Day 59 Riviere Ouelle to Trois Pistoles
115.2 KM @ 18.7 kph for 6 hr 09 min - total time 8 hr 15 min - planned distance 117 km
Quite cool in the morning - about 10 degrees. Beautiful sunrise and views of the St Lawrence
 Early morning leaving the campsite |
Another BRUTAL day - really strong head winds in the morning - about 30 - 40 kph . The flags straight out on the flags poles tells it all - pace was 13 - 15 kph - real tired from yesterday & pace line was tight and relatively slower - lots of stops. We continue on route 132 along the river , it is part of Route Verte and has a nice paved shoulder for biking. Wind reduced to about 15 - 20 kph ( headwinds) after lunch & the sun was out - got to about 18 degrees by mid afternoon. Jim & I drafted most of the day with Edmond & Maurice and their tag along new found friend Victor. It turns out Victor was not really a family friend , but just a lonely retired man that they met last winter while skiing - after that he showed up at their home, invited himself in and started to become somewhat of a nuisance. He was now repeating that pattern. He knew we were coming through so he packed up his panniers on his bike and set out from Quebec following us. He would stay in B&Bs and then join up with us the next morning. He has virtually no English and with our predominantly English group it is interesting communicating with him. This will be interesting as the days go on as he has indicated that he wants to go right through to St John's with us.
Some great scenes of the countryside ( still quite flat
 Flat farm land |
Riviere-du-loup is just past the half way point for the day - we reward ourselves for the tough day by loading up on fast food - something that we rarely do during a riding day. Later in the afternoon as a treat for working hard in the wind we all do ice-cream - any excuse!!
As we head further east the fertile open St Lawrence valley is quickly diminishing - more forest areas and rock - especially surrounding Trois Riviere .
Lots of activity as the late summer approaches - hay going into storage and drying out the seaweed (dulse?)
 Seaweed drying - next stop your table?? |
We camp at "Camping Trios Pistoles" , a few kms past the town . The camp site is a few kms off route 132 right along the river - we were told that this is a great viewing site for sunsets. We have come prepared with the wine & cheese picked up along the road and we join the Aussies and Lewis & Sandi on the beach waiting for the sunset . We were not disappointed - a beautiful sunset
 Sunsetting slowly |
The last camp task for the day is a haircut for driver Mike - Sandi does some on-the-job-training ..
Tomorrow is a long day - 164 km & our cooking crew does dinner . However there are smiles all-around as the forecast for tomorrow is for tail winds....
