Matapédia to Pointe-Verte, New Brunswick
On the road by 7:55. Five minutes later it was 9:00. That is how long it took us to ride out of Quebec and into New Brunswick and another time zone. So we are now in our 7th province!
Today's ride took us through the last of the Appalachian Mountains as we continued to catch glimpses of the Gaspé Peninsula across Chaleur Bay part of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. As we rode through Dalhousie we were treated to one of the steepest climbs of our entire trip, a 13% grade, that even our 'young legged friend' found difficult.
We rode along Hwy 134, the coastal highway, and enjoyed our views of the beginning of the Atlantic Ocean. We kept catching glimpses of this huge smoke stack 'spewing' god only knows what, out of it. It turned out to be a power plant located at Belledune. We suspect it is a 'coal fired' plant. Belledune is also the home of a massive zinc smelter that is either shut down for repairs or is being 'dismantled', we could not decide which. Not much activity and nothing coming from it's 'smoke stacks'. That's okay as there really was enough 'nasty stuff' coming out of the power plant to go around!!!
We are camping at Pointe-Verte in the Cedar Cove Campground. Once again we lucked out in today's ride as the forecast was for afternoon rains which did not materialize until we had just set up our tents and 'our trusty tarp' over the picnic table. (I know Neil, now I am praising the stupid thing!!!)
Daily Distance = 109.16 km. Time on the bikes = 5 hours 55 minutes. Average Speed = 18.42 km. Maximum Speed = 64.36 km. Wildlife Sightings = Merlins, Ruby Throated Hummingbirds.
Kevin = 3, Sue = 0, Eric = 1.
