It was a late night last night because the conversation was flowing with Micheal, Sarah, ken, Rosemarie, and I. I felt as if I was a part of their family. It was a very good feeling that is hard to describe. The only downside is it made saying goodbye this morning a little harder. If I am honest I wanted to stay another night, but in my head I was thinking if I stay today then that is 180k that I will have to make up another day. I know that is a silly reason but it means that I will be home one day quicker to see the people that I have grown up with.
I did not realize how many places I have seen until I was playing Canadian monopoly with Sarah and Michael. 80% of the places on the board I had been and about 10% of the places are on what is left of the route. I found pride in myself being able to tell people about said places and what made them special for me. I also found that I tend to ramble on about stories on the bike more and more. I guess that makes sense seems how all I do is bike sleep and eat.
Anyways today started out early. I left at around 7:00am this morning thinking that because I am alone my average will drop so I need to make up for that with extra time. Well right out of the gate about 50meters into the ride I made a wrong turn. After a short 2k detour I went back to visit Rosemarie with my head between my legs. She said, “I tried to call you because we saw you made the wrong turn”. I said “so how do I get from here to hunt club road again”.
After getting my stuff together and fighting through a good amount of traffic I was out of Ottawa. I will always remember this place because I spent so much time getting lost it was ridiculous. I think I rode every street in the city in two days.
It was strangely quiet on the bike. No mashing of friction shifter on the two bikes that Olivier and Charles ride. At times the only thing I could hear were my tires rolling down the road. Just focusing on that drives you crazy very quickly so I focused more on my body. I think being alone I push myself a little harder because now I think about every pedal stroke. I think about ever metre. And I am forced to see what lies ahead. I don’t have someone blocking the wind for me or someone chamois shorts to distract me from the road.
I for lunch at a buffet where I stuffed myself again of course. At this buffet though everyone spoke French. This makes sense because I was 22k from Quebec but I was still surprised.
Quebec came at me about an hour later. It was strange being at the sign with no one to take a picture of me with it. This was the first time were I realized man I am alone. Quebec is an interesting place. The route I have planned is more scenic but will take more time. Which I am not sure how I feel about yet because I am amazed how many people don’t speak any English at all. I thought it would be simple to find people to ask questions to, but I was mistaken. When I saw an information centre sign I asked where it was to about 5 people before I extracted the information I needed.
This also scares me from a budget sense as well. At the end of the ride today I was thinking I was going to knock on some doors to sleep in a backyard because I thought there was no camping in either of the two closest towns. Fortunately there was a small campsite but it is hard for me to justify $25 because I take up such little space by myself. As a group of three it is very easy to justify this but as an individual it is a luxury that I will take into account in the Maritimes.
At the campsite I was greeted by a young drunk Montreal lady crying. I asked what was wrong and she had a few choice words for me. She would not stop ranting and just being a dunk upset girl. And she would not accept any help for what reason I do not know. All I can say is thank god I am not going to Montreal.
The day ended with a phone call to my dad because I wanted to hear someone’s voice that was not my own belting out songs while riding down the road. At one point today three guys passed me on road bikes and laughed. I asked if they wanted to join but they were not fans of the Celtic music I was singing. That explains why they hit the gas to pass me.
When I was talking with my dad out of the blue I started to cry. I had no reason to do this. It just happened. I even said to him “I do not know why im crying right now”.
As a side note to Charles and Olivier I hope you got home aright. I miss your company already. You guys are like family to me. If you ever need anything don’t hesitate to call or email.
Trip Distance: 185km
Ride Time: 7:53hr
Avg. Speed: 23.46km/h
Total Distance: 5228km
Total Ride Time: 242hr
Destination: 10k East of St. Jerome, Quebec
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