We awoke on June 15 at Les Acres Tranquilles near Port Daniel to the breakfast portion of our bed & breakfast. The most delicious pain du perdue (i.e. French toast) I’ve ever had. Also orange juice, small cinnamon rolls and tartlettes, fresh yogurt. Délicieux!
The sun greeted us as we rolled our bikes out of the barn and got ready to roll. The wind also greeted us.
The temperature was pleasant and the hills rolling, but the wind was in our faces. We had to pedal to keep moving, even on descents.
The water was blue with whitecaps. Dandelions kept us company, as they had the entire trip. We passed some folks canoeing.
Though the weather was beautiful, that wind kept me pushing all day long. My already sore ankle began to greatly pain me at some point during the day. I remember for a decent portion of the day looking mostly at the road, concentrating on pedaling, and trying to pep myself up about my ankle.
- “Halfway there.”
- “You can do it.”
- “Just a few more miles.”
While pedaling I was worried, scared even, I wasn’t going to make it these last few miles, not just to our daily destination, but to our ultimate destination of Campbellton, New Brunswick.
My ankle was hurting that badly, but I kept pushing through.
About 10 miles from where we planned to camp we stopped for a break and a strategy chat by the side of the road. There were two camping places we were considering. I wanted to go to the one with fewer miles so I could take care of my ankle for the next day of riding.
All of the sudden, I see a truck with a canoe on top driving in the shoulder towards us. Towards me and my bike! I waved my arms to make sure the driver saw us.
He waved back but kept driving. I thought maybe he’d seen something fall off one of our bikes and was chasing us to give it back.
Instead he asked if we were familiar with WarmShowers.com. We said yes. He asked where we were going. We told him about the campsite up the road. He told us we should save our money and camp at his place, which was only a few more kilometers up the road. He’d already picked up a father/daughter tandem cycling pair, so we might as well join the party.
We agreed. He gave us his adress 11 miles away. We said we’d be an hour or so. He said to take our time. We parted ways. We didn’t even exchange names.
We had 11 miles and one more 300 foot hill to ascend before arriving. We rolled up around 6:00. Bruce offered his backyard for tent camping, but he’d also heard me grumping about my ankle when we met on the road. He said we’d better come inside. He put each of us up in a room.
After showers were taken, we sat with Bruce and the father/daughter duo comparing notes on our Gaspésie trips and then just talking.
Bruce cooked up a wonderful dinner and shared his extensive collection of beer with us. I iced my ankle throughout. We all sat around and talked until 11:00 or so.
As I lie down for a pleasant night’s slumber, I hoped the ice did my ankle some good. I elevated on pillows to help with the swelling.
