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Published: July 22nd 2011
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Nap
We stop for a quick rest after a tough uphill - to bad the following storm didn't rest as well Before we begin we thought we'd share a quote we enjoyed while reading about the Tour Du France:
"His body heaved at the pedals, like an automaton, on two wheels. He wasn't going fast but he was at least moving. I trotted alongside him and asked 'Who are you? What's going on? Where are the others?' Bent over his handlebars, his eyes riveted on the road, the man never turned his head nor uttered one sole word. He continued and disappeared round a turn. Steinès had read his number and consulted the riders' list. Steinès was dumfounded. 'The man is François Lafourcade, a nobody. He has caught and passed all the cracks' ... Another quarter-hour passed before the second rider appeared, whom we immediately recognized as Octave Lapize. Unlike Lafourcade, Lapize was walking, half leaning on, half pushing his machine. But unlike his predecessor, Lapize spoke, and in abundance. 'You are assassins, yes, assassins!' To discuss matters with a man in this condition would have been cruel and stupid."
We really like this quote, as we both quickly learned that we should take nothing personally that is said during a tough uphill. Today, there were plenty of such uphills,
Dry River
Eric sits at the side of the road, checking out the dried up river bed and even a downhill where the same rules applied, so it seemed a good day to include it.
When we got up this morning in our tent, we ate peanut butter banana and honey again, then packed up as quickly as possible, and hit the road. We were a little bit more bug bitten than we were last night, mostly resulting from a 3 am bathroom break. The mosquitoes were completely kept out of the tent when we originally set up, but we got bitten during the break itself, and also, a few mosquitoes found their way into the tent while we were getting in and out. After we closed up, we spent about 10 minutes hunting down the bugs by iphone LED light, but this morning it became clear that we missed one or two.
The day was supposed to be short and we were encouraged, hoping to get into Moncton early. It was cold and cloudy outside, but it seemed nothing could break our spirits. In the distance, we could see sunlight on our route, and were excited to get there. Unfortunately the road was as hilly as yesterday, and we were slow moving. The wind
Arrival
There was a nicer sign later, but it was too rainy for us to stop we got today was easily the strongest headwind we've had all trip. On one particular stretch of downhill, yes DOWNHILL, we needed to pedal continuously in order to keep moving, so you can imagine how tired we were after the ensuing uphill. Actually, you probably can't imagine it, but trust us, we were really, really tired.
A number of times we caught up to the sun, but it always took a lot out of us, and each time we did it seemed a five minute break was all that was needed for the clouds to overtake us again. Our morale slowly slipped and we became cynical. Eventually we got to Salisbury, and broke at a truck stop for a rest and a meal. Afterwards things were a lot better, but slowly the hills and winds got to us once more. As if things weren't bad enough, about 8 km outside of Moncton it started to rain. Hard and cold. The rain made us change our minds about the motel we were aiming for, switching from cheap with laundry facilities to less cheap with a pool and hot tub.
When we got to the motel, things got better immediately.
Fountain
At the Mosaiq festival The staff was very friendly, the facilities were very nice, and the hot tub was very relaxing. We unwound in the hot tub, then did some laundry, and went to the hotel restaurant for lunch. Afterwards we decided to explore downtown Moncton. We went for a walk down Main Street and bumped into a little festival - Mosaiq, celebrating multiculturalism in Moncton. We also went down to the Tidal Bore Park to see the fast tides starting from the Bay of Fundy. When done, we had a bite at a nice Italian restaurant with make-your-own all-you-can-eat garlic bread. The best part was the Bay of Fundy scallops that Eric ordered - they were small, but meaty and good. Even Therese, not usually a scallop lover enjoyed them. After dinner we headed back to call it a night. We wanted it to be an early night, but its never as early as we would like.
It's 9:15 now, and there's still some work left to do before bed, and a longer day again tomorrow, so its time to call it a night. Take care all!
Stats:
Departure time: 8:00 am
Arrival time: 1:05 pm
Total distance travelled: 66.6 km
Total time on bike: 3h 21m
Average speed: 19.9 km/h
Trip distance: 1648.7 km
- E and T
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Tot: 0.369s; Tpl: 0.032s; cc: 11; qc: 51; dbt: 0.2214s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
MOM
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Heat wave
It seems that the Heat wave is all across Canada. I wish you were here to join me in the pool. It's very refreshing! Too bad you haven't met some nice family to invite you for a home cooked meal. Eric, tomorrow I'm making P A S T A, your favourite, Mmmmm, PASTA!!!! Frankie and Suzie and their kids are coming over. By the way, Therese, fantastic work on the blog! (sorry I assumed you'd be sleeping when Eric wrote the blog) Good job you two! Enjoy tomorrows adventures. Love MOM