Day 38 - Slacktour

I woke up luxuriously late.  The room where I was sleeping is in the basement - so it was not only nice and cool, but dark as well.  I had stirred a bit when Michelle and Dave were getting ready for work and leaving, but I didn't wake up until after 09:00 - and didn't actually wake up and get out of bed until well past 10:00.  I lay there for a while pondering if I should take a day off, or press on to Quebec City.  Trois Rivieres is a nice town, or so I'd heard.  I had just taken a day off in Ottawa however, and even though I'm no longer time pressed, taking days off still makes me kind of antsy.  I can't explain it - I just like to be moving. 

I packed up my stuff and was rolling by 13:00.  The nice thing about short easy days (~135km to QC) is that I can get away with stuff like leaving at 13:00.  I hadn't eaten before I left, so I stopped at a little roadside casse-croute / bar laitier for a poutine and milkshake chocolat.  Since entering the province, I've been trying to speak primarily French - only reverting to English if it's complicated (complicated being relative, of course).  Ordering food, paying for stuff, etc can all be done pretty easily in French unless I need further explanation.  Hell - I'm even getting decent at the "where are you from/where are you going" conversation en Francais.  :p

I ordered a smoked meat poutine, moyenne, and a milkshake chocolat, grand.  The shake wasn't that big but the poutine was massif!  I threw down and polished all but a few lumps of curd (I swear there was more cheese curd and meat in that thing than there were fries), and it was delicious - but it sat like a lump of concrete in my stomach for the next 3.5hrs. 

Back on the bike I was rolling "slowesque" - not exactly crawling along, but not the brisk pace to which I've become accustomed.  I was feeling bloated and thirsty - but drinking was really hard due to how full I was.  I also had a pretty nice head/cross for a good section of the way.  I stopped a couple of times to buy Gatorade (incidentally, Gatorade seems to have a lock on the market in Quebec - I haven`t seen Powerade in any of the small depanneurs) and chatted with a few locals - many of whom had English skills that rivaled my French, and even one or two that made my French seem good by comparison.  I was a little surprised, but I guess in many of the small towns there's simply no need for English. 

I plugged away, just rolling, and the road was pretty flat until maybe 40km out of Quebec.  Then it started to get a little hilly.  Not big hills, but rollers.  I passed the town limits sign at a little after 20:00 and thought that I had beaten my inital estimate of 21:00 by a good margin - but I was still a ways from Old Town.  The airport is pretty far out.  Rolling, rolling, rolling.  I had a decent idea as to where I was going, but when a police car pulled in front of me and stopped at a red light, I figured I'd take the opportunity to verify.

(pointing up the road)
"Excuse, est centre ville dans la rue?"
"Oui.  Ou allez vous?"
"Le Marriott, Courtyard"
"Ah... oui..."
>> very fast conversation with her partner
"Continuez dan la rue est a droit en la boul primiere..."
>> more fast conversation with her partner
>> very fast French (to me) that I didn't get entirely
at this point my eyes must have widened - I didn't say anything or make any gestures
"Do you speak English?"
"Yes"
"Do you have a map?"
"Yes"
"Let's pull over there" (pointing to an empty lot to the right)
In English, she told me that it was very easy in a car but that on a bicycle it was more complicated because I can't take the highway - but she showed me where to go on my map.

I thanked her and she was on her way.  I looked at my map one more time and rolled on.  It was a little more complicated than I had expected as I approached town, but it wan't all that bad.  It was hilly though.  I had forgotten that Quebec City was built as a fortress on a hill, and was expecting to roll down towards the water - like I would in Vancouver, Seattle, Boston, or any other town.  Nope - up some STEEP hills to old town, where the Courtyard sign was shining like a beacon in the night.  I crossed onto the sidewalk for the last two blocks because it looked like I couldn't turn left where I wanted to go, and scared the hell out of some poor girl who saw my lamp and thought a car was on the sidewalk.  Have I mentioned how much I love this light?  It RULES!!!

I checked in (en Francais), put my bike in my room and then went out wandering in search of chocolate milk.  Back in the room I grabbed a shower, downed my milk and then headed out to explore the town.  It was only 22:00, tomorrow is an off day, and this town looks way too cool to be holed up resting in my hotel. 

Stats:

Total Elapsed Time: 8hrs
Actual Ride Time: 6:27
Total Distance: 143.4km
Avg Speed: 22.1kph
Max Speed: 52.4kph


POUTINE!!!!! (that's a 7" or 8" round tray with the poutine piled a good 2.5-3" high)

Close-up: