Today was a lot better of a day. First, we got to sleep in an hour, second it was a lot shorter, third, there wasn't quite as much wind. At the end of yesterday's ride I was very much done with the wind, and was worried when I heard today could have a crosswind.
We got to sleep in this morning an hour because we only had 84km and we weren't allowed in the next camp until after 2pm. This was a huge blessing as a good rainfall came down at the time we normally get up. This would have meant getting packed up and eating breakfast in the rain which wouldn't be fun. When we had to get up it was overcast but NOT RAINING!!! In fact, even though it was cool and overcast all day, it never rained. Isn't God great, He always takes care of us and is always blessing us in many ways. I was a lot more rested this morning after going to bed on time and sleeping in (kinda... I was up around the usual time but dozed off and on until I heard people starting to get up). We were in the road around 8:30 and made pretty good time. We didn't stop for too many pictures or sights, a few homes here and there. The wind wasn't too bad this morning, more refreshing than anything but it had started to pick up after the first rest stop. We stopped at the 40 km mark by Trois-Pistoles and got some more hygiene essentials and then stopped at Tim Hortons for WiFi and lunch. Bonita joined us at this point. After about an hour there we rode again and the wind had definitely picked up. Fortunately we kept winding back and forth on this road which gave us relief, from a head crosswind to a tail crosswind. This was nice as it still provided a challenge but was not tough. We arrived in camp mid afternoon and are the Parc National du Bic. I actually don't know what time because time really doesn't matter on this trip, other than that breakfast is usually at 6:30am and dinner is usually at 5:30pm. We set up camp and showered. It was four quarters for 4 minutes of shower time. We've had that a lot on this trip so i am really good at taking short showers. It helped that I cut a foot of hair off before the trip, less hair to wash 😀. We had pizza for dinner, and after two slices I was stuffed! This pizza had like 5 layers of meat on it plus a thick layer of cheese, and the crust was almost 2 inches thick (really pouffy). They were huge!!! After dinner I had some quiet time while one group of people played Dave's game (a card game introduced by a cyclist at the beginning of the trip) in a recreation room and a larger group sitting by the campfire to keep the swarms of Mosquitos at bay. As I set up my tent and my mattress which has a very slow leak (bum is on the ground in the morning) and stuff my sleeping bag's bag full of clothes to use as a pillow (as I've done all trip) I am reminded of all those who sleep on the ground every night and have no pillows; of those who dong know where there next meal is coming from. This causes me to be very grateful for all I do have. At 9pm we set up our tarp in the dark because there is a good chance of rain tonight. It is now dark by 8:30-8:45.
Note, please pray for Brigitte, she fell off her bike today and bruised her ribs. Please pray that they heal fast. Thank God that it was nothing worse, she still finished the days ride. Merci et Bon Nuit!
83.8km
4h 10min
20.9km/h
399m elevation
10 DAYS until we are DONE!!!!! Only 8 more riding days!!!!