Day 26 - Arriving in Halifax by bike

Day 26 - distance 95 km (Truro to Halifax)

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Dan, Leslie

The last two days were polar opposites. The second last day was rainy, cold, and somewhat miserable. We had sunshine, blue skies, and a beautiful ride into Halifax on our last day of cycling.

Dan, Sheila, Meg and Leslie leave Truro

We biked through rolling hills, along sparkling lakes and it was smooth riding, until as luck would have it, only 65 km away from Halifax we had a major mechanical issue: a broken chain! Victor showed up with tools and he and Dan repaired the chain. Fortunately we covered that repair in our pre-trip bike clinic.

Broken chain

Chain repair

We arrived in Halifax via ferry from Dartmouth and were greeted by Victor and Leslie's sister, Christine. We found our way to the nearest bar and ordered a couple of celebratory pitchers.

Meg, Les, Sheila and Dan arrive in Halifax

Les and Sheila celebrate!

In some ways "the end" was like most other days--it wasn't like finishing an endurance event or race where you are utterly spent when you arrive. Instead, we arrived feeling like we have every other day, a bit tired and very hungry. But what made this day different was the feeling of culmination and accomplishment. Collectively all the days of cycling led us here to our final destination.

Says Sheila, "I spent the quiet biking hours on the last day reflecting on the trip, thinking about the highs and lows, the challenges and the rewards. I tried to remember each place we had stayed at throughout the trip and found I couldn't. Too many campsites tend to blur together. But I remember the spectacular views and the tough climbs that it took to get up to those views. I remember the cruising tailwinds along the St Lawrence and the cold rain of New Brunswick. I thought about how much of my country I was able to see, and how few people get to see it by bicycle. So different than travelling by car or train; by bicycle you smell the smells, taste the air, and meet the people. That was wonderful and I felt extremely lucky."

Distance from Ottawa to Halifax by bike

We covered a total distance of just over 2230 km from Ottawa to Halifax. The trip took us 26 days including 3 full rest days with no biking. We are so thrilled to have not only met, but surpassed our $5000 fundraising goal for Easter Seals Ontario. Thank you to everyone for your support.

Days 23-25 - Welcome to Nova Scotia

Day 23 - distance: 120 km (Miramichi to Shediac)

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Leslie, Dan, Danielle

Today is Danielle's last day of riding before heading home, sadly it started with intermittent rain. We started on busy highway 11 with intermittent shoulder. When we hit a section with no shoulder and heavy traffic, we felt much safer with Vic driving behind us with blinking lights. Thank you Vic! We turned onto highway 134, which was much quieter. The road took us through winding farms and rivers. We stopped for lunch in Bouctouche on the steps of Subway, as we couldn't find a café.

We arrived in Shediac on a very pretty road with lots of ivy and large fancy homes - it's the first fancy place we've seen in in NB. Downtown Shediac looked quite cute with lots of ice cream shops and tons of places offering lobster in its various forms. This seems to be the lobster capital of something, with it being advertised everywhere but also because of the giant lobster marking the centre of town.

We tried to go to Parlee Beach Provincial Park for the night, but found it closed for the season! We found another campsite back at the other end of town, and headed there instead.

Day 24 - distance: 116 km (Shediac to Pugwash)

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Dan, Leslie

We left Shediac and headed back to Parlee Beach for a half-hour walk around. Tested the waters, would have been nice for a swim if there had been some sun. We said goodbye to Danielle at the beach, as she was heading into Moncton to catch the train home.

Farewell Danielle!
Parlee Beach

Getting ready to cycle out from Shediac

As we left New Brunswick, we stopped in a small winery and bought some blueberrry wine and small liquor samples.

We biked 40 or 50 km on our way out of New Brunswick, mostly in the clouds and misty rain. Most of New Brunswick has been this kind of weather, so we were happy to have Nova Scotia greet us with beautiful sunshine.

The second half of the day's ride was lovely, with sunshine lighting up the green fields, blue water, and red soil. We cruised with a bit of a long-lost tailwind into Pugwash, where we enjoyed some ice cream cones in a park along the water.

Our campsite was 10 or 12 km outside of Pugwash, on a bluff above a beautiful red beach with the warmest water we've been in so far. We all had a quick swim in the shallow water and drank wine on the bluff watching the sunset. A great view.

