First Two Days on the Bike

July 2, 2010 Central Bar, Montebello 3:00pm approx. 150km

I know I’ve been away for a couple of days. Both days were spent on the bike. Coming all the way here to Montebello on the first day was a bit (!!!!!) ambitious. I shall endeavor to explain.

Day 1 on the bike

Still no computer for mileage (kilometerage?) and speed. But the shops didn’t open until 10, and I didn’t want to wait around. And none of the towns that I passed through seemed to have bike shops on the main road, so I just kept going.

I was on the road by 8. I left behind my New England Patriots t-shirt and my adidas black sweatpants, and the two books that I had finished reading, and a pair of sunglasses. I still had plenty of stuff to put in both backpacks. I think I might try to get a bigger backpack for my back to hold a little more stuff than I can hold in the CamelBack. I’ve never really been comfortable drinking and riding at the same time. I sometimes feel as though I’m drowning. Anyway…

I never really got lost, but a couple of times there was quite a bit of doubt that I was still on the right road. I sometimes felt as though I had missed a turn or something. Never was the case. Overall, it was a cool grey day. There were a couple of rain showers that I managed to sit out under protection. For about the first three hours, it was kind of like riding through neighborhoods. Lots of houses and lots of businesses. For a while after that, I was riding through farms, so it was much more open.

The wind wasn’t too bad in the morning when I left, but it got progressively (MUCH) worse as the day wore on. It was a pretty frustrating ride. The terrain was pretty flat for most of the beginning of the day. It got progressively more hilly as I got further into the ride (and as the wind picked up…and as the rain came a little more frequently).

When I got to the Tourist Information Office in a town called Oka, I asked if there was any accommodation in the vicinity (it was about 1 or so), and I was pretty beat from battling the wind for so long. (There were some times that the wind was so intense that I had to peddle while going DOWNHILL!!) Even though I had made a reservation in Montebello, I knew I wasn’t going to make it that far today. Anyway…I was informed that there was a B&B in a little town called St. Placides about 12km further down the road.

Just outside of Oka, for about 5km, both sides of the road were lined with little shacks selling, primarily, cigarettes. Apparently, many of the sellers were Native Americans because this phrase was featured on the signs out by the road. It was a pretty interesting phenomenon.

So, 12 windy, hilly kilometers later, at about 2:30pm I pulled up to the front door of La Capucine B&B. It was a lovely place in a lovely little town. The house and room were beautiful, if a little dear. The couple who ran the place were lovely. When I asked how far it was to Montebello (where I would be heading today), Merril, the husband, replied, “About the same that you covered today…about 75km.” GEEZ. What ever possessed me to think that I could do 150 km on the first day on the bike??? Somewhere along the line, I had searched for the distance between Montreal and Ottawa and found that it was 102 miles. If that’ the case, then it’s a little more than 160km. Not sure who got the numbers wrong. It was probably wishful thinking.

It was very peaceful at the house. Spent most of the afternoon reading The Girl With the Dragoon Tattoo and trying to rehydrate. The sun popped out, but the breeze kept up pretty good. I had a chicken burger and fries at the local “greasy spoon” up the street (I would pay for this in the morning). I was in a wonderfully comfortable bed at about 8:30 and on my way to sleep. I slept a bit of off and on, but when I DID sleep, it was wonderful. Started tossing and turning at about 5:30.

I knew it was going to be another long day, so I made sure to have a decent breakfast (unlike the first day). Breakfast was STUPENDOUS!!! And all for me. I was the only guest in the place. The night before, when asked about breakfast, I said that just cereal and toast would be fine. But Nadine (the wife) said, “No. I will make a special breakfast for you.” And she did. Lots of fruit (strawberries, melon, kiwi, grapes, raspberries, peaches, oranges, bananas, etc.). An apple and cheese crepe. After that it was more fruit and a small goat cheese omelet over a homemade waffle (with broccoli, which I scraped off). And a large glass of orange juice. Absolutely brilliant stuff.

I left Le Capucine at about 8:30 (a little late, but I couldn’t walk away from the breakfast). Even though when I first looked out my window in the morning all the leaves on the trees were still, the wind had already begun to come up.

By the way, I should mention that almost the entire way for two days of cycling, I’ve been riding in a ten-foot wide bicycle lane. Although I saw a number of cyclists (mostly going the other way) yesterday, I saw only three or four today.

In terms of the wind, it was pretty much a repeat of yesterday. Other than that, it was pretty much opposite. Very few clouds in the sky. And it was HOT. About 30° C (translates into almost 95F). A few more water stops than yesterday. The terrain was pretty much rolling, but still the freakin’ wind to battle every step of the way. AND, very little shade. Because it was one of the first really nice days since I’ve been here, I stopped along the way to take a couple of pictures. The road(s) followed the water (not sure if a river or lake) for most of the way. I’m not sure if this provided opportunities for the wind to be so strong. But the scenery was lovely. Also, thank God I brought along my SONY Walkman Mp3 player. Great stuff.

But, at about 2pm, I pulled up at the Motel Bel-Eau where I had a reservation for Thursday. (I couldn’t call them because I didn’t have their number with me. I couldn’t send them an e-mail because they didn’t have any.) Fortunately, they hadn’t charged me for not showing up yesterday. I was given a slightly more expensive room but not as expensive as La Capucine. AND, I get to bring my bicycle into the room.

The woman behind the desk is named Haiyam, and she is from Shanghai, China. I told her that I had spent a wonderful holiday there in May. She seemed pleased. She also gave me the code for the WiFi connection in the room (which I will utilize later tonight). The hotel has a Chinese restaurant, but I think after last night, I have to be a little careful about what I eat.

When I first got the room, I turned on the TV to see who had won the first World Cup match today. It turns out that there was a HUGE upset when the Netherlands beat Brazil. Good for them. I am currently watching the Ghana – Uruguay match which is tied 1-1 about halfway through the 2^nd half.

I also got to watch a couple of games of the Murray-Nadal semi-final. Nadal was up two sets, but had been broken to start the 3^rd. Boy, I really like to listen to John McEnroe as a commentator. I do wish he would be a little more instructive, though. (“Players have to remember that it’s not a break of serve until you win your own serve. Many players lose their next service game because they are so happy with themselves for winning the other player’s serve.” Stuff like that.)

Anyway…that’s where I am currently. Tomorrow I am hoping to make it to Ottawa. But, according to the mileage signs along the way, it’s still about 80 or so kilometers. It’ll be nice to take a break there. But, the question is how long. If I’m going to be back in Montreal for the bike ride, I’ll have to arrive on the evening of the 8^th at the latest to have the 9^th to get the bike tuned up for the ride and to coordinate with the Ride Organizers to take my stuff in the support vehicles to Quebec City. We’ll see what happens.

There was a long stretch of road today which was quite rough and bumpy. I had to keep adjusting the backpack that is bungee corded to the small rack on the back of the bike. Kind of a pain-in-the-ass. There are some stretches of road which remind me of my family’s trips to New Hampshire when I was young (a thousand years ago). You know, the frost heaves which created a thump, thump, thump, rhythm when the car passed over all the joints between sections of the road. Well, imagine going over those on a bicycle. Still the same thump, thump, thump rhythm, but felt much stronger on a bicycle. Really no avoiding it, though. Oh, well.