Sunday, July 20, 2008

Greetings from Quebec!!!

We`ve made it to our second to last province. We are about to start out day 3 of our riding days in Quebec. Today, we go from Sorel-Tracy, right on the Ste. Laurent River, to Quebec City, a beautiful walled city currently celebrating its 400th anniversary; I`m sure we will have some stories to tell about our time there.

Since we last updated the blog, we`ve had some utterly amazing days, and some hard days. It seems like there is no in between on this trip - either you have a tailwind, the sun is out and the birds are chirping, or it rains all day and the wind keeps pushing you into traffic.

Our accounts of the past 5 days must be brief, because we gotta hit the road!

Day 28: North Bay to Magnetawan, 65 miles. A supreme headwind did its darndest to keep us from the serenity and beauty of Ahmic Lake and the hospitality of the wonderful people in Magnetawan, but our willpower - and Jason`s spot-on pace-setting - overcame the gods of wind, and we ended up having the most wonderful night of our trip thus far with the Candler family. I``m talking bathing in the lake, glorious glorious dinner with all the fixins, a _beautiful_ sunset (it made Eric`s top 10 list!), a beautiful night`s sleep, fantastic morning coffee on the dock, and a hearty breakfast with Ricky and his parents. Absolutely perfect, we had the hardest of times leaving.

Day 29: Magnetawan to Whitney, 110 miles. We left Magnetawan on a enthusiastic high, rode through the beautiful-but-hilly Algonquin Provincial Park, and ended up in Whitney, a small town renowned for its hospitality.

Day 30: Whitney to Arnprior, 110 miles. Today, we leaped off the Canadian shield and came just to the Quebec-Ontario Border. Another good tailwind, a beautiful sunny day, beautiful country side. Quality Inn and Suites was nice enough to put us up for the night, and the rest was very much appreciated.

Day 31: Arnprior to Montebello, 80 miles. Our planned distance for the day was much more ambitious than our achieved distance, due to 2 factors: all-day Wind, and Gatineau. The second we crossed the ferry into Quebec, we were unable to hide anymore: we were dumb Americans who didn`t know a lick of French. Well, Jason had prepared a little and could make it through a transaction with a gas station attendant, but Eric froze up like a deer in headlights and embarassed himself consistently throughout the day. Unable to ask directions and only able to guess at the meaning of road signs, we blundered our way through the insanely long city of Gatineau in a torrential downpour, dodging puddles that were concealing cavernous potholes as city-traffic regarded our existence with indifference, and sometimes malice. It literally took us 2.5 hours to get through that darn city, and convinced us to stop in Montebello for the night. While the low mileage was disappointing, we were delighted that we had managed to reach our filthiest point of the trip this day.

Day 32: Montebello to Sorel-Tracy. 113 miles. THIS was what a riding day in Quebec was supposed to be like. Beautiful cumulus clouds in the sky, rolling, wild fields alongside the highway, gorgeous small towns with large, ancient church steeples standing out on the horizon, and old men on horse-driven carriages slowing down traffic. It was almost too perfect to be real, but Eric`s sore butt reminded him consistently of the actuality of the experience. A ferry ride over the river landed us back on the south side of the Ste. Laurent River, and into the town of Sorel-Tracy. But the highlight of the day: Meeting Eric`s sister, Sara, in Lachute for breakfast! Another wonderful familiar face, Sara brought gifts of Skittles and shaving razors, and a really nice breakfast in which we caught up and regailed her with stories from our bike travels. Our delightful visit with Sara set us on an enthusiastic pace towards Sorel.

Gotta hit the road! Another update with come from Quebec City!

PS For you French Speakers out there, looking for a laugh: we have done you the courtesy of translating a selection of this blog entry into French using one of those awful online translating tools! Here we go:
Le jour 32 : Montebello à Sorel-Tracy. 113 miles. CECI était ce qu'un jour voyageant dans Québec a été supposé pour être comme. Le beau cumulus brouille dans le ciel, roulant, les champs sauvages à côté de la route, les petites villes magnifiques avec les clochers d'église grands et anciens se tenant d'hors à l'horizon, et vieil homme sur les attelages cheval-conduits ralentissant la circulation. C'était presque trop parfait pour être vrai, mais Eric`s le bout endolori l'a rappelé régulièrement de la réalité de l'expérience. Une excursion en ferry sur la rivière a atterri nous soutient sur le côté du sud du Ste. La Rivière de Laurent, et dans la ville de Sorel-Tracy. Mais l'essentiel du jour : La soeur d'Eric`s de réunion, Sara, dans Lachute pour le petit déjeuner ! Un autre visage familier merveilleux, Sara a amené des cadeaux de rasoirs de Quilles et rasage, et un petit déjeuner vraiment agréable dans lequel nous avons pris en haut et regailed elle avec les histoires de nos voyages de vélo. Notre visite charmante avec la série de Sara nous sur un rhythme enthousiaste vers Sorel.

Gotta a frappé la route ! Une autre mise à jour avec est venu de la ville de québec !``

PPS. Now, for you English speakers looking for a laugh, we have taken that awful translation, and used the same online service to translate it BACK to English. Here we Go!:
``The day 32: Montebello to sorel-tracy. 113 miles. THIS was what a day traveling in Quebec was supposed to be as. The beautiful cumulus jumbles in the sky, rolling, the wild fields next to the road, the small magnificent cities with the steeples of big and old churches being held of out to the horizon, and old man on the harnesses horse drive slowing down the circulation. It was almost too perfect to be true, but Eric`s boils it painful recalled it uniformly reality of the experience. An excursion in ferry on the river landed supports us on the side of the south of the Ste. The River of Laurent, and in the sorel-tracy city. But the bulk of the day: The sister of Eric`s of meeting, Sara, in Lachute for the breakfast! Another wonderful familiar face, Sara brought gifts of razors of Candlepins and rasage, and a really pleasant breakfast in which took us in top and regailed she with the histories of our trips of bicycle. Our visit charming with the series of Sara we on a rhythme enthusiast towards Sorel.

Gotta hit the road! Another updated with came from the city of Quebec!


-Eric

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Be sure to update us on the Paul McCartney concert in Quebec City!