Quebec City Rest - 2 Days Left

Biking Solo has really grown on me!
I'll take a quick walk through the last few days.

1) Moncton-Jemseg
This was by far the toughest day. It was crazy hot- like 37 degrees, the wind was in my face, and there was a pass of over 70km with NOTHING (no place to fill up water, get food, find a nice place for a break). So that sucked. Also, it was weird being alone...I was used to having the boys around. That night I stayed in a backyard in Jemseg, NB.

Funny story- when I asked Jim to stay in his backyard, he asked to see I.D before he said yes. I presented my good old Ontario drivers license, and I was clear to camp. Weird eh?

I felt kinda homesick that night, but a few phonecalls to my folks and meaghan made me feel better.

2) Jemseg-Southampton NB
I had good breakfast in the morning, and hit the 105- which turned out to be one of my favourite highways on the trip. The 105 ran right beside the St. John river...which was key for such a HOT day. That day I swam about 4 times, ate lunch in Fredericton, and stopped along the highway in a town called Southampton.

The house I stopped at belonged to Susan and Cliff- a couple with a beautiful property on the river. After I met Susan, I took my bike down toward the water to set up my tent. Cliff was down there, on the deck with his friend Wolfgang. The two were fishing and drinking a few beers when I met them. The welcomed me, and immediately asked if I was a strong swimmer (which was a bit odd...). I told them I was strong enough.

With that, they explained that they had just lost their boat's motor in the river, and they were wondering if i could try to find it for them. I agreed, as I thought it be a sweet adventure, and off we went down the river. Cliff and Wolfgang were great characters, but they didn't have the best memories, which meant that my general guidelines of where the motor 'could be' were pretty board. I dove to the bottom of the merky river about 10 times, found nothing. And in the process, I lost both of my contact lenses. But the boys apprecited my effort, despite my lack of results, and headed back to Cliff's place.

After I set up my tent and ate my can of beans, Cliff invited me up to the garage for a beer and some pickeled eggs. I went up, and was almost force fed 2 of Cliff's famous pickeled eggs (Wolfgang was a big fan).

Before he said his goodbyes, Wolfgang told me I was welcome to go to his place for breakfast. He the hopped onto his lawnmower, and drover home (which was directly next door).

3) Southampton-Grand Falls
In the morning I packed my things up, and went over to Wolfgang's for Breakfast. There, I was treated to a traditional German breakfast made by his wonderful wife. Over my eggs, meat, and strong coffee, Wolfgang explained to me why he moved from Germany to New Brunswick 6 years ago. He was a great storyteller. After breakfast I was offered a shower- which I greatefully accepted.

Before leaving, I thanked Cliff and Susan for letting me camp, they sent me off with a new can of beans and some snacks...both came in handy over the next few days.

Riding that day was great- I went over 165kms...and still had energy in my legs at the end of the day. But I ran out of light. So, I stayed in a town called Great Falls, NB.

It was supposed to storm all day, but I only got drizzeled on. so that was sweet. That night I fell asleep to a RAGING party at the Golden Age Hall next door. Who knew old people liked to party to Brian Adams Cover bands?

4) Grand Falls - Cambino

Over a stretch of 125km, I had to change my back tire 3 times. Not a great day!
But that night, I stated at a WICKED campground- only $12 for a site, unlimited swimming in a sweet pool, showers...the whole bit. That made me happy.

5) Cambino- _____________?
The highlight of this day was biking along the St.Lawrence river. It was incredible have such a beautiful view all day, and I was in the company of many other bikers. looks like bike tourism is big in this area.

After biking 1535 km, I slept on the grass of a football field along the highway. I'm still unsure of the name of the place I was in.

6) ________________?- Quebec City!

This was a pretty easy day, I woke up early and had 135km done by 5:30pm, which is pretty early. The highligh of the day was the ferry ride to Quebec from Levis.

7) Rest Day in Quebec
Now I'm at a hostel in Old Quebec city, and its great here. Tomorrow I will reach Trois Rivieres, and the day after, I will FINISH BIKING ACROSS CANADA, when I reach Brad's aunt's house just outside of Montreal.

Brad is meeting me there, and we are going to celebrate before we bike from Montreal to Ottawa on Sunday.

OVERALL-
Biking alone is a really cool experience. I'm almost glad it worked out this way truthfully!

I'll post again from MTL, and that will be the end of it.

cheers!!

Mikey