Against the Wind

Days 43 and 44

June 24 to 25

Cap Chat to St. Maxine-du-Mont-Louis to Grand Vallee

For two days the wind is blowing from the south and right into our faces as we ride.  We are leaving Cap Chat in a light rain with the temperature at about 48 degrees.  I am getting a lot of use out of these rain pants.  We head into the wind and just keep pedaling.  

Today is grey.  

Granite skies, 

Slate blue sea,

soft flannel grey fog drifting low over the mountains.  

We are going to be climbing soon, but today is mainly flat terrain with a lot of small hills.  We gain over 4200' of elevation.  If not for the wind and cold it would be an easier ride.  We want to make it to St.-Maxine-du-Mont-Louis because that will allow for less mileage on the following day of non-stop climbs. 

At about 3 pm, the sun comes out.  I can take off my fleece and fight the wind without being so cold.  We are actually making good time, and the steady forward motion feels good.  But, the wind is relentless.

We camp at a really nice municipal park and are witness to the most dramatic sunset of the trip so far.  The tide is out and the shale rocks form many pools.  Just look at the reflection:

Our dinner is delicious because we managed to find the one grocery store that is open on this holiday weekend.  

At the campground we meet a (very) young couple

from London, Ontario and get to speak English for a change!  I have missed being able to communicate beyond, “bon jour.”  We relax by their campfire and hear their story while they ask us about the logistics of bike travel.  “How do you carry everything?” “Where do you stay?” “What do you do if it rains?”  

We sleep hard lulled by the incoming tide and our complete tiredness from riding against the wind. 

Day 45

We know this day has some big climbs, and the wind is still against us.  By noon, I am really worn out.  Luckily, we take a full lunch hour break at Cap Madeleine.  The little park by the lighthouse has chairs for relaxing and a little shop with homemade molasses cookies.  The sun is warm and the view is beautiful.  

The lighthouse is a heritage lighthouse located on a jutting escarpment.

Click on the above link to learn more about the lighthouse.

The rest of the day is just plain hard. We quickly climb from sea level up over one mountain to nearly 1000' pedaling up a very steep grade (maybe 12% to 14%).   This is the greatest single climb of our trip so far.  There are higher ones in Cape Breton.   Yay!  We walk some of the steepest parts, and on two of the climbs, Tom gets to the top, comes back to where I am, and pushes my bike the rest of the way up.  Normally, I would hate this, but I feel accomplished just getting myself to the top.  

There is a steep curving descent and it looks like I might end up in the water.

We make it all the way to our goal for the day.  We have averaged about 7 mph! Ugh.  

Now we are well into the Gaspe' peninsula in the region called La Pointe or Land's End, and the little town of Grand Vallee (population 1089)has plenty of local seafood. 

The lobster we have for dinner was caught that morning off the coast of our campground and the little bay scallops are from the same waters.  I make a feast of breaded scallops, lobster, rice, and corn on the cob - with a couple of pints of Gaspé ales.  We only stay awake until sunset and then sleep until the sun rises - which unfortunately is just a little after 4 a.m.  I feel like this is getting to be a lifestyle at this point.  Ride. Eat. Sleep.  Repeat.   In two days we will be in Forillon National Park!  There are just a few more mountains to cross on the way there.  

Continuing along the grey cliffs

Looking down upon Grand Vallee from a viewpoint as we descend from our big climb. We will camp here tonight.