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Published: July 15th 2011
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Good Bye Quebec City
The ferry was barely long enough to have time to take this picture Lost: Rhythm
If found, please return to:
E and T
Biking from Toronto to St John's
Currently in Saint Roch Des Aulnaies
Heading out of Quebec
Today was one of our toughest days so far, and it really tested our resolve. We started at 6:20 am, and headed straight for the ferry to Levis. After crossing over the St Lawrence, we managed to take a bike path for a lot of the morning to avoid some of the steep hills into the city - we weren't really heading in anyway, we were just passing through. We tried to stay as close to the river as possible to keep our elevation low, but mostly the roads dictate how close we can stay.
Despite the well paved path, we still had a slow morning. Our 3 days off in the last 5 days may have been a little much, and our energy is not as good as it could be (we took the days off to explore though, not because we needed the rest, and are still happy with the decision). For breakfast we had peanut butter, banana and honey sandwiches in our rooms before leaving, but usually we try
Lookout Point
There is the sleeve we mentioned to find somewhere to get a second breakfast involving eggs within about an hour to an hour and a half of our departure, but today we found no such places (we were in very rural areas for the morning), so our energy was a bit lower from that as well.
Over the day we battled lack of rhythm, lots of uphill-downhill, headwinds, lower than optimal energy, stomach cramps, and some really poor road conditions. By the end of the day we had one of our longest days on the road, as well as one of our longest days on the bike, and our worst average speed. Therese is also battling a heat rash on her elbow from all the sun. We have obtained some hydrocortisone cream, and are using that to help in the fight. To prevent the sun from ruining her effort, she has borrowed one of Eric's bike sleeves (his space-saving alternative to a jacket) to keep it out of the sun, and this is why you may see her having one black arm in the pictures.
On the positive side, we got to stop at a number of really nice lookout points from being up
so high, and so have some good pictures to share with you. We also broke our previous maximum speed, again caused by the hills - we both felt like we might have reached terminal velocity on the way down this one, so don't expect this to change again. As well, we have begun to see red sandstone (and red sand) on a lot of the farms we pass, and this is another nice milestone. As we head east, we see more interesting architecture, for example, we have seen some 16th century French buildings, which as of our tour of the citadel yesterday we are able to recognize, and increasingly larger and more intricate churches.
We originally were planning on camping tonight, but were feeling really exhausted when we finally got to Saint Roch Des Aulnaies, and a quick Google check told us there was an inexpensive bed and breakfast about 2 km further down the road, so we headed on. Unfortunately, Google maps got this one wrong, and there was no such place. Preferring to go forward 5 km than back 1, we did double that, and went forward 10 km instead of back 2, heading to the nearest
We Made It
Warning: People in photo may not be as happy as they seem accommodation ahead - a nice, though not cheap motel 10 km down the road. On the upside, we will probably get a better night sleep after a tough day, and we have internet, so were able to post this entry! Woo hoo!
For the next few days, our plans are still unclear. Both Riviere du Loup and Edmundston lie on our path, but neither are ideal stopping points from a pacing point of view. Whether we stop there anyway to enjoy them, or try to pass right through them to maintain a good, and more importantly, even pace will probably be a game-time decision depending on how we feel, and how much we like the look of the parts of the cities that we first encounter as we enter.
Goodnight everyone!
Stats:
Departure time: 6:20 am
Arrival time: 6:50 pm
Total distance travelled: 127.2 km
Total time on bike: 6h 42m
Average speed: 19.0 km/h (includes walking our bike onto and off of the ferry, as well as around some lookout points)
New max speed: 61.1 km/h (NICE!)
- E and T
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anonymous
non-member comment
Day 11
Great max speed! If you get a speeding ticket, be sure to take a pic of that too!