Ottawa to Fredericton - Day 5

Tuesday, September 11 - Saint-Victor, QC - 101 km

Slept like a rock last night, and even slept in past the first light. Nevertheless, I did the morning routine and got on the road about 07:30. While traffic was not too bad, about 80% of it was heavy trucks. For the most part there was a good shoulder, but I did get run off the road by one asshole trucker. The terrain, while not mountainous, was one long rolling hill after another. Some parts were fairly steep into the double digit gradients. During a descent into one town, I hit 70 km/h, vastly exceeding the 50 km/h speed limit. I have changed my opinion on Quebec roads. For the most part, the roads in Quebec are in far better condition than the equivalent in Ontario. The weather was dull gray, and slightly cool so I kept switching between a plain t-shirt and a jacket. At least it was not raining. I made a couple stops for supplies. The first at a depanneur where I stocked up on granola bars, and also got a pint of milk and a pecan tart for a snack. The next stop was a small grocery store where I got some fresh apples and a chocolate bar for another snack. Along the road were picnic areas near most of the towns. I stopped at several to snack and rest. Today was the first day that I felt tired. I decided to stop at the first place I could find after 100 km. It turned out to be a small jack pine forest plantation. It is still early so I am relaxing a bit prior to setting up camp. Supper was a Lipton side-kick, which was pretty gross. I added some fresh green beans which tasted a hell of a lot better than the dehydrated bits. Finding a place to hang the food was tricky. I had seen two instances of bear scat in my exploration, so food storage was essential. Quite a long ways away, I found a small cliff with a tree at the top. I managed to string up the food bag from this tree, swinging it out over the cliff and then finished by tying the rope off to another tree at the bottom. It is days like this that I am glad that I always carry 100' of rope, since I used all of it. It is only 19:00 but getting quite dark already. I wonder where the time change boundary is?

One of the cool things about bike touring, is that you take notice of all the junk that people like to put on their lawns.

Or erect along the side of the road. Quebec is full of these religious idols.

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