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Published: July 17th 2011
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Sneaky!
This is where we ducked under the fence - we guess that was obvious Four words: Most. Relaxing. Day. Yet.
This morning started out strangely. There was nowhere to eat near the motel except at the motel restaurant, and that didn't open until 8. Not wanting to wait, we ate peanut butter, banana, and honey sandwiches, as well as pastrami and tomato sandwiches in our room. Strange combination, but its what we had. We still planned to stop on the road for something with eggs (we love eggs to start our day) about an hour in. We knew there was a Tim Horton's coming up, and though we don't like it nearly as much as McDonald's (especially Therese), it seemed like a good plan.
Speaking of good plans, a nice guy at the motel last night commented that he saw us on our way, and thought we were really good, and also mentioned a bike path coming up shortly after the motel. We were intrigued, so looked it up - he was referring to a section of the Trans-Canada Trail: a trail that is still being built that is supposed to go all the way across Canada when done, more than 10 000 km. This particular section has been put in over the
Big Hill
See that hill in the background? That's what yesterday and this morning was full of! old railway, and is supposed to be mostly flat as a result, but we weren't sure if it was for doable on road bikes. We had heard of the trail before, but thought it was more of a mountain-biking thing. When we looked into it, there were a few easy access points that we were supposed to pass on our way, so we planned to keep a lookout for them and give it a try if possible.
The first kilometre of the trip was a continuation of the sweet downhill from the end of yesterday, which was nice. Then the uphill-downhill started again, though it was better proportioned than yesterday. The downhills were slightly better paved, and slightly longer, plus we were fresh off a good night sleep. We were going slowly, but faster than yesterday and making clear progress.
When we got to the Tim Horton's, it was hard to access from our side of the highway. There was an exit to it, but the roads that way involved long and hilly ramps that we didn't feel like taking. We instead locked our bikes to a road sign on an island in the highway, and crossed over
Lunch Break
The best of Canada on foot. There was a fence that was mostly designed to stop people from doing exactly what we were doing, but we squeezed under them at some conveniently placed drainage ditches, and had our second breakfast. This stop took a while though, the service was very very poor, and we lost more time than we wanted to here.
Back on the bikes, we continued for another 20 km or so, taking rests frequently, and when shade was available (this was our hottest morning so far, there was not a cloud in the sky). We have been noticing a remarkable number of dead bumble bees on the highway (we're talking easily one per metre) - not sure if they are over heating from landing on the asphalt, or being hit by cars and dying at the side of the road. The latter would seem more likely but they always seem to be in "good condition", which we don't think would be the case after a collision with a windshield at 120 km/h. Eventually we found a crossover to what we thought might be the elusive trail. We crossed, but saw no signs, so asked a stranger at a house on
Lunch
Therese cooks a hotdog over her small campfire the road. He directed us back about 150 m to a trail entrance, and told us that the trail went all the way to New Brunswick, and was indeed mostly flat. Ecstatic, we headed for it immediately. It turned out to be mostly gravel, but fairly fine gravel, and no trouble for our expensive tires. It was also shady, quiet, near a lake, noticeably cooler without all the cars, and with noticeably better quality air. We didn't realize how bad the air on the highway really was until we got away from it.
Anyway, we were basically in heaven, and enjoyed our relaxing ride. We stopped for lunch at a little path down to the water, made a small fire and cooked hot dogs, and even took the time to go swimming in the lake. This was truly some of the best Canada has to offer, and a nice reminder of why we are taking this trip in the first place. After lunch we got back on it, but had a nice leisurely pace the rest of the day, stopping frequently for beautiful views and relaxing breaks.
Eventually we crossed into New Brunswick, and then before we knew
New Brunswick
Province Number 3 it we were in Edmundston - yes, the trail went all the way here. We had already decided that this was a major-enough city to warrant us stopping in for the night, and we went to the cheapest motel Google maps could find (still pretty nice actually), and ended our day early. Actually, it was not that early, but in comparison to the last two days, it was really nice. Also, since we lost an hour in the time change, the early night was an especially good idea.
After showers, laundry, and dinner, we're happy to have an early to bed for a change. We tried to go to the grocery store too to get supplies for tomorrow, but in this town the grocery stores close at 6 on Saturdays. Actually, everything seems to close early, and there is not much to begin with. For a "major city" this place is pretty empty. And yes, we said laundry back there. For those of you wondering how we keep so pretty in our pictures, we wash our clothes by hand at the hotels each night. The washing machines in Montreal and Quebec city were a luxury.
Thanks for following
Edmundston!
Small sign, but its only a bike path after all everyone, see you tomorrow (unless we finally camp for the night).
Stats:
Departure time: 7:15 am
Arrival time: 5:30 pm
Total distance travelled: 78.9 km
Total time on bike: 4h 6m
Average speed: 19.3 km/h (this seems low, but we were taking it easy to enjoy the trail - we still felt good most of the day - and the gravel trail definitely slowed us down, but easily still worth it to avoid the huge hills)
Trip distance: 1161.1 km
New max speed: 69.8 km/h. (This was a really really steep, but well paved and straight downhill. We know what you're thinking: why didn't we pedal just a little harder so we could hit 70? Well screw you, this hill was scary enough!)
- E and T
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Tot: 0.202s; Tpl: 0.023s; cc: 11; qc: 52; dbt: 0.1401s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 2;
; mem: 1.1mb
Shira Hart
non-member comment
ha ha
What a great name for a town. Congrats on arriving in New Brunswick. The pictures are awesome and it looks wonderful to see you guys in the water. Today I got a few more things done in prep for my trip; I bought a seat belt comfort strip which is really nice and comfortable, I arranged for the blinds to be made, got some more copies of our house key made, bought some nice clothes at a consignment store with awesome prices, sat on the deck, played with Alfie, enjoyed the heat,...I don't know if I told you already but I have been getting on the treadmill regularly and am started to feel the benefits. I have also been parking further away from stores, and pushing myself to walk more, be more active, and it feels great. Perhaps I will be ready to tackle a bike trip too, to Stabucks!! Keep enjoying, Aunt Janis sends her love by the way, talk to you soon, lots of love, Mom