Day 54: 63.1 km

June 29, 2012

Saint barthelemy - Tois Rivière

Other than my birthday celebration in Saskatoon, this was the best day of the trip. Without a doubt. And possibly of my life. I'll start from the beginning.

Today I woke up and saw another bike with gear!!!! I didn't recognize this bike, it wasn't any of the Quebec group, nor was it Annie, Thomas, or the Buddhist monk. I am really starting to recognize people's gear, bikes, tents, etc. this mystery biker was taking forever to get up, so I packed really slowly and completely wasted time, which was extremely creepy, in order to see who it was. Finally he got up. His name is Dave and he is biking from St. John's to Torino! We chatted for a long time. He had quite the experience. When he was just biking around, exploring this giant party in Quebec city a drunk driver (I assume) ran a red light and hit him!! He took 4 days off and had separated his shoulder, broken his nose and jaw, had over 30 stitches, and had a black eye!!! I am so impressed that he continued on! That would have been enough for me, he is such a trooper!! But it did made me want to avoid Quebec city.

After chatting with him for a while I left to have breakfast 30 km down the road in Louiseville. I get there and I am sitting trying to translate, via the Internet, what each meal is. Then I see "des hollandaise" or something like it and I was so excited! Eggs benedict!? My favorite! So I tried to say it to my lovely waitress, and that's what I ordered. When it came, I realized that is was definitely NOT eggs Benedict. It was the most incredible breakfast ever! The hash browns had bacon, sausage, ham, and hollandaise sauce with cheese melted On top. Thank you language barrier!!! It was amazing!!! Which really made me realize, the language barrier is half the fun of this province. It allowed me to try new things without me knowing! And I love the sound of French, I can just sit and listen without having any idea what is going on.

From Louiseville it was a pretty short stretch to Tois Rivière. I stopped for an icecream at DQ, and I have to say, it is so hilarious when I try to speak french when the person listening does speak english. It's kind of awkward! I was on the phone with mom and she complained about all my texting and biking. For the record, I slow right down, or stop for every text. And lots of times I just call the person back. So I promised mom I wouldn't text and bike. 5 minutes later, I am looking up across the street at these huge beautiful houses, and I crash. Well I didn't actually fall, but my bike did. My tire drifted while I was looking up and brushed the big curb. I hopped off my bike, but it crashed onto the sidewalk. All of the sudden I had two old French women all over me asking me questions in french. I thought they were asking if I was ok and I replied "oui oui" and then I heard a guy yell from across the street "they are asking if your hurt." there's my understanding French for you. " oh! No no no all good!" I quickly corrected. How embarrassing! It was too funny! That there is why i avoid cities haha. I right away called mom back and we agreed that texting may be safer than me getting distracted by houses. At least with texting I'm looking down and in my peripherals I can see the curb and the line! Too funny!

A couple other short funny things happened today. I raced a tractor down the highway. I won, cause he had to turn. I also had a fly go up my nostril! I sat there laughing for a long time at the word nostril.

I biked on, and had a delicious gelato break outside of Tois rivière. Then I pulled into town. Tois rivière is a decently big city, but not too much so. I felt like every restaurant had patios and everyone was outside enjoying the sun. 

 

St. Laurent river

It turns out the bridge I wanted to take to avoid Quebec city does not allow bikes! So Quebec city it is. As I am biking through Tois rivière, I pass a lot of construction. I heard my tube blow, but I was on a narrow bridge walking lane with another biker going fast behind me. I saw a gas station up ahead and decided I'd ride it out and park in there because I couldn't stop on the bridge. As I am crossing the street to get to the gas station, this guy, who I assumed was crazy, passes me and points at me out his window. He was driving alone and I was so confused? Maybe it was because of my tire? I pull into the gas station and he was there! He came running up to chat. His name is Sam and he speaks a little bit of English, but we do struggle to communicate with some things. But he is very patient and wants to learn. He just got back from Europe from a bike trip with his friend and next summer wants to bike down to Mexico! He has a b.o.b too! And his friend had the same bike as me! We chatted for a while and then we threw my bike in his truck and I was calling it a day! I figured if a guy shows me pictures of his tour bike all loaded up, and has a kayak in the back of his truck, he's a legit guy. But don't worry, I sent dad his license plate picture as well. Just in case. 

We had so much fun!!!! It turns out that my tire blew, not my tube! So I needed a whole new tire. He took me to his friends store and I got a really good one for a deal. Then we hopped in his all-terrain vehicle and ripped around for hours!!!!! I had so much fun!!!! I couldn't stop smiling! But I couldn't smile because bugs and dirt would get in my mouth! What a dilemma! It was incredible! And bumpy! And muddy! And fast! We took dirt roads through the forests down to the beach and then swam in the river. It felt so nice! 

 

Then we went back and showered and he made me dinner. Very French, with wine and cheese. 

I'm camping out in his parents back yard for the night and even though they don't speak English (his mom does a little) they are so nice and hospitable. Then, when I thought the day couldn't get any more fun, it turns out that there was a giant festival in town. 

 So Sam, his friend Kevin (who toured Europe with him and is planning his own trip across Canada), Jessie, and Jessie's boyfriend all went to this concert! And they were all such amazing people! So nice and including! 

And it was insane how much Kevin looked like a guy back in Saskatoon, Rory. Jessie looked like a girl I went to school with, (Lindsay) and Jessie's boyfriend (who is nameless because I forget... But a really nice guy) looks like Luke Monette, all friends back in Saskatoon. It felt like I was in Saskatoon! Except the music and language was in French. It was such a good concert. 

It is incredible how French is their provincial language, so this was a provincial band, and they were so popular. So many people of all ages were there, dancing and singing to everything. Then we all walked around down town and then Jessie and her boyfriend went home and Kevin, Sam and I went and hung out by the river and they showed me pictures of their bike tour through Europe, and the pictures of them skiing in the French alps! It looked like so much fun! Then I showed them all of my pictures.

It was nice to sleep in someone's yard. Even though I didn't know them, it felt very safe. I guess it was late, and I had my drowsy allergy pills, but I fell asleep instantly. I felt very safe. Such an amazing day!! And so incredibly random! One moment I'm pushing 130 km in the hot sun missing mom and dad and back home, and the next I'm cruising around in a buggie, swimming in a river, and at a concert with new friends.