Day 25 - distance: 83 km (Pugwash to Truro) 

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Leslie, Dan

We woke up to a bit of rain this morning on our second last day, and it just got worse. This was our wettest day, with cold temperatures of 12 degrees, and consistent light rain. We stopped after 30 km for a coffee in Tatamagouche to warm up, then pushed for another 55 km through this hills to Truro. It would have been a beautiful ride on a nice day, the hills rolled nicely, and the landscape was pretty. Unfortunately rain and fog kept us moving quickly to stay warm. We decided over hot chocolate in Truro to cut our ride 10 km short, and spend our last night in a hotel. We were all happy to warm up and curl up and watch some TV.

Tomorrow is our last day, we are hoping for a sunny ride into Halifax to find some beer to celebrate!

Days 19-22 - Welcome to New Brunswick

Day 19 - distance: 105-ish km (New Richmond to Campbellton) 

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Leslie, Kyle, Danielle

We had a medium-to-strong headwind most of the day, but are very happy to have the sun back. The Route Verte took us off the 132 through some rolling hills and farmers' fields. We were meant to ride through a provincial park, but we missed a turn and with the headwinds decided not to backtrack. We crossed the beautiful bridge into Campbellton and took a jumping photo for Rob at the NB sign. 

Bridge into Campbellton, NB

Sheila and Leslie arrive in New Brunswick - JUMP!

We slept in a yurt and it was nice to not have to set up the tents.

Day 20 - distance: 107 km (Campbellton to Beresford)

Riders: Sheila, Leslie, Meg and Dan 

Kyle and Danielle went for a hike in the morning, as it was Kyle's last day. Danielle, having accomplished her goal of continuous riding through Gaspésie, took the day off.

Danielle and Kyle

Dan joined us early in the morning. We left Campbellton on HWY 11, after hearing from the tourist info person at Sugarloaf that it's a good road with a nice shoulder, though it's our first riding on the TransCanada. There were some nice views at the beginning, but most of HWY 11 was not very exciting from a cycling point of view. Most of it had a nice 10-foot shoulder, but just not much to look at. With nothing really to stop for, we ended up biking 85 km before taking a break.

There was only another 20 km left to the campsite in Beresford, where we are all looking forward to tomorrow's rest day. Except maybe Dan, who just got here and is also a superhuman on the bike!

For dinner, we followed a 30-year-old recommendation from Danielle's parents to eat at a lovely French restaurant in Beresford. In someone's converted home, we had nice wine, very good seafood, and the BEST CHOCOLATE CAKE ever.

Day 21 - Rest day in Beresford 

Usual rest day routine of laundry, catching up on emails, and calls home. We did some future route planning, some napped, others went into Bathurst for groceries. We didn't skimp on the oreos, jujubes, and M&Ms.

Vic reflects by the water in Beresford

Day 22 - distance: 105 km (Beresford to south of Miramichi)

Riders: Sheila, Meg, Leslie, Dan 

Today we woke up to misty rain, cold temperatures and howling winds. Not an awesome outlook for the day, but we ended up getting pretty lucky. The weather held off until the last 15 km, when we rode through rain, puddles, and got splashed and sprayed by the traffic churning down HWY 11. The beginning of the ride was nice, on the 134, but when it joined with HWY 8, we found ourselves in heavy traffic with little shoulder. We didn't feel safe, and as soon as we could, we took a side road detour onto what turned out to be a sand road, which was new for us. We found you could generally stay upright if you kept up some speed, but occasionally you would sink in, skid out, and have to attempt to rapidly unclip from the pedals to avoid falling.

Sand road

We cruised into Miramichi on the nice HWY 11, complete with a wide shoulder and nice pavement, though we had to cross a very beautiful but very high bridge to get into town. The howling east winds felt like they were going to blow us right off the top!

Dan and Sheila try not to blow off the bridge
Miramichi

We biked in the pouring rain and 13 degrees for our final 15 km, but Vic and Danielle had secured us a couple of the most awesome tree houses with mattresses and our own bathroom. Best of all, a dry place to curl up out of the rain for the night.

Tree house

Inside the tree house

Gaspésie from Kyle's point of view (Rimouski QC - Campbellton NB)

Cliff's notes:

Best campsite views: Au Soleil Couchant/Grande-Vallée (Minke whale, beautiful ocean), Havre de la Nuit/Percé (elevated view of Rocher Percé).

Best rides: Two day stretch between Grande-Vallée and Percé, with an astonishing view of Rocher Percé as we rolled into Percé. Great climbs into Grande-Vallée and then to Percé.

