Day 42 - Trois-Rivieres to Quebec City

Trois-Rivieres to Quebec City
140 km, overcast and raining
Windy – 20-30 km/h, all in my face

Against the wind,
I was riding against the wind,
I was riding to live,
and living to ride,
Against the wind.

This time, the song was playing while I was actually against the wind.

The day started alright. I slept in, was relaxed, and was expecting a shorter day (than the previous day). I updated the blog and picture album before I left town, and then went for a hair cut.

Getting out of town, that's when I noticed the wind. It didn't look favourable, and it was a bit on the strong side. I just hoped it would subside – it didn't. The winds slowly picked up and remained fairly constant for the rest of the trip. The rain started at the half-way mark, and didn't let up until, well, it just didn't let up. Writing this now, at 3:50 am, it has stopped maybe 90 minutes ago.

Just 30 k or so from my destination, when I stopped to get a bit of food in me, the coat, gloves, and knee warmers came out. Luckily I decided to bring the gloves on the rest of the trip.

Along the road, I saw tons of cyclists touring. It looked like they were local tours – 2 days or so. They were heading in all directions, and some were in groups of 8. I also ran into another cyclist all dressed in Time Trial gear. I caught up to him when he stopped for a pee. I should of taught him how to pee while riding. He did a triathlon in Trois-Rivieres in the morning, and was riding to Quebec City. I called it a “cool down” ride.

Just 20 k before arriving at my destination, I heard a “thunk, thunk, thunk”. I looked down at my front wheel, and noticed a screw in it. Nice. As soon as I remove that puppy, it'll start leaking. So, pulled over and fixed it. It is my first front flat of the trip (at the 7000k mark on my odometer – so in 1.5 days, I'll actually reach the real 7000k mark).

Finally, I get close to downtown, even though it was later than expected. It wasn't even 8 pm, and it was a bit dark due to the clouds and such. Are the days getting shorter now? I zig-zagged into the downtown, I saw a hostel nearby (fairly close to downtown), but decided to trek on a bit. When I finally reached the top of the hill, I decided to double-back and actually stop there for the night. Well, no vacancy. Dang.

Just over the hill, a few streets down further, the old downtown was there (as well as the usual hostel I frequent). So, with such a busy time, it too was full. I managed to get a room (the last one) just a few doors down at a 1-star hotel/hostel. It'll do the job, but more expensive than I was hoping to pay.

After a good shower and a shave, I headed to one of two micro-breweries. If I was lucky, I'd hit them both tonight. Just near the first one, La Barberie, I overhear a girl talking about La barberie. Feeling like I am an informed tourist, I asked them if they needed help getting there. They were locals, and knew where the spot was. We started chatting a bit, and they invited me to join them for a few drinks. I obliged, and joined Elysabeth and Mae. They turned out to be great hosts. Gros merci.

The beers were quite good. The one that stood out the most was La blanche classique – citrus flavours, and fairly light taste. The stout double chocolate wasn't bad. For all the names, please see the pictures (I took a picture of the board instead of writing them down).

I still didn't have supper yet, and I was feeling a bit peckish. They didn't serve food there (too small of an establishment). So, after finishing our eight 5 oz samples, we headed to the second micro-brewery: Linux (or something like that). They served food there.

Their beers were also quite tasty. I had the blanche with corriander, the five malt beer, and the rousse caramelized. The food was fun – first was the plain nacho chips with typical salsa and con queso, then the 5 types of cheese with bread platter followed, and finished the “meal” with the sausage in a carved-out baguette. Tasty. The tunes at that bar were interesting – some Metric, and the locals Lost Finger. The latter is basically jazz lounge remakes of classics (some Soft Cell, Bon Jovi, Alanah Miles, Michael Jackson, etc).

May walked me home, and showed me some neat spots to take some nice pictures. I thought I might get up early and be a bit of a tourist, but I think I'll just have breakfast and head out of town. I'll save the tourist thing when I'm hear next time – which will include the world's (or close to it) smallest apartment. Breakfast might be at my usual latin restaurant.

A story I always think of when i come here: The short, yet sound really bad, version: I got herpes from a Danish guy in Quebec City. The longer, but clarifying, version: I was having a 5-Alive drink at a hostel, when the Danish guy asked what that was. I let him have a drink. The next day, I feel a sensitive spot on my lip – shit, that guy gave me a cold-sore.

Alright, soon is bedtime. I will go to MEC tomorrow while i head out of town to find some no-see-um screen kit for the tent. The hills start tomorrow (well, a mountain range). Shorter, but steeper. I know there's one hill that's around 5 km long, with an average grade of 7-10%. Should be fun. You know what I'll be doing for a good 30 minutes (probably smiling lots). We'll see what the downhills will bring – bad weather? Wobbly front-end on the bike? Tobin, don't expect me to beat your 80 k/h heading into Baie St. Paul. Plus, I might get a chance to see (and take a picture) of that 24% hill. For that one, for every 4 metres in length, it goes up by a metre. Nice.

Ok, bed time. It's 4:20 am, and I'm now tired. Dodo time.

p