Petit Rocher to Saint-Louis-du-Kent Day 62

A beautiful sunrise at the campground in Petit Rocher. I have seen more sunrises this summer than I have ever seen in my whole life.

Our route took us through a proud Acadian village called Allardville. Most of the houses were adorned with
the colors. About mid August there is a great celebration not far from here celebrating the Acadian history.
The bridge over the Miramichi River. It was extremely windy at the top.


The view from the top of the bridge overlooking Chatham.

We had a very cold start to the day. The early morning temperature of about 5 C meant that many of us were cold through the night and got dressed in may layers. The wind blew all night long. We had a beautiful sunrise and we were promised sunny skies and a tailwind.

One of the cyclists had been speaking to a local resident who is also a long distance cyclist. He said he never bikes through Bathurst as the road is not very good. That was all we needed to hear. Terri and I took a slight alternate route. Our cue sheet indicated Route 134 but we chose to do the first 40km on Highway 11. It was noisy with all the trucks but the shoulder was great and the surfaces smooth. It ended up adding about 5km to our ride but it was worth it. We got back on Route 134 in time to see a nice little diner in Allardville where we joined others for a hot breakfast. We are travelling through Acadian country and the homes reflected their loyalty. Acadians are displaced French people who took up residency in New Brunswick when they left Quebec.

We continued on Route 134 until Miramichi. The area is pretty desolate with a beautiful forested landscape. The road was good but the wind seemed to hold us back somewhat. It gusted all around us with the occasional push on our backs. So much for sailing for the day.

We had some errands to run in Miramichi and once we were finished we went to Tim's for a bite to eat. We had a climb out of the city and once we were on the highway again we had a pleasant surprise. A tailwind made the last 50km go really well. Waiting for us at the entrance to our camp for the night and rest day was my sister Paula and her husband Brian.

Our camp is right next to the Kouchibouguac