Total km: Approximately 690


August 21, 2013

I boarded the train mid day in Ottawa. I transferred at Montréal to the Gaspé overnight train. The Gaspé train has a "bubble car" where you can enjoy a 360 degree view of the journey from above the other cars.

As darkness set in, I got comfortable in my "sleeper", a small bed and tried to get some sleep in. The Rimouski stop was at 2:05AM, so I "awoke" and headed to a hotel for the night so I could meet the girls (and Victor) first thing in the morning.

The train is great for travelling with a bike. A $25 fee (per journey), and they take the bike fully assembled. You just need to make sure your train and connecting trains will have baggage cars. I suggest calling ahead. Also, on the sleeper trains apparently you can BYOB.

August 22, 2013

Rimouski - Matane

Waking up a little groggy from not much sleep, and surprised by a nice tailwind we set off. This was my introduction to the perfectly organized and efficient "O2H" team. Off we went on a flat portion and into the Gaspé region..
We camped a bit outside of the city of Matane, in a nice wooded area.

August 23, 2013
Matane - Ste-Anne des Monts

With a full night of sleep behind me, on to day 2. Another 90km stretch of mostly flat, yet beautiful coastal views. This time we camped at the 'ancre jaune' (yellow anchor). 

August 24, 2013

Rest day in Ste-Anne des Monts

We hiked in the Chic Chocs at the Parc National de la Gaspésie. This was actually my first time seeing Moose up close, and there were so many Moose off the trail we took.

August 25, 2013

Ste-Anne des Monts - Grande-Vallée

Leaving Ste-Anne des Monts we knew we were getting into the hills. Everyone was a bit nervous, we are not used to this amount of climbing in the Ottawa region. Everyone stayed determined and we arrived on time as usual, with curving ocean views town after town, then a couple of pretty steep climbs at the end of the day.

Spending lunch at the café recommended by a local cyclist was nice, I bought a baguette and ate some of the local smoked salmon.

Break at café

We camped at Camping Au Soleil Couchant. This camping site had probably the best view and access to ocean on my trip. Highlights were when we saw what I think was a Minke whale swimming by.

August 26, 2013

Grande-Vallée - Griffon

This was a challenging day, with consistent steep climbs and descents for the whole day. It was rewarding though, and we got through it.

Roughly halfway there.

Arriving at the high point before Grande-Vallée



August 27, 2013
Griffon-Percé

Today we went through the town of Gaspé. We thought it would be a good idea to stop and have some brunch and taken in the scenery before moving on.

Stopping in Gaspé for brunch.

This was a pretty tough day after the last two days of culminated effort. We struggled through it and were rewarded at the end with glimpses of Rocher Percé towards the end, then after an exhausting climb we sped down the other end into town and to the campsite.

Starting out on some gravel.

Nice café stop, almost at Percé. Really good food and they were playing the Beatles' White Album too, so pretty chill rest stop for a tough day.

The Havre de la Nuit campsite, while cramped for space (seems to me they just rent out their bar's lawn..) has an incredible view.

August 28, 2013
Sick day!

I must have ate something that didn't agree with my stomach and had to stay in bed all day. I tried to be of some use by helping Victor with groceries.

August 29, 2013

Grande-Rivière (Pabos Mills) - New Richmond

Before we set off I made sure to take a photo of the Santa sign.. I'll have to investigate why Quebec campsites have a consistent Noël theme. We thought it was funny.

Merry Christmas!

Not really much to see on this ride. The day was overcast and threatening rain the whole time.

We had some gravel detours and farm views.

August 30, 2013
New Richmond - Campbellton

This was my final day with the group. We rode through a pretty steady headwind towards New Brunswick. There was really not much to see and for me this was probably the toughest day. We arrived in Campbellton and camped out at Sugarloaf Park, also pretty well known for mountain biking. Too bad I didn't have my mountain bike..

Bridge into New Brunswick/Campbellton

Riding through a lot of native territory.

Campbellton, NB - apparently lots of good salmon fishing.



This was really well organized. Thanks to all who put it together, and thanks to Victor for driving and doing chores! 

Good luck getting to $5000, and good luck to Victor's pHd.

Days 16-18 - Gaspé, Percé and Bonaventure

Day 16 - distance: 101 km (L'Anse-au-Griffon to Percé)

Riders: Danielle, Emma, Kyle, Leslie, Meghan, and Sheila

Today's ride started out with a 10 km section through Parc Formillon on an unpaved path. Fortunately the steeper sections were paved.

Emma, Sheila, and Danielle
Parc Formillon

We encountered construction, a newly tarred stretch of road, and plenty of hills, which kept things interesting to say the least! We took a long break at Café Artisan in the town of Gaspé in the morning and at Café Couleurs 20 km west of Percé in the late afternoon.

Sheila, Emma, Kyle, Danielle, and Leslie
Café Couleurs

After we didn't think we had any energy left in us to climb any more hills, we had one long ascent followed by our steepest descent of the trip (17% grade) into the town of Percé. Victor could even see us coming down the hill from the campsite, about a kilometer away! When we arrived at the campsite, we were pleasantly surprised to see that Victor, being the incredible person that he is, had already set up our tents and unloaded the van.

Day 17 - distance: 55.5 km (Percé to Pabos Mills)

Riders: Danielle, Emma, Leslie, Meghan, and Sheila

Leslie, Meghan, Sheila, Victor and I got out on the water on a boat tour that took us to the Rocher Percé and to the Parc National de l'Île-Bonaventure-et-du-Rocher-Percé. We saw many seals, Northern Gannets, and Cormorants. We hiked across the island and got to see the largest colony of Northern Gannets in the world.

Northern gannet colony

Northern gannets

Rocher Percé

View of Percé from the water

The hills of Percé

We had lunch in Percé followed by a two-hour bike ride to Pabos Mills where we camped at another site decorated for Christmas.

Day 18 - distance: 96 km (Pabos Mills to New Richmond)

Riders: Danielle, Emma (until Bonaventure), Kyle, Leslie, Meghan, and Sheila

Even though we're now heading west along Highway 132, we had a tailwind with us again today. We had a fast and uneventful ride along very nicely paved highway with rolling hills. We came across Café Luna in New Carlisle for a mid-morning break. I could barely believe it when we arrived at Bonaventure, my final destination, around 2 pm. I cycled 944 km over 11 days of biking.

Leslie, Emma, Sheila, Danielle, and Kyle
Bonaventure

I checked into Motel du Grand-Pré and we had lunch in my room before saying our goodbyes. The rest of the group continued biking another 40 km to New Richmond.

Meg arrives in New Richmond

Days 14-15 - The tip of Gaspé

Day 14 - distance: 116 km (Sainte-Anne-des-Monts to Grande Vallée)

Riders: Danielle, Emma, Kyle, Leslie, Meghan, and Sheila

I think we were all a bit anxious for what was to come, so we awoke at 6 am and got going on our bikes by 7:45 am. The first 60 km of riding was pure joy. We had sun, a tail wind, excellent road conditions and hardly any traffic. We stopped for "lunch" (we basically eat constantly so it's probably best not to label meals) around 10:30 am in Mont-Louis. I was touched by the friendly reception we received from locals. One woman stopped to let us know about a market and café, which turned out to be a hidden gem. We bought tomatoes and baguette from the market and everyone had a meal at the cafe. We got back on our bikes and started climbing once we were 85 km into our ride... and we basically continued climbing for the next 30 km to our final destination in Grande Vallée at 4 pm-ish (elevation maps coming soon).

Many of us agree it was our most beautiful campsite to date. Sheila and I braved the cold water and took a dip in the St Lawrence. It was basically an ice bath followed by a "hot stone massage" using the rocks on the beach. As if the day wasn't magical enough, we saw a whale swimming close to shore at dusk. We made a camp fire and barely stayed awake until 9 pm. For many of us, this was our most memorable and favourite day of cycling.

Grande Vallée

Leslie and Sheila enjoying dinner

Day 15 - distance: 75 km (Grande Vallée to L'Anse-au-Griffon)

Riders: Danielle, Emma, Kyle, Leslie, Meghan, and Sheila

We got another early start since today we had the greatest elevation gain of the whole trip. There is no question, the climbs are tough, but for every uphill there is a downhill and we are hitting some impressive max speeds! We are also starting to get pretty accurate at gauging the percentage of the hills. The highlight was a downhill rated 15% where most of us reached our max speed for the entire bike trip. It started raining for the last 10 min of our bike ride, but we treated ourselves to a night in a motel and stayed warm and dry. Danielle, Kyle, Leslie, Meghan, Sheila, and Victor took a drive out to Parc Formillon and saw seals, while I stayed at a café to do some blogging.

Sheila, Leslie, Danielle, Kyle, Emma, and Meghan ready to set out

Kyle, Meg, Danielle and Sheila riding in the early morning

Guarding l'Anse

l'Anse au Griffon