Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Another tiring day to Trois-Pistoles

The wind didn't let up for us today, and was blowing harder than yesterday as we moved down the St. Lawrence.

We had to draft pretty consistently throughout the day to save as much energy as possible. Brian and I, not carrying trailers, rotated the duty of cutting the wind at the front, while the three guys with trailers rotated behind us to get a draft. We've been using the dropdown handlebars pretty frequently, as they allow us to get lower, more out of the wind. The difference is a few kilometres an hour faster, anything to move quicker.

It's a beautiful place even without any sun, riding past fields of all sorts, canola being the most striking crop with it's neon-like yellow colour. On one break, it literally looked like there were waves in the fields, an effect of the winds we encountered. When it's blowing in your face and cold, anything is entertainment.

One funny story: leaving this morning, Pat went into a pharmacy to pick up a few things. Nobody spoke a lick of English and must have wondered what he was doing in there, asking for the following items:

Vaseline, men's Nair (we "need" to shave our legs again), hand sanitizer, and moustache dye (or as Pat asked, "du produit de colorissant pour le moustache"). Absolutely ridiculous. We wonder what people think of us when they see us.

We pushed on today despite the weather, and made it another 115km to Trois-Pistoles. Unfortunately, it's gotten pretty cold, and is now raining on us. Mike upped the ante with dinner tonight, making chicken Caesar salad, complete with impressive homemade garlic bread, and extra spicy Clamato juice to drink. Drawback? Longest preparation time thus far, especially since he had to buy chicken thighs and cut them up to stay on budget. Jon will be last up, having the benefit of seeing all of us go before him before making his meal. Pressure's on.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hang in there !
Paradise in Gaspesia is 116 kilometres away.
Beds, showers and laundry facilities await.
Judy has been very busy in the kitchen (and I've stayed well out of her way) so you'll be well fed.
I'm not sure what else awaits but, having the greatest respect for her energy, I know something is planned.

Wicked Uncle.

Anonymous said...

Patrick...still dying the tache?
Tineke and I will be able to meet up with you somewhere in the Maritimes...we have Garth Daddy working on the plan. We arrive in Nova Scotia on the 28th of July...can't wait.... we heard you are going to Cape Breton...we will be there...whatever it takes to see you guys... onward...almost there... We pounced on Darcy's sister Jess, she will be in Nova Scotia too...I think she goes on the 26th or 27th? Is Darcy going?
bye lots of love Aunt Kerry

Anonymous said...

There was never any mentioned of "time restrictions" in the meal contest as far as I remember so Mike is leading in my book!

Saw you boys on TV last night - it was a terrific interview and really great exposure for your sponsors as they shot the shorts a lot! For those of your readers (mothers especially) who are not Montrealers but want to see that you are all surviving well here is the link http://montreal.ctv.ca/cfcf/news/cfcf#news_23895

Anonymous said...

wooops - that would be shIrts!

Anonymous said...

You've almost made it to Metis!! Way to go guys! I like the sound of the sound of Mikes’s dinner of chicken casear salad!! However, Brian’s dinner of cookies and ice cream sounds pretty dreamy!
Have a great day, your'e almost in Metis where I'm sure you'll have a great stay!!
Ange
xo

Anonymous said...

Glad to see you're close to Metis!

Anonymous said...

For the curious, 'Pistoles' in 'Trois Pistoles' refers to gold coins, not firearms!

Any good golf scores among you today??