Gaspe Odyssey 2018

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2018 07-24 > Val-Brillant

We had a good night’s sleep at the fishing lodge and woke to a nice breakfast of “pancakes”. The pancakes that we have been getting are more like crepes than the pancakes we get at home. They are very dense and not fluffy. Our pancakes today were plate sized and filling. Joe and Jeff started cycling earlier than HP. He had a separate room and used the opportunity to sleep in. HP thinks that Joe and Jeff are early birds and start the day to early. He likes socializing with people he encounters during the trip and had breakfast one hour later with Serge and his family from Metz with whom we all shared the dinner table at André’s Auberge de la Rivière de la Matapédia the evening before. Her daughter living for one and a half years with her friend, both architects, in Montreal , organized the Quebec travel for the family. Our route continued along the Matapedia River and we stopped to watch the fly fishermen work their rods. In addition, Jeff had to stick his toes i

2018 07-23 > Routhierville

Our morning started off with a great breakfast of fresh fruit with homemade cream, homemade pastries, fresh crepes, coffee, and juice. After that, we had to put on our rain gear and mount our bikes. The rain quickly tapered off and the temperatures rose which allowed us to remove our rain gear. We had a choice of routes today. The first took us south along the bay and was 70 miles long. The other route was more direct and only 55 miles long. With the promise of storms, we chose the shorter route but were disappointed with increased traffic. About 20 miles into our ride we stopped at a café for coffee and a snack. After that the route increased in elevation but it was a very moderate climb over most of our ride. The head winds helped cool us off but at times required that we pedal down some of the hills. We made one other rest stop at a church that had a gazebo. There we met Cheryl who told us that she was born and raised nearby and that the home where she li

2018 07-22 > Nouvelle

Unsere Veloreise welche in Ste Flavie begann, führte uns zuerst nordostwärts dem Sankt Lorenzstrom entlang, dann folgte die Umrundung der, dem Atlantik zugewandten Spitze. Nun fahren wir an der Südseite der Halbinsel, südwestwärts der Baie de la Chaleur entlang. Der Name der Bucht stammt vom Entdecker Jacques Cartier. Die Baie de la Chaleur gilt als das Gewässer mit den wärmsten Temperaturen nördlich des US Bundesstaates Virginia. Der Lachs benutzt die Kiesbänke der Zuflüsse, insbesondere des Restigouche zum Laichen. Das Wasser der Bucht hat wegen der vielen Zuflüsse unterschiedlichen Salzgehalt und ist auch deshalb sehr reich an Fischen. Heute sind wir kurz vor 6h bei bedecktem Himmel, leichtem Nebel, kühlen Temperaturen und wenig Sonntagsverkehr von unserer Unterkunft, der Maison Blanche gestartet. Aber während unseres Aufenthaltes haben wir weder denn Hausherr, noch die Firstlady zu sehen bekommen. Die Fahrt ist trotz der 94 km mit dem leichten Rückenwind und den wenigen, mäss

2018 07-21 > New Carlisle

It was a long hot day, our tires melted into the asphalt; we were lost and forlorn as we struggled along in our journey. Well it wasn’t quite like that, but perhaps it would provide a more interesting story. We started cycling at 6 a.m. , an hour before any of Perce’s breakfast places opened. We agreed to meet 14 miles later and have breakfast at a restaurant that was to open by the time of our arrival. Something happened along the way to make Joe think Jeff was ahead of him and Joe wanted to catch up (Jeff’s GPS did not have the restaurant marked). Well that was the last HP and Jeff saw of Joe until they arrived at our night’s lodging. If it wasn’t for our lodging stop, Joe may still be trying to catch Jeff. HP and Jeff had a more leisurely ride. They stopped at a grocery store and purchased breakfast and lunch fixings which they ate along the way. In Chandler , they were treated to Gaspe ’s version of Rolling Thunder. Several hundred 2 and 3 wheeled motor cy

2018 07-20 > Perce

To set the tone, we had a marvelous day; despite eating breakfast in a fast food place. The restaurant where we ate dinner was declared off limits by Jeff so we went to Tim Hortons. After that we left town and cycled on a paved trail for 6 miles before our GPS told us to get back on the route 132. Before doing so, a jogger stopped HP and told him that route 132 ahead had some sections that were dangerous and he suggested a short cut. Our ride quickly got very interesting. The short cut dumped us onto a very sandy road that prohibited us from cycling. This lead us to an abandoned railroad bridge which we had to cross. Along the earlier bike path we saw signs warning of the dangers of touching a certain plant that was worse than poison ivy. And now we were up to our knees in weeds. After the railroad bridge, we had more sand (and weeds), which again required us to push our bikes. We felt like hobos but taking this 2 mile short cut saved us 9 miles of questionable high

2018 07-19 > Gaspe

Jeff und Joe sind durchaus kompromissbereite Frühaufsteher, doch ab 6:30 h sind sie kaum mehr zu halten. So auch heute, einem wunderschönen Tag welcher uns mit blauem Himmel, angenehmer Temperatur und mit einer frischen Atlanikbrise begrüsst. Für uns beginnt das Programm mit einem währschaften kanadischen Frühstück: Spiegel- oder Rührei, Speck, Bratkartoffeln und Toasts mit Marmelade. Dazu gibt es Filterkaffee und Wasser “free refill”. Wir profitieren ausgiebig, beladen unsere Fahrräder, füllen unsere Wasserflaschen und los geht’s. Die Fahrt beginnt mit einer langen Steigung welche uns von der Küste auf einen Hügelzug bringt. Zuerst erinnern uns die Beinmuskeln an die gestrigen 1’485 Hm, doch bald sind wir aufgewärmt und schaffen den Aufstieg in guter Form. Oben meint Joe: “A piece of cake compared to yesterday”. Dann folgt eine rassige Abfahrt zurück zur Küste. Dort beginnt das Spiel von Aufstieg und Abfahrt von neuem. Nach 11 km kommen wir zur Bucht L’Anse-au-Griffon. Dort s

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