Sandi and Lewis' ride across Canada

Day 63 St. Louis DeKent (Rest Day) Petit Rocher to St. Louis DeKent Distance: 149 km August 25, 2006 This morning did not start auspiciously, as when I showed up for breakfast at my usual 7:30 time to an empty oatmeal pot, I was told that breakfast was over, and that I could make it myself. These are not the words that should be spoken by the galley crew, as it is galley crew’s responsibility to provide breakfast for one and all. I was too tired to get into it with them, so just grumbled and walked away to make a sandwich; the past two meals around camp had let to big rows between other people besides the BP and myself for a change; I think people are really tired and are coming to the end of their patience-rope, as tempers have been flaring. The breakfast before last had two parties going at each other, to the point where we thought someone’s eyes would pop out from the exertion of physical expression. One of the other riders had more energy and got into it with one of the galley crew...

Day 62 Petit Rocher Campbellton to Petit Rocher Distance: 100 km August 24, 2006 Since our distance was short today, we were beside ourselves with glee, added to by the winds blowing kindly in a favorable direction, plus it being my birthday making the day pretty special. We got a late start to the day since we knew we had such a short distance to cover, and got into the nearby town of Dalhousie by approximately 10:00am, the time at which Tim Horton’s is even more typically rammed than usual. We are used to some odd stares from people, accompanied by the odd comment, but the attention received this morning made us feel like minor celebs. Probably more owing to one of our riders who rides a recumbent bike, or tricyle that draws all kind of attention wherever he goes. He usually comes into camp with stories of people flagging him down only to pepper him with the standard questions, “is there a motor in it?” (no) “What is it made of?” (carbon fiber,) and the like, but this morning he was ...

Day 61 Campbellton, New Brunswick Amqui to Campbellton Distance: 104 km August 23, 2006 Since our group has, in many ways, devolved into much of a circus, one of the riders purchased a clown horn; he likes to honk it at every opportune moment-sometimes directed at the clownish drivers who demonstrate their idiotic driving skills, but more often to announce arrivals, and to punctuate the many bizarre situations we find ourselves in. This morning a herd (gaggle?) of ducks came wandering near our campsite; he gave the horn a toot, and they reacted like they had just heard their home-coming call as they all came waddling over to us, as if this was the standard procedure. What else could we do, but feed them our daily bread; it was a fun way to start the day (especially for me as I am such a fan of ducks.) The Fun People had decided that this was going to be ‘wear underwear on the outside day,’ so those brave enough followed through with the plan; five of us, myself included put our undies ...

Day 60 Amqui, Quebec Trois Pistole to Amqui Distance: 158 km August 22, 2006 Yay, finally we were blessed with the presence of Tailwig! The almighty winds shifted direction at some point during the night and blew in an easterly direction. It was so nice for a change to sail by other cyclists going in the other direction, this time with big grins on our faces! Whereas a few days ago it took us over 30 minutes to do 10 km, today we did over 20km in half an hour, we were just flying along-what a glorious feeling to be able to travel at such speeds (up to 50km/hour on a flat,) it’s this kind of riding that makes all the bad days worth it. The scenery in this part of Quebec is just amazing; the little villages that we go through seem to come from the impressionist era, with their little cozy houses and vibrant gardens bursting with flowers and greenery. At one point we were following the ‘coast line’ and had spectacular views of the St. Lawrence river and the surrounding farm lands; Quebec ...

Day 58 Riviere Quelle Quebec City to Riviere Quelle Distance: 138 km Day 59 Trois Pistoles Riviere Quelle to Trois Pistole Distance: 117km August 21, 2006 If I had thought that I had already had my toughest ride on the tour thus far, I was grievously mistaken; yesterday the wind was measured between 40 and 50km/hour-gusting and railing against us for the entire day. Standing upright in the kinds of gusts yesterday was challenging, but riding a bicycle was beyond what I would consider to be a reasonable activity to do on a day like that. A marine person we met along the way reported that waves on the St. Lawrence were measured at one meter-the height at which gale force winds are determined to be blowing. At lunch a local informed us that the winds ‘usually blow in the other direction.’ I don’t know how many times we have heard that, and it was certainly not of any consolation to hear, knowing what we had to go back outside to face. I also got tired really quickly of seeing cyclists goi...