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Category Archives: Cross Canada 2007

I was slow packing up this morning because up until yesterday I had been expecting today to be a day off and now would have to keep going. I saw another cyclist with a fully loaded bike go by the window and that made me speed up to see if I could get on the road and catch up with him. After getting groceries and leaving town I managed to catch up with him and we talked for a while because he also had been biking from Vancouver.

We both got on our way again and I took off at a faster pace towards the ferry through an inland route hoping to save some distance. It turned out to be quite hilly and I ended up missing a ferry by about 25 minutes. While waiting I met the other cyclist again and we talked while I ate lunch. It was a 75 minute crossing on a medium sized ferry but it was a nice day out and they had a musician on the upper deck where I sat. After getting off the ferry I only rode about 15 minutes to a campground to take the rest of the afternoon off as a replacement for not having a day off yet.

It was a provincial campground but actually had a reasonable enough price for once. Before dinner I wandered down to the beach where I felt compelled to go for a swim. Since I hadn’t put on my swimsuit or brought my towel I just went in my cycling underwear and airdried sitting on a rock while reading.

Distance 62.96km
Time 2:37:31
Average Speed 23.98km/h
Max Speed 61.38km/h
Odometer 7370km

It was a cold morning and still very windy at the campground so I checked out and headed towards the bridge to PEI. Before getting to the bridge I tried to check out a used bookstore that I saw several signs for along the road but it turned out to be closed and wasted my time going out of the way to find it. So I got to the confederation bridge information center and called for a shuttle to take me across. While waiting I updated my blog from one of their free computers.

On the other side of the bridge I attempted to find a place to stay in Charlottetown but had no luck at all. I was going to have to figure something out when I got there. After spending a fair amount of time eating lunch and trying to solve my accomodation problem I headed on the road to Charlottetown. I took the scenic route for a bit but then had to get onto the trans canada which turned out to be quite hilly as it went inland (I thought PEI was supposed to be flat).

The cheapeast place I managed to find in town was the University of PEI residences. It was still to expensive for me to be willing to stay an extra day here so I headed downtown to look around after checking in since I wouldn’t have tomorrow to do that.

Distance 92.91km
Time 4:14:20
Average Speed 21.92km/h
Max Speed 55.40km/h
Odometer 7307km

This morning was still very windy but at least the sky had cleared so that it would be sunny today. I spent the day on and off the scenic route occasionally to short cut a few of the detours it took. Just past Shediac I had to stop at an intersection that a bike race was going through and was eventually waved through and allowed onto the route with the racers. I passed one cyclist and was passed by three others.

I stopped for the day at Murray Beach campground because it looked like a nice place to stay. It made for a short ride today but still puts me in a reasonable position to get to Charlottetown tomorrow. In the evening just as I oppened my tent to get out to boil water for hot chocolate I saw a complete arch of a double rainbow over the campground and went over to the beach to take a few pictures. I don’t think I’ve ever seen the second arch of a rainbow with the colours reversed before.

Distance 70.72km
Time 2:47:02
Average Speed 25.35km/h
Max Speed 49.35km/h
Odometer 7214km

It rained this morning before I got out of my tent so it was a lazy morning. There was about 30km more highway to Miramichi, “Canada’s Irish Capital”, where I took a break at Tim Hortons for a snack knowing that it would be a long ways on the highway with nowhere to stop until lunch. I stopped for lunch just past Kouchibouguac National Park (pronounced koo-she-boo-gwack). I wanted to go in but they had a toll booth and I wasn’t willing to pay a day use fee just to sit at a picnic table.

There was lots more highway until Bouctouche where I finally got back onto the Acadian Coast scenic route which was actually scenic for once by being right on the ocean. Though it was extremely windy. I was looking for a picnic area shown on my map that I might be able to camp at but didn’t find it and ended up going another 10km to the Acadien Park campsite.

Distance 144.80km
Time 5:26:43
Average Speed 26.58km/h
Max Speed 52.67km/h
Odometer 7143km

Considering the time zone change I was actually on the road early this morning for what would turn out to be a long day. I started the day by following the Acadian Coastal Drive scenic route. I didn’t find there to be much special about the scenery but at least it was quiet by comparison to the main highways. There are practically no rest areas around either so I rode pretty long stretches of time. Eventually I found a picnic table at a highschool to eat lunch at. The one particularly interesting thing about this route was seeing all the Acadian flags everywhere (even painted telephone poles) because August 15th was an Acadian holiday.

The rest of the day was even less scenic as I turned away from the coastal route at Bathurst to cut across a penninsula that would have added at least an extra day of riding. I eventually got onto the major highway which was actually nicer to ride than the smaller one because it was better paved despite being busier. But due to the lack of scenery I decided to keep riding without any breaks to put most of it behind me today. I ended up stopping at the Greystone rest area which I assumed to be in the town of Laviellette because that was the closest thing on any map. This ended up being my furthest day yet and also marked my having ridden a total of over 300 hours so far. If I had wanted I could have also rode a little further to get the 7000km mark as well but decided it wasn’t worth it because I was already at a good place to camp.

Distance 166.62km
Time 6:33:36
Average Speed 25.40km/h
Max Speed 60.78km/h
Odometer 6998km

I was lazy this morning and was the last of the cyclists to leave the campsite this morning. It was quite a cool morning with a tailwind to start with. Unfortunatelly that didn’t last too long as the wind turned on me when I started descending through the Matapedia valley. It was and otherwise nice ride along the river. I took lunch at one of the many marked salmon fishing areas on the river.

Shortly before crossing into New Brunswick I took a short break in the town of Matapedia and met someone who gave me a New Brunswick road map that they were done with. Crossing into New Brunswick means I have completed 6 provinces and 4 time zones now. I am also now over 4000km (as the bird flies) from home. I stayed in a very small lighthouse hostel. It has two dorm rooms, a small kitchen (doubling at the one staff member’s sleeping area) and a reception area/lounge. I had one dorm to myself and there were 3 girls in the other dorm.

Distance 118.61km
Time 4:45:17
Average Speed 24.94km/h
Max Speed 51.20km/h
Odometer 6832km

I must have been quite tired because I slept for about 10 hours last night. Unfortunatelly it was raining this morning though. I waited around for a little bit to see if it would stop but it didn’t and I left around 10:00. The rain put quite a damper on the day.

I stopped for lunch at the St-Flavie picnic area before heading into the mountains away from the St. Lawrence. By the time I got going the rain was pretty much stopped and the sun was starting to come out by the time I took another rest break. At that rest break I actually took a short nap because I was still tired and also cold from the rain. From there I rode without too many more stops all the way to Val-Brillant. At the campsite I stayed at there were cyclists in the sites to either side of me. One from Quebec City and another two from Switzerland who came across to Canada by a cargo ship.

Distance 97.41km
Time 4:13:29
Average Speed 23.05km/h
Max Speed 48.91km/h
Odometer 6713km