Day Four

This morning (Sunday) I woke to bright sunshine trying to pierce the tent and help me get my ass in gear. My goal today is to ride to the town of Gaspe. The usual breakfast, black coffee, grapefruit and today I had milk for my Honey Nut Cheerios, showered, shaved and loaded up by 9:30. I was impressed. Now hwy. 132 between Rimouski and Gaspe (or some pronounce Gaspesie) is like the Big Sur and hwy. 1 on the California coast. It's picturesque with the towering cliffs and the sea far below as it winds up and down and through all the quaint little towns along the coast.

I've never seen so many bikes out on tour especially since 90% are Harley's. I feel like one of them now but not completely. I wear neon gear. They wear black everything. Most of them were going the opposite direction so I was starting to wonder what they know that I don't. At noon I stopped to have a snack, some more hard salami and rice cakes while I watched a couple of guys on the beach showing off their stunt kites with some amazing aerobatics. At the same time another two wild men were out kite surfing in this totally perfect day for it.

There was a a strong steady wind blowing out of the SW all day which meant I had the wind at my back which is always preferred on a bike. I stopped and photographed a one hundred and seven year old lighthouse, red, of course.

The scenery was stunning and all the houses were kept in perfect shape and all painted up with bright colors. A couple of these small towns had decided to tear up their main drag for new pipes and more infrastructure so I really struggled getting over these areas. The bike and trailer is tough enough to handle at slow speeds without course gravel and dips and potholes everywhere. I could feel the bike scraping on the low spots and the trailer sounded like it was bottoming out every so often too. Enough of this. I made it to Gaspe and have a perfect spot right next to the water. It's gotten cold and the wind is blowing outside. I think summer forgot about this area this year. The forecast for tomorrow (Monday) is calling for 70% chance of precip. I plan to head for Bathurst, NB. in the morning.