Day 53 - Fredericton to Moncton

Lincoln to Moncton
180 km, 7 hrs
Overcast in the morning, sunny, hot (28) and humid (35) in the afternoon
Winds – tailwind 5-10 km in the morning, tail/cross 15 in the afternoon

Happy birthday to my younger sister. She must be 34 now. I guess I should call her, as she doesn't read this. I am sure I lost a few readers along the way. Probably like the play-offs, I might get a few readers back on board when I am very close to the end. I dont blame the dropped readers, this is a long trip, with long entries. It must be time consuming for some.

Well I don't know, I don't know where to begin,
I am North American,
And for those that think I am from Quebec,
Well, I'm not, so.
(LCD)

Nice day. Scorcher at times in the afternoon, but a pleasant ride.

Oh, but first. The prior night. I didn't put on my fly, so I was watching some shooting stars. I did wish a few things for me, and for a few others, but I didn't say “I wish upon a star”. I wonder what the rule is on that. At 2 am, I felt a few rain drops. I quickly put on my sandals, went outside, and my entire body (except for the majority of my feet) was at the mercy of mosquitoes as I threw on the fly. After I was done, those few rain drops stopped. Argh.

The mosquitoes were crazy yesterday. When I threw (literally) my stuff inside the tent as quickly as possible, I managed to get around 20 or so mosquitoes inside the tent. I spent a good 5 minutes on a killing rampage. Now, there's blood here and there inside the tent. Bit freaky, actually. The floor looked like Jonestown (but with bugs).

The roads – the old Trans-Canada was nice. Big shoulders, but that didn't matter. I could of ridden on the road itself as there was no cars. Pas un chat. Well, did find one, and tested an old saying. It's true, I swung it by it's tail and didn't hit a single thing.

At the 80 k mark, I stopped for a long lunch (which means boiling water to finish the pasta and Alfredo sauce that I started the night before, as it will go bad without being refrigerated (but you know that). Bill, the guy at the info centre gave me his card and asked me to call him if I got into trouble on the way to Moncton.

I did notice that where there is more of a French population, they enjoy the cyclists more (i.e. wave). North NB, and close to Moncton. Small note.

The road into Moncton was pristine. No trucks are allowed there, and the pavement is probably 5 years old. Smoother than poop out of a ducks bum. I really enjoyed those roads. I could ride in the middle of the lane (no shoulder), and there would hardly be any cars.

On the map, near Moncton, I noticed that the Magnetic Hill was close. I chose to go. What a treat. The locals don't think much of it, but I found it quite hallucinating. Total illusion. I stood there (on the bike) on “top” of the hill, staring “down” the “bottom” of the hill. I started riding down (not pedaling), then I would be halted by the “uphill”. I had to pedal to the “bottom” of the hill. Ok, I am overdoing it with the quotations, but you get the picture. When I got to the end, I would turn around, stop, and then just let myself be “pulled” up the hill. I hope the video captures it. Keep in mind I was stopped, and I didn't pedal. I reached speeds of 22 km/hr (all loaded up with my bags). Weird. I did it a few times. It's free for the bike. Cars drive down, stop, and let themselves get pulled up that hill backwards. Fun to watch too.

I later headed towards Melanie and Paul-Rene's place. SMelly was one of my roommates from school – 3 years with that girl. Good ol' Capricorn. I bought a bottle of wine (Carmen, Chili, as recommended by Yvette), as Mel's a wino. I also went through drive-through at Burger King with the bike, and didn't have to make car-noises (Christine, I didn't have to).

We eventually made our way down to the Pump House – the local micro-brewery that won the brewery of the year award in 2004 (or so). Good beer. Had the taster – 9 x 2 oz. There was the usual stuff, and a new one for me – the blueberry beer (with floating blueberries in there). As I forgot my camera, I will go back tomorrow and order more beer (and more food). As I was a bit peckish, I ordered the Brie cheese with roasted garlic, with beer bread and pear. Tasty. P-R gave me a slice of his wood-oven baked Chipotle chicken pizza. Quite delicious. Something that was highly recommended there was the chipotle pork sandwich.

Tomorrow, rest day, off to Shediac to help P-R fix his sailboat, play a bit with my wheel, check out Main Street (closed-off as +++ cars are on display of all generations – dad, I think you would like it here this week-end), check out the Tidal waves (raises 10 feet within 10 minutes), and some shopping for the trip. But, let's not forget, I have more tasty food to sample, and of course, more beers.

Do, if you get to read this, bonne chance avec ton voyage. Have fun. Enjoy a great meal in Charevoix, and don't skip the 362 (?), the highway that goes along the fleuve through St-Irenee to La Malbaie.

Je vous aime la gang, and I'll see you guys quite soon. La fin arrive, je le sens. J'ai hate, et j'ai un peu pas hate.


(the video - i am stopped at the bottom, and just get pulled up the hill without pedaling at all. i know what you are thinking - my bike is aluminium, so what's magnetic that's getting pulled. My metal plate inside my skull?)

p2