Georgio's Take

Thoughts from the rookie....
  A fully loaded touring bike is actually not that hard to spin on down the road.
 That same bike up a 16% grade weighs about 300 lb.
 There are an incredible number of micro-brews in Quebec and I think we gave it a good try to sample them all.
 Thank goodness most people in Quebec had better language skills than us or we'd be eating the same thing every day and sleeping in a ditch, but it did get a bit easier to decode menus and signage and stuff.
 Esential gear- a rear view mirror and an I-pod.
 Was fun in a twisted way to hit the wall and find our what exactly you are capable of.
 Was fun to be able to eat even WAY more than I normally do and burn it all up.
 Above all it's always the little things that stand out,  the simple pleasures of a great ride with friends on a sunny day, a beer or 2 at the end and a hot shower.
 Where to next year?
 Thanks boys
Geo

Back in Bathhurst

Hi Everyone, We arrived back in Bathhurst on Tuesday afternoon July 19th.  The final day was promised to be 40 km of light climbing with 100 km of decent. I was passed by Petie shortly after making our third grueling climb in the first 5 km.  He said welcome to the Appalachians.  Somehow the significance of the remark made little sense until our 50th uphill grind in the first 100k.  Peter later claimed it was all a major misunderstanding on our part....100 km of climbing with 40 km of decent. Oh well, we got here.  George and I attempted hitch hiking but could find no takers.
The trip ended with a total of 2277 kilometers over 20 days of riding.
2 Flat tires
1 Slightly out of true rim
No close calls
Tons of fun


We decided it would be fun to include an average days food intake for 3:


Early am. 3 bagels, peanut butter, 2 bananas, 1 apple
2 coffees, 1 tea.


On Route- 3 snickers, 3 bananas


2nd Breakfast (usually around 10 am) Full breakfast. toast, eggs, sausage, fruit, potatos, coffee


On Route - 6 snickers or? Banana Chips, Cereal bars, 2 apples

 Day 1 Campbellton Raining...oh oh

 Perce Rock Gaspe 6-28

Sir Ian

Ian riding the Sea Wall Gaspe North Shore

Crossing the St. Lawrence

Petie and his best friend-Tadousac

No fun at all eh Georgie

 Ian and George Carlton Sur Mer

 I always wanted an upper lip....just let a bee sting the inside of your mouth!

 Chicoutomic

A man needs to eat.....

 Lac St. Jean

 Ride the rain - Lac St. Jean

 A little more rain

Canola Field Lac St. Jean

Le Bae Oh Baby look at those calves

Too Much Fun

Lae Bae...Honest, we hid in our tents

Old Hwy to Quebec City

Grand Entry Quebec City

Old Town Quebec City

Georgio Old Town Quebec

Quebec City...The town was never the same

Music Festival Quebec City

Departing Quebec on the Ferry

Quebec City

The Boys

 An average night...military precision

If you are going to screw it up ...go all the way

What a team..Lancaster Bomber back in NB

Bikes after 150 km on dirt

Rest where ever you can get it. St Quintin

 Fair warning

2nd Warning

No Really, I am not kidding

Listen and Live

Apre Ride- 6 beers/1 bag BBQ Chips


Dinner- Rest. meal. Hopefully an all you can eat buffet
(total consumption on a need to know basis)


Late PM- Everyone on there own.  Usually a snack before bed.


I am going to go ahead and post and title a bunch of photos taken during the trip that we were unable to load.  Cheers, BFFBGBTM

Over the HILL and throught the woods to St. Paul we went.

Hello all.
So here we sit in Baie St. Paul eating excessively and resting.  Yesterday was a marathon day with 15% - !6% climbs and decents of up to 80KPH on 19% downhills.  We now understand why there were no other riders on this particular route. 
We are now one day from Quebec City with five days to Pete`s after that. The Quebec campgrounds are interesting to put it mildly.  The campground population cruise through the facility visiting, exibiting there speedo`s and drinking profound amounts of the grape, while all the while staring at us as though we were a little weird´...
Bikes and participants are holding together remarkably well.  In truth, the bikes are holding up much better than the participants.

George and I would like to once again thank Petie for paying attention in French class.  There is nothing more humbling than having someone address you at length and not understanding a word...now what do I do (can`t make the darn question mark work)

Headwinds, bugs and rain.....We are having a blast

All kidding aside, the weather and insect population have been steadily working to disarm our sense of humor...it hasn't happened yet.  We are camped, this evening, on the South Shore of Lake St. Jean.  Todays ride was in the rain but was a wonderful trip along paved paths with no head wind.
George was in heaven today.  We stopped at one of the regions renown cheese factories. He was able to scarf down 7 lbs. of free samples and left with a five pound bag of cheese curds under each arm.
Me, my French is improving. Each time I finish ordering two eggs and toast I get to dig into a fried chicken dinner.
Petie (Tour Guide) is quickly losing patience with us.  But not to worry, George and I stand guard throughout the night to insure that he doesnt slip off.  (pardon the lack of some key strokes, after a fashion one gives up.)
To date we are at nearly 1300 Kilometers.  Next we will be headed down to Quebec City and then on to Bathhurst.
Sorry about the lack of pictures ...some dummy lost the cord and the one we stole doesnt work. HAVING A GREAT TIME. BFGTPJ

Cross the St. Lawrence

We are now three. Ian Cowie left us near Rimouski on Sunday.  He road back to Pete's place and drove home to Toronto for work on Thursday. It was great fun having him along for a portion of the ride. 
We crossed the St. Lawrence yesterday (Monday) and spent the night and next day resting up in Tadoussac which is a little resort town right on the water. 
All of us are nursing black fly and mosquito bites to o numerous to count.  
This morning we left Tadoussac, rode back to highway 172 and headed toward Lake  St-Jean.  After what seemed to be a extremely tough day of climbing we rolled into Chicoutimi just before a major thunderstorm.
The further we go he more French things  become.  this computer is driving  me nuts...more later

Hello Everyone. Finally an available computer, that likes my French and password.  The trip is progressing nicely.  We finished our 5th day of riding today with some mega climbs.  To date we have ridden 550 kilometers through fabulous terrain all the while escaping some of the promised torrential rain and wind. We arrived in Mont St- Louis this evening and shortly after pitching our tents the weather turned very ugly.  We will see what happens in the morning.  It is 2030 and I will be the last man standing if I don`t head off to bed.  One word on todays ride.  115 kilometers today with some of the steepest, longest climbs I can remember...but 60 has eliminated a lot of things from my memory.  All the boys are still speaking and having a great time.. Till next time. BFFBGBTM

Bathhurst .....and waiting

Greetings- We have all arrived in Bathurst.  Geo and I arrived late on Thursday evening after spending all day in the air and parked in Airports.  The evening of our arrival Pete informed us that Ian Cowie was planning to join us for the first two weeks. The trick was that he would be driving from Toronto...no small trick being that it is a 1400 km drive. No big deal he arrived late Friday night.  
We had originally planned to participate in Fiddles on the Tobique (something to do with dazed canoes, fiddlers and alcohol). It seemed as though Petie thought we would "fit right in."  Due to the somewhat nasty weather we begged off. The trip will officially begin tomorrow (Sunday) morning when a friend of Pete's will be dropping us off in Charlow NB. Hopefully, the weather will improve and the Banana will become somewhat more tolerable.
Good Day...BFFBGBTM