Monday, 07 August 2006

Baie Johan Beetz to Havre Saint Pierre (Quebec)

The wind eased off in the evening, but by the morning it was tugging impatiently at the tent again. The sun put in it's brightest appearance of the day to rouse me from the tent. The mosquitoes here were quite aggressive so I didn't hang around long to load up the bike, and set off to do battle with the wind again at 7:30. It was only about 60 km to Havre Saint Pierre, but with the wind I figured it would probably take me at least4 hours - 4 trying and boring hours. There was nowhere nice to stop en route, and the road was pretty dull. There were a few new plants that I hadn't seen before, but that didn't occupy me for 4 hours. I don't know if I would have felt different without the wind but I was miserable simply through boredom...

In some sections straight into the wind I was reduced to 12 km/h or less. The rear derailleur was better after it's service, but still not shifting gear cleanly. As I finally approached Havre Saint Pierre (and it was 4 hours) there was one section of road where I had the wind nearly behind me, which was a huge relief as by now I was feeling quite tired. It's amazing how much extra it takes out of you cycling into the wind - I guess it's like cycling uphill for hours on end.

As I cycled into Havre Saint Pierre the cloud thickened up and it turned quite cold; it was only a matter of time before the rain started. It was spitting as I cycled through the town in search of the Accueil Touristique, and started to rain more heavily while I was there. I had already thought to stay the night in Havre Saint Pierre so that I could perhaps do some internet and see if there was a bike shop, the rain was the final clincher.

I'm embarrassed to admit that in the bike shop they thought that the problem with the derailleur was that it was simply dirty and after he soaked it in oil it was better still, but still not shifting correctly; my French was not up to explaining this, and I figured that if it was just dirty then I'd be able to adjust it myself. Obviously I'm a bit stingy with my use of oil - when it's difficult to find in a small container that you have to carry...

I did some food shopping (and bought far too much I think) and then went to a little fast-food restaurant that had internet available. The only place in town. With the arrival of the rain the wind had died (Die wind, die!) and I was again thinking of cycling on a bit further, but in the end decided to stay in the Municipal campsite in Havre Saint Pierre ($20, showers free) which was in quite a nice spot by the beach. (In hindsight I wish I had carried on to Longue Pointe de Mingan, which was much nicer.)

By the evening the cloud began to break up, the sun peeked through, and it turned into a pink tinged, calm sunset.

Distance: 76.4 km
Cycling time: 5:03
Total distance: 5458.3 km