A collection

Day 20: TMC: 1297 miles. Nigadoo to Chatham: 62 miles. Conditions: Warm.

Well...today was interesting to say the least. We left fairly early and got 8 miles under our belt before breakfast. We got lost trying to find the 134 S and had to cut back a few miles. Making our (again) already late day, later. The ride was hilly, up and down and up and down and very boring and unscenic. We connected onto the main highway and continued on the busy road with minimal shoulder and saw a moose!! We got to Chatham and gave it in for the day...our original plan was to make it to Richibucto which is 30 miles past. But by the time we stopped for lunch it was already 5, so we just got a room in a hotel here.

Tip of the Day: Keep on high alert for moose! They're dangerous.


Day 19: TMC: 1235 miles. Matapedia to Nigadoo: 78 miles. Conditions: Gross.

We left Matapedio and went down the same hill as the last night and set out across a bridge into New Brunswick! We were so relieved to get out of french speaking territory, however, we were shorty faced with the fact that...it's still a lot of french. We get into the first Tim Hortons we see and tried to order a breakfast sandwich but the women wouldn't let us because it was too late. We were super confused. APPARENTLY we went through another time change by crossing a bridge. No one told us...

For the first 15 or so miles of our day it was absolutely pouring! We got drenched! Trucks even sprayed us as they passed by, it really wasnt a very happy start to a new province. But the weather cleared up and it got pretty out just in time for us to recognize the smell of the ocean again! The atlantic ocean!!

We called our hotel to confirm our reservation but they got all confused and said they would call us back but we didn't hear the phone ring. So as we're getting lost in Petite Roche we call the motel again and they tell us they made a mistake and booked us for August 30th and they actually reserved us at another motel down the street. Mama bear was pissed.

Tip of the Day: Ensure your waterproof clothes are...well...waterproof.


Day 18: TMC: 1157 miles. Saint fleuris to Matapedia: 100 miles (on the dot). Conditions: Hot w/ clouds.

Today our day started out on a bad note, we went for breakfast in our hotel but it ended up taking about an hour so we got a super late start to our day. The day was rather uneventful up until after lunchtime. There weren't many hills and we managed to stay away from the main stream of traffic because we were led onto a smaller, country road. After lunch on a lumpy road where you cant get any speed because its so uneven I was following my mom when I saw a bug flying at my face, I ducked and apparently it went into my helmet. I felt a sting, got my helmet off to see a struggling wasp. Fail number 1.

Later on, we saw our first cycling tourist of the day. We were riding through what seemed to be mountains, very reminicsent of B.C. Going down a long hill I noticed something very odd. So I stopped and a massive nose bleed started. And.. of course.. my mom didn't notice me stop, so she kept on going down the hill and I continued my walk until she looked back and found me. Fail number 2.

After about 97 miles we were outside a little motel debating wether or not to go in even though we had a reservation "somewhere else" but we condinued on into the town of Matapedia only to realize that was the hotel we had our reservation in. So we went back up the hill, feeling like fools, and checked in. Fail number 3.

I was scared going into our motel because we were 1 mile away from 100 on my odometer, but as we went into the gravel parking lot it changed. Whew.``

Tip of the Day: Listen to our tips (especially the last one) wet wipes = handy.