Tag archives for Quebec

Day 12: Montreal to Ottawa

By Chris Published July 28, 2012

This morning we got up bright and early in Montreal and decided to make our way to Ottawa. I had an interview lined up with CBC for 1pm, and we weren’t sure how long it would take us to get to Ottawa, so we hit the road.

We arrived in Ottawa at just after 11, and were luckily able to check in already. I showered up and got ready for my interview with CBC Ottawa and also for my meeting with a representative from the Ottawa MS Society.

Maggie from CBC and Chris from the Ottawa MS Society Chapter

I met Chris from the Ottawa MS Society today, and we got to talk about my ride and the awareness that it’s raising. Thank’s for coming down!

The CBC interview was with Maggie, who is planning on doing something called OYOW (One Year One World), where she will visit 52 countries for a week at a time, over a one year time span. Good luck on your amazing adventure!

Upon completing the interview we headed downtown to Parliament Hill…

The bikes at Parliament Hill… I swear that’s where they are!

Here are the bikes at Parliament Hill… Yeah, you can’t tell that’s where they are, but I swear that’s where they are. We couldn’t get them into a better position for a photo 🙁

Shot from Parliament Hill

The grounds were neatly kept, and the weather was perfect for a few photos.

Monst at Parliament Hill

I didn’t really want to go to Parliament Hill (kidding), but good ol’ Monst basically begged us to take him there. Little fella had a great time, and posed nicely for this picture in front of the main tower.

The weather was hot, and we had a nice ride in to Ottawa. Tomorrow is likely going to be the same… so please send sunscreen!

Today we passed over the 4500km mark, which means that the ride is 1/3 done… wow, already?!

Here are today’s points of interest:

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Day 11: Quebec City to Montreal

By Chris Published July 27, 2012

After finishing breakfast at the B&B right in old Quebec we headed off for Montreal. Luckily there weren’t any incidents like the t-bag falling off, etc, like yesterday, and we made it here in one piece.

Downtown Montreal

We lucked out and our hotel room was on the 18th floor, so we had a great view of the downtown area. Speaking of the downtown area, holy smokes was it ever an adventure getting to the hotel from the highway! Dad almost got run off the road by a guy in a truck, and then the tunnels and off ramps were an absolute rodeo. Luckily the little Garmin kept us going in the right direction and we made it to the hotel without too much screwing around.

Station des Sports Montreal

After checking in we went downstairs and found a sports bar where we had a bite to eat and a few beers. This place was dirt cheap, and had the biggest patio area that I’ve ever seen. They apparently love their patios out here!

No pictures of the bikes today as we pretty much just gunned it from Quebec City to Montreal, with only one stopover at a truck stop for a little food. Here are today’s points of interest:

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Day 10: Fredericton to Quebec City

By Chris Published July 26, 2012

After sawing some sweet logs at the Knights Inn in Fredericton, we enjoyed the complimentary continental breakfast and gave our thanks to the GM, Norm Boudreau who gave us a complimentary room, and also a cash donation! Thanks so much!

Norm recommended we take a quick dip into Hartland…

Hartland and the world’s longest covered bridge

Sure enough we came across the world’s longest covered bridge! I wasn’t exactly sure what I was going to see when Norm described it to us, but it was definitely cool. Bikes sounded awesome in there as well!

Just south of Edmundston my t-bag decided to fall off the bake of my bike! The bag is pretty much destroyed, but luckily all my clothes inside are fine. I managed to get some bungee cords at a gas station to jimmy it back together… unfortunately the the once solid leather bag is now a flaccid piece of garbage.

Somewhere between the t-bag debacle and Edmundston we had a mountie pass us on the highway and wave. When she got just in front of me she blipped the lights for a bit, then continued on her way before we saw her pull over a speeder a short distance down the highway. I’m thinking that she recognized what we were doing and that was her way of saying hi and good job!

We stopped off at a rest stop, and met an Acadian from New Brunswick who happened to have a tire pressure gauge with him. My rear tire had been wearing far too quickly, so we decided to test the pressure to see what was up… I had a shocking 55psi in my rear when the max is only supposed to be 41! I have no idea how that happened as I’ve never put any air into the tires, and when the bikes arrived at Mile 1 in Newfoundland they said that the pressures were all good… maybe just kicking the tires isn’t the best test hey fellas? Anyway, the guy made me laugh when he put the gauge up and shouted “oh &@%#!” when he saw the result!

After letting out almost 15psi of pressure the ride was far smoother, and we had a great ride in to Quebec City.

Quebec City

Quebec City is beautiful, and seems very european. I love the endless patios along Grande Allée Est where our B&B is, and the fortification around the city is something to behold. I think I remember seeing that Quebec City is/was the only fortified city in North America? Am I right?

Rue Saint Louis

Rue Saint Louis

Quebec City, more specifically Grande AllĂ©e Est is the most happening place that we’ve come across on the trip so far. The non stop patios and clubs, with all kinds of drunken shenanigans (super troopers anyone?) on the sidewalks is definitely a sight to be seen. Man I wish I had more time here! Oh well, definitely coming back!

At dinner tonight we met a few people from Ontario, and another table from Vancouver, who saw our shirts and thanked us for what we were doing.

Here are the points of interest from today’s ride:

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Route Planning: Not-So-Rough Draft #2

By Chris Published May 12, 2012

Ok I’ve tweaked the route quite a bit from what I had last time, and I think that this will work out better. Going to be in the bigger cities on nights when hopefully we can get together with the local MS Society chapters. The distance is about 500km shorter on this plan, but it still covers off everything nicely. The links below will bring up google maps with the route. Google broke it into 3 parts…

Total Distance: 11,940km

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Route Planning: Rough Draft #1

By Chris Published April 26, 2012

I’ve thrown together the first rough draft of the route, which will likely be modified as I look at it more. Right now I’ve just picked a basic route, and I’ll tweak it after discussing with dad and a few others who’s input I value. As the route stands, its 12136km give or take a bit. Anyway, have a look if you have some time, and let me know if you have any suggestions! Continue reading »

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