well to continue.....just to let you know that I am half writing this from my 'rambling notes' from the book given to me before I left and also what is reminded to me as i re-read and review each day
Breakfast at the Quality Suite wasnt quite as impressive as the room...a meagre croissant, some orange juice and a cup of tea (yeah i know tea drinking after all my abstinence since january but needs must!!!) anyway having slept until about 6 and began the process of re-assembly of le velo in my 'lounge' I breakfast at 7 and and ready to go by 8.15. I remeber the Lane4 spirit of setting myself a goal to get everything done which does indeed help me focus!!! Suffice feel like its all a success particularly as there are no oil stains on the hotel carpet :)
Even having had a couple of dry runs the weight of everything tied to my bike is a little shocking....the weight on each side makes it feel like it is going to twist of brake in half but i gingerly get going from a non descript 'by a freeway' hotel (think Travellodge here) and I'm in search of route 138.....i thread through quiet city traffic and finally turn west on 138 with the comforting sign saying La Trois Rivieres 130km's signalling my way.
First humourus incident involves a waterbottle strapped to my tent and sleeping mat falls off as I go under a bridge and scatters across a road...luckily there arent many cars and I first scramble the bike to the side of the pavement (no mean feat as the bike has been renamed 'the tank') and I collect my water bottle from the middle of the road....
The routre after this is quite straight forward really....follow 138 which becomes eerily quiet out of the suburbs of Quebec....i am blessed with a tailwind which helps keep the speed higher than i imagined and feels like the RAC God is gently encouraging the new traveller....RAC means Ride Across Canada by the way...
things i wrote down that i noticed (the consultant in me is still strong-said in a yoda styly!) include that all the houses have porches and steps up to them....they all seem to be wooden or at least wooden like with much less brick in evidence as a building material for houses.....also I have as my companion the estuary to my left that runs out into the Athlantic eventually up in Newfoundland
Feel nervous to get miles under my wheels, perhaps because I have now begun to realise how far the trip will be and its all feels sooo far away on the first day, so I dont stop for lunch but then enter an areas with little or no food available and i get hungry and my average speed starts to drop.....then i remember the Dairy Milk bar gift from everyone at work and it becomes my life blood for abut 30kms...
The most common other form of transport on the road appears to be motorcycles and especially Harley davidsons....groups and groups of them ride past and I can begin to see the attraction of them....cruising along in a group stopping from time to time and hanging out with your friends.....makes me think of zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance!
Finally reach La Trois Rivieres and ride around like a mad man looking for camp sites and information places when at about 4pm the heavens which ahd been darkening for a while suddenly release their contents and have me drenched in minutes.....give in to the temptation of the first motel I see and negotiate with the guy at reception to let me have my bike in the room with me. He hadn't been too impressed with the gear and the state of it post rainstorm but he relents and gives me 3 old towels to lay under the bike as to not damage the carpet.
Into the room and it looks like one of those seedy rooms you see in cop shows where criminals lay low before or after 'coming to town' but at least it is dry. I watch tv and fall asleep nervous to the noises outside. Whatever this trip is I'm in it now....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment