Day 16: Perth Andover to Degelis

98 km (61 miles) – Total so far: 1,581 km (982 miles)

Having been so wet yesterday I used B and B to get everything dry. It was fine and cheap, but I will need to work harder to appreciate the typical Canadian breakfast. Two pancakes and some very tasteless meat didn’t go down so well. For me before riding its either granola, or eggs, hopefully both. Plenty of coffee of course. Fried or preferably grilled potatoes are good also.

After a few chores, bank and tyre air from garage I was away just before 10 and onto the 105 briefly before it veered off north. I realised pretty soon that I was into a strong westerly wind. There was not much climbing up to St Leonard continuing to follow the upstream St John river, but going was really tough. I think it made a difference of 5 mph. Rain or the up and down nature of the road in he previous two days would have been preferable. The area between Perth and Edmundston is a plain really, which the St John flows across. I expect the wind regularly lows this way. Most memorable in a tough morning was a brief stop at the picturesque village of Rivière Verde.

At Edmundston there was little. I had been going to stop, but all I cold see was a Subway and pizza restaurants. The river drops probably 12 metres through a gorge in the middle of town, but otherwise the place was easily forgotten. I did stop at St Jacques for a drink and 15 minutes, and then it was on up to the provincial border just a few kilometres on. I had been following 144, but from St Jacques I was on the Route Verde bike track. It is slower than the road due to the surface, but more sheltered from the wind. The Trans Canada is the only option here. I did some kilometres on the Trans Canada, at one point there is no option. I met several riders coming the other way, and all were stressing about it. There is heavy construction on the highway, a new dual carriageway is being constructed, but while it is consideration for cyclists is down the list. A bonus of riding of the Trans Canada today with the wind was slipstreaming some of the big trucks, even if briefly. A downside is avoiding the roadkill that has been moved to the shoulder, or else it’s a shirt full of week old dead skunk.

This area of Quebec, and the latter part of NB, are good outdoor destinations. The lake has plenty of water sports available, there are many VTT (mountain bike tracks), and trekking. Bike Corsica and Bike France old boys and irks will recall VTT (velo tous terrain, it was on our Tshirts). The construction patrol stopped me and a few other cyclists on the section I spoke about above, saimg it is dangerous to ride on the highway. At the moment, for about 15 km there is no alternative. These guys spoke no English, and few people do here in Degelis. The good news is Quebec supermarkets do sell alcohol. I am rarely going to have very much, but a couple of decent beers always go well.

It’s a tearful goodbye to New Brunswick, where I have been in and off since Day 3. I did then go into Nova Scotia and PEI for 7 days, but it was an 8 day relationship, one of my longest. Also a goodbye to the St John river which divides here and heads into upstate Quebec, and Maine to the south. That was a 4 day relationship, a day longer than I expected.

Distance 98 kilometres Max Speed 41.4 km/ hr – even any downhills slow into the wind Ride time 5 hrs 20 mins Average speed 18.2 km / hr – effect of wind and some km offroad Departed 10:05 am Arrives 3:50 pm (Quebec time is an hour behind NB, so in effect 4:50 pm)