Homeward bound

 Packed up and off to the bus station by 7:45.  Boro made me delicious breakfast, pictures were taken and we bid farewell.  Wonderful people, I felt so comfortable being around them.  Boro’s mother Linda wanted me to stay for the weekend but airbnb, the boat beckoned and I didn’t want to overstay my welcome.  Made it in ten minutes to the station, checked in, covered my bike with the huge plastic bag as required for the bus ride.  Once loaded aboard we were off to Sherbrooke.  Several stops over the journey and I could see forest fire smoke from the Canadian midwest. I opted for a Uber to drive me from the station to my van parked at the Sherbrooke municipal airport.  Thirteen miles on a fast moving margin shoulder road would be made even by the air quality so the Uber was the prudent decision.  Given how President Trump has insulted Canadian with his 51state rhetoric I was grateful that there was no hassle at the border going both ways.  Enjoyable border officials which I chatted with briefly and on my way I went.  Rain accompanied me the whole way, a brief stop in southern Vermont to fuel up and stretch my legs. My Apple music kept me company until my arrival at 9:41.  Unpack the bulk of my gear, showered and called it a day.   Where next, Finish route 66 or do Australia for my third continent?

A day of rest taking in Quebec City

 Boro on his e-bike cargo bike with his one half year old son, Manny ( nick name for Manalow) and I on my bike rode to the day care.  His cargo bike had a special enclosed cab for his son with protection frame, safety seat and canvas surround, quite the setup.  Afterwards Boro  who works on helping the homeless ( and Maude as a mid-wife) had to punch in and I headed on my bike to take in the city.  First, off to the bus station to secure my bike ticket having brought the plastic bag for it from before.  Not having a firm grasp of the language and the bus employees knowing very little english made the process a big frustrating.  After conquering that obstacle it was off to get a look see of  historic lower Quebec and visit the Museum Civilization.  After over four hours of absorbing the city’s history, culture and sites I returned to 49 Chateauquay for a tall beer and nap.  Boro told me of a  neighborhood party at a nearby park so I changed and walked over to the event.  At least three hundred people, loads of children like I had not seen in years.  Music, food vendors with delicious local casual cuisine; the local  craft beer was an added bonus.  Craving some dessert Boro, Maude, the two enfants in a double wide stroller and I sloughed our way up to upper Quebec City to a very special ice cream parlor, my treat.  By then I felt very much part of the family. Manny/Milo and I were hitting it off, me as the phony uncle.   He reached up for me to pick him up, a real treat for me. Back hone we called it a day.

The last leg

Left Lyster ‘ Tropical Camping’ at 8:48 for Quebec City, 40 miles to go.  Flat and straight the whole way.  An elderly touring group out for the day passed me on their e-bikes,  real bicyclists are becoming fewer and fewer. Wayfarer bike shop has stuck strictly to real bicycles. I arrived at the St. Lawrence river/seaway west of Quebec City where I had the unpleasant task of walking over a very high bridge on a very narrow bike path, a mile trek which put the fear of god in me.  One on the other side I descended onto a wonderful river bike way and promenade.  Several miles east brought me to the steep bike climb up to the upper part of Quebec City.  Switched back up to less the steepness but still a walker. Once on top I google my way over to my warmershowers host (I sent out three requests before left the campsite and got one acceptance). I was able to take in the charmer of upper Quebec City before I had to descend to 49 Chateauqyay,  the warmshowers host address.  Boro and Maude, their two infants and Linda, Boro’s mother, greeted me  Charming family where Boro gave me a cold beer to cool me down. On way there I had to negotiate an  extremely steep hill with my breaks clamped down to keep control of my bike. After cleaning up and napping in a glide seat for two, Boro prepared a classic Quebec dinner, Putton, Fried potatoes,  sausage and vegies in gravy sauce, quite delicious.  My accommodation was in the downstairs vacant apartment with no electricity.  Boro ran an extension cord and I showered and did my laundry upstairs.  Linda had her own apartment next to me.  They warmered up to me quickly. They spoke  good english as I tried to interject my french where possible.  

Cold, windy, hilly and dirt roads

 This the second time I have written this blog.  The God damn computer deleted the page.  God damn geeks are running our world and their lack of common sense is non existent. When I seize power there will be military style boot camps for all programmers.  Rigorous  physical condition will be followed by the retraining of their brains to understand and apply common sense to their lives and any future programming they perform.

I departed the Sherwood municipal airport at 9:40.  Having forgotten to bring my cold weather jacket (always always always something gets left behind) I layered up and used my wind breaker, scull cap under my helmet and long fingered gloves.  The Google map bike route was terrible, dirt roads with loose washed stone and hills upon hills, it  eventually took me to a road that was totally over grown.  Enough of this genius bike route and back to a basic car route.  The new route added thirty miles which essentially cancelled out the twenty-five torturous miles I had already ridden.  Thank you Google,  privately I will tell you what I really think of you. Eventually I made it to Richmond which had a decent but funky hotel in stages of renovation. A former railroad station with charm. Vincent, who sold the family dairy farm to his brother, took the proceeds and bought the station.  He showed me the progress and I was able to help him in how he should go about renovating various rooms. He cooked me dinner and showed me around town which included a stop for beer, ice cream and a charging cord.  If I were younger, i could see getting a train station for myself.

The legs are sore but I hope tomorrow I will have a longer ride.

Finish the ride

More than a year and a half have passed since the forest fires forced me to abandon my ride from Manhattan to Quebec City.  After a fun 57th New Hampton Reunion in New Hampton, New Hampshire, it was a easy drive in my Mercedes camper up to Sherbrooke. The trick was to find long term parking for the camper and a truck stop to spend the night. No secure parking in Sherbrooke so I checked online for the existence of a local airport.  Thirteen miles east of Sherbrooke I arrived at very small but nice local airport, just for local folk and no control tower.  Much to my delight I am allowed to do both long term parking and also spend the night, free no less! 

The weather is windy, cold (in the forties), rainy and foggy, not conducive for bicycling. Starting tomorrow, June 2, it will be sunny for the next few days. 130 miles to Quebec City in three days should be doable. This short leg is the first road trip since my back operation January 22, all should go well given that I have been biking an hour a day, five days a week for over a month.  On the road again!

No getting through the smoke

         With the chance of rain 100%, I pulled out the rain gear, packed up and headed for the cafeteria for breakfast.  Wonderful dorm room at Bishop University with an inexpensive place to eat a five minute walk way.  My legs were not feeling tip top but with a few miles of easy riding I would be up to par.  I was greeted at the door by a woman who was running the cafeteria.  Asking where  I was going with all my riding gear on she quickly noted that she had brought her potted plants indoors because of the forest fire fallout of fine particle matter.  She said the smoke was descending from Quebec City and it would be a bad idea for me to continue north.  Using my better judgement I packed it in and rode three miles from Lenoxville to Sherbrooke to catch a bus to Montreal.  With 140 miles to go, I felt cheated out of my goal of reaching Quebec City.  410 miles covered to date but no cigar.  A bus brought me to Montreal and from there I tried to get a bus or train south.  The routes all went to NYC and the schedules were terrible so I booked a car rental, a Toyota 4runner, packed up the bike and  spent the next seven hours driving south through a dim of smoke. The vents were closed the smell still seeped into the car.  Very spokey ride covering 380 miles.  The car and highway lights were a dirty yellow and the visibility at several points along Interstate 87 slowed me down below 60 mph.   At a rest top to fill up the gas tank and get some food the front hood in just fifteen minutes accummated a fine dusting of fire debris. Canterbury, Connecticut at 12:15 am was a very welcome site.  Betsy was awake to great my weary soul.  

Once these fires have subsided I will figure out a way to finish the last 140 miles, perhaps in September.

Into Canada, heading northwest

     Off at 8:20 from Newport on the rail/trail headed north.  Five and a half miles later I arrived at the border crossing, answered all the questions correctly, packed my passport and pedalled into Canada.  The trail continued for two hours with me free of roaring trucks, cars and lousy shoulders.  The trails can get monotonous but it is nice to cruise along surrounded by nature. The trail ended in Ayer’s Cliff where also I was able to get some food.  Moving on what I thought was a continuation of trail brought me to a dead end.  I back tracked and spent the next hour figuring out which road to take. Finally, the local library pointed the way out of town in the right direction. The remainder of the ride consisted of the same old lousy shoulders, loud vehicles, moderate hills (two walkers) and a stiff headwind.  Upon reaching the outskirts of Sherbrook/Lenoxville I miraculously found a bike trail.  There may be a national rail/trail made up of many local trails but the signs are non existent.  Velo verte 3 is what I want to be on but without proper signage what is the use. In France I went through the same drill with their velo routes.  Is it the French culture which is lacking a bit of common sense?   Once in Lenoxville I was told the local Bishop University put up riders like me.   After consulting the police I found the institution and checked in minutes before the rain began. Nice digs and a cafeteria in the next building.  The girl who checked me in hopefully has correctly laid out the route tomorrow, rail/trails the whole way to Quebec.  I know the route will no doubt be laden with wrong turns do to poor signage.   Rain is forecast so the rain gear is ready. I can hardly wait.