July 23, 2017, Day 63, Degelis, Quebec to Grand Falls, New Brunswick. 107km

My sleeping bag got its first real test last night. It was cold when we camped last night; the temperature was in the single digits. Before we left on this trip I bought a Hotcore bag that claimed to be good to minus 21 degrees Celcius. That should be good enough for summer in Canada, I thought. Actually, I was mostly concerned about getting across the Rockies. The weather there, especially in May and early June can be so unpredictable. We’ve done the MS bike ride many times in June and have endured everything from rain, hail, sleet, snow, electrical storms, extreme cold, blasting heat and on two occasions, really beautiful conditions. So I wanted to be prepared. Most nights thus far, that I’ve slept in the liner on top of the bag but last night I cosied right into it and it was great! Charlie slept well too. 

Setting up camp is always easier than tearing it down in the morning. Just one of the many reasons why I’m not a raving camping enthusiast. We got it done though. Fortunately it was dry during the night and the condensation dried rapidly in the sunshine.  

Our destination today was Grand Falls, or, in French, Grand Sault, New Brunswick, about 100km away. Now that we’re nearing our destination we are allowing ourselves a little more time to relax. No more 130km days, I hope. Still we have to be in Sackville, NB by this Friday as the Sackville Tribune wants to interview the legendary Charlie Hunter, former Dean of Students. Charlie says they must be short of newsworthy stories and it will be right up there with the articles about who’s playing bridge with who.

Beautiful ride again today. We continued on the Petit Temis towards Edmunston, NB.  Once again it was on gravel roads but it was easy. Being a former rail line, the maximum grade was 4%. The route finished at Edmunston and from there we were on highway 144, which is part of the Transcanada bike trail. Some hills but generally really nice shoulders. There are signs that indicate we are on River Valley Scenic Drive, and this is where they grow fiddlehead ferns.  

We reached two milestones today! One was crossing from Quebec into New Brunswick and the other was that the odometer recorded 6000km today! We go by Charlie’s odometer because my old one went kaput in Salmon Arm and I had to replace it. I never did add on the km I’d already done from Sooke to Salmon Arm. We celebrated with a Cliff bar and a banana!  

After lunch, which we ate under a shady tree on the front lawn of an absentee homeowner, it was an easy ride to Grand Falls. We went down to check them out and were surprised at how very ungrand Grand Falls is. Then we saw the sign that explains how the falls, wild and powerful in the spring are diminished later in the  summer, the flow diverted to a power plant nearby. 

Coffee please! I’m presently getting my fix while Charlie is talking to his brother Jol and our sister-in-law, Maura. Their oldest son, Matt, would like to join us for part of the ride near Sackville, NB. Matt is amazing! He was born with Down Syndrome but he has evolved into a super athlete. He has competed in swimming competitions in the Paraolympics and Special Olympics in different parts of the world. Nova Scotia newspapers regularly feature stories about Matt and he was once on Rick Mercer, showing him, (Rick), how to do push-ups. He runs, cross-country skis and is presently preparing for a triathlon. Matt lives in a group home now, his parents helping to promote his independence as much as possible, while still supporting him and his athletic pursuits. Really, Matt is the man he is because of his parents. They have been there for him but they have encouraged him to go out and live! Oh, and he also holds down 2 or 3 jobs! Way to go Matt!!!! You are a champion and we really hope to ride with you!

Charlie has his hopes on a restaurant called the “Big Stop.” He says it’s not quality food but it’s known for quantity, and that’s right up his alley. So, unfortunately we have to go backwards a bit to get to it. He thinks he should have fish and chips in each of the Atlantic Provinces. And we are now in an Atlantic province! Amazing!