This morning I woke up at 3am with a pain in my butt. I guess in my sleep one of the calluses on my sit bones had popped. It hurt like a mother and I knew that when I sat on the saddle it was going to be even worse. With thoughts of a sore butt in my head I went back to sleep.
5:30 came around and I was up making my breakfast when I see a bike tourist walk his bike across the bridge. Thinking nothing of it I continued. When I was washing my dishes and saw that the number of cyclists had doubles I went over to investigate. The first guy Louise had slept for 3 hours the night before because he did not pack a tent and was determined to sleep on the side of the road. Daniel was just a guy trying to help. Daniel was quite a character. He was in every florescent colour I could think of all mashed up into on unitard. Louise had flats both front and read, and did not have a pump nor the knowledge on how to change a tube. This is where I have to step in because even two flat repairs should not take more then 20mins, which is what they were going onto.
After being delayed I was on the road and just as I suspected it sucked. The first 4 hours was excruciating. It is hard to explain but I had to change my position every 150 metres or so which really started to tick me off because I could not get any momentum or use any of my strength anywhere. The only thing that kept me going where the 200 or so road bikes that passed me on the other side of the road, and the thought that Quebec city was just around the corner 50 or so kilometres away.
When I got close to Quebec City I had to ask for a few directions because the roads are not marked as well as the ones in BC. Well I should clarify that because they may be marked well I simply cant understand them. To get to my destination I only had to go on one road that was supposed to have no bicycles, which I thought was pretty good.
Getting to the old Quebec city was actually more challenging then it might sound because you have to climb up a sheer ledge that is at a 15% grade then try and find the tourist centre. If I ever become a mayor I am going to mark how far and what roads to turn on to get to a visitor centre because in most cases like today I have to ask 5-10 people to get me progressively closer to it. This is because they post one sign 5k away from the centre with no other information so a logical person would think it would be close. Evidently not. I have very little to complain about in this case though because it gave me a chance to take some time in the city.
Old Quebec is wonderful. It is easily the nicest city that I have been in yet. You can taste the history in the streets. From the broken brick walls, to the huge statues, and the rows of beautiful builds I was floored. I can see why it was flooded with people.
The flood of people evidently over ran into the subway because it had a 20minute line-up. I am not one to wait so I went to the restaurant next door. Now the ambient café del mar style music, and the fact everything that was not black was white told me that this was defiantly going to be a treat and not an every day lunch stop. This was further reinforced when I went to the washroom and got the chance to watch titanic while I took a pee.
The lunch itself well it was as delicious as a $14 burger should be. I think that any time the menu item says caramelized it doubles in price. That being said I would have never though that apples on a burger would have ever tasted so good.
It was 1pm at this time and I still had to do grocery shopping so I was contemplating what to do. I decided to take it easy and spend my time at the campsite and enjoy a beautiful day.
The ferry ride over was a nice change and for $3 it was defiantly worth bypassing the extra 30k it would have been to ride around it. The first campsite I stopped at was overpriced so I decided to push on. Just as I was about to leave out of the corner of my eye I see one of my dream cars. Right beside me was an AMC rebel machine. I immediately started to drool and talk to the owner who was also the owner of the place (clearly not doing to bad). The better got to me though and I left.
The place I decided to stay at has a view that is something else. I can see why all the RV lot have been purchased and have permanent residents on them. If you are a tenter or need no services this is the place to be.
I have to say even with a sore butt I am very lucky. I get to see places that very few people will get to experience and the fact that I get to share those experiences. Remember if life is worth living it is worth recording.
Trip Distance: 125km
Ride Time: 6:06hr
Avg. Speed: 20.60km/h
Total Distance: 5555km
Total Ride Time: 256hr
Destination: Beaumont, Quebec
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Slather on the polysporin, and keep on going! I loved your most recent pics. The ones of Quebec City really brought back memories.By the looks of Olivier's blog, he and Charles leave today for Halifax. Maybe they will catch up with you!
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