Skip to main content

2018 07-15> Sainte-Felicite


To sum up today; the cycling was wonderful; the weather just moderately warm, the beer was tasty, the people interesting, and our lodging is nice.  So where to start?

We left our hotel around 8 a.m after a full breakfast and headed north east on route 132…the only route around the peninsula.  For those who know that we are compulsive early risers and like to hit the road before most even think about waking, this must come as a surprise.  Yesterday’s ride, was short (but unloaded) allowing us to ride at 15-17 mph. Today, we had all our gear loaded on the bikes but still managed 13-15 mph.  The ride was mostly flat with just a few short climbs. 

Route 132 currently bypasses most of the small towns that it once bisected.  While the traffic on the highway was relatively light, every chance we had we diverted to the “old” road thru the towns and along the St. Lawrence Seaway.  The towns were mostly just housing with folks sitting on porches saying “Bon Jour” as we passed.  When we stopped for coffee, we met 2 cyclists doing the same trip but in the opposite direction.  They chose the opposite direction because the climbs were easier, but they had encountered head winds which were challenging.  The boys were in their early 20s, one a high school science teacher the other and oceanographer.  They wild camped and mostly ate fish that they caught and crabs that the picked. 

Cycling thru the city of Matane was our only real encounter with traffic. The town contained the first of the micro-breweries on our tour.  We got close to where we thought it should be but none of our 3 GPS or cell phone maps could provide a precise location.  After some consternation, one of us looked up and saw a highway sign that read “La Farique (the micro-brewery) .5 km to the right.  It is good that we were not early explorers of Gaspe.  The beer was very good, the food enjoyable and the wait staff a delight.

We are staying in the town of Sainte-Felicite at a hostel.  While the building is old, it is well maintained and staffed by some of the nicest people who are also hot babes.  The down side of the hostel is that they do not serve dinner or breakfast and no close by restaurant options are available.  HP decided to utilize his mountaineering skills and went to a nearby (but not well stocked) grocery to scavenger for food.  He made us dinner, served wine, and closed out the meal with some fruit.  Jeff did the laundry, and Joe worked on completing the day’s logistics and getting our route ready for tomorrow. 

Good night family and friends.


Pictures

Map




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

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...
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 07-18 > Riviere-au-Renard

Warning, before you read this blog entry, gather up some good cheese to go with all our wine (whine).  It was a tough day, a long day, a constant climb day, and it was hard.  Get our drift? Today, we went over the mountains that separated the Seaway from the Atlantic Ocean .   Just 1.5 miles from our motel we started to climb.   It was long and steep and after 2 more miles of cycling we had a short down hill before climbing again.   That was typical of our day.   The down hills even had up-hills and the up-hills had false crests requiring more climbing.   The few screaming down hills required diligence to stay out of the ruts and pot holes. Not that we weren’t tortured enough, getting into the town that houses this night’s motel had another climb from hell.   On the brighter side, the views of the Atlantic were spectacular, the motel nice, and the dinner (and beers) were very satisfying.   Even with his electric bike HP is tired an...
2 comments
Read more

Another adventure > Our journey begins

Three friends are off on another adventure.  They met in 2002 on a bicycle trip across the United States.  HP is from Switzerland, Joe from New York State, and Jeff from Virginia.  Some of their other adventures can be seen at http://yellowbiketales.blogspot.com/  Please follow along with us as we explore this beautiful part of Canada.  The Gaspésie (official name), or Gaspé Peninsula, is a peninsula along the south shore of the Saint Lawrence River to the east of the Matapédia Valley in Quebec, that extends into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. It is separated from New Brunswick on its southern side by Chaleur Bay and the Restigouche River.  The origin of the name "Gaspé" comes from the Mi'kmaq word gespe'g, meaning "end", referring to the end of the land. The Gaspé Peninsula is slightly larger than Belgium, at 31,075 square kilometres (11,998 sq mi. The population was 140,599 in the 2011 census.
1 comment
Read more