Enroute Ian raced Andrew – or rather, attempted to race Andrew. Andrew is still the fastest but given that Andrew is on a racing bike and Ian drives a ‘bus’ he is certainly making good progress. It’s funny to see the rivalry and the trash talking after Andrew beats Ian is hilarious. An
other game that we played today is the ‘Countries and Alphabet’ game… Because it was so windy we hardly had to peddle as it literally blew us through to camp.
The towns we cycle through are all incredibly tiny. I often wonder what people do for a living if they are not farming as the towns are all incredibly quiet. We passed through a town and in the gas station there was a house for sale for $13,000..! Many of the houses are made of wood rather than the brick which seems to be more common in South Western Ontario.
I was on Galley Duty today which limited any exploration beyond the campground even though there was a rumour that there was a Tim Hortons about 3kms from the campground. We made a fantastic meal of kidney beans, rice, corn and some ground beef. Dessert was frozen fruit which was served a bit too frozen but was still tasty. Just as we were finishing dessert a truck pulled up and a man came out with an armful of t-shirts. It was the owner of the bike repair shop in Petit Rocher where Rick had brought his wheel that day to get a broken spoke fixed. The shop owner began chatting with Rick and heard about the trip and had 40 shirts made as
‘gifts’ for us all. They were fresh off the press and were still warm as we dressed in them for the photos..! The hospitality that the locals have showed us is really overwhelming.
‘The End’ is also on everyones mind at the moment – it’s so difficult to believe that we are into single digits on the countdown. It’s a very strange feeling… on one hand I am looking forward to returning to ‘normal’ and having a schedule that mirrors that of the working week… On the other hand I am definitely going to miss everyone, the exercise, the fresh air, and the scenery. It’s the ‘biking bubble’. It sometimes feels like I have an extended family here with everyone and we h
ave our own routines, loads of jokes and so many laughs. Also, during the tough times you know that there is always someone there to help in whatever way that they can.
Enroute Ian raced Andrew – or rather, attempted to race Andrew. Andrew is still the fastest but given that Andrew is on a racing bike and Ian drives a ‘bus’ he is certainly making good progress. It’s funny to see the rivalry and the trash talking after Andrew beats Ian is hilarious. An
other game that we played today is the ‘Countries and Alphabet’ game… Because it was so windy we hardly had to peddle as it literally blew us through to camp.The towns we cycle through are all incredibly tiny. I often wonder what people do for a living if they are not farming as the towns are all incredibly quiet. We passed through a town and in the gas station there was a house for sale for $13,000..! Many of the houses are made of wood rather than the brick which seems to be more common in South Western Ontario.
I was on Galley Duty today which limited any exploration beyond the campground even though there was a rumour that there was a Tim Hortons about 3kms from the campground. We made a fantastic meal of kidney beans, rice, corn and some ground beef. Dessert was frozen fruit which was served a bit too frozen but was still tasty. Just as we were finishing dessert a truck pulled up and a man came out with an armful of t-shirts. It was the owner of the bike repair shop in Petit Rocher where Rick had brought his wheel that day to get a broken spoke fixed. The shop owner began chatting with Rick and heard about the trip and had 40 shirts made as
‘gifts’ for us all. They were fresh off the press and were still warm as we dressed in them for the photos..! The hospitality that the locals have showed us is really overwhelming.‘The End’ is also on everyones mind at the moment – it’s so difficult to believe that we are into single digits on the countdown. It’s a very strange feeling… on one hand I am looking forward to returning to ‘normal’ and having a schedule that mirrors that of the working week… On the other hand I am definitely going to miss everyone, the exercise, the fresh air, and the scenery. It’s the ‘biking bubble’. It sometimes feels like I have an extended family here with everyone and we h
ave our own routines, loads of jokes and so many laughs. Also, during the tough times you know that there is always someone there to help in whatever way that they can. As I sit here in my tent I can hear a fire cracking outside on the beach where a fire has been set up and the wind has completely died down. The sunset was stunning tonight which is a good sign for the weather tomorrow. We checked the forecast and it looks very promising – nice to finally have some sun to look forward to and zero percent chance of rain..!! Hooray!
1 comment:
Hanoi
I love reading your adventure -inspirational!
Nearly BM time!
I am back 1st Spetember - you?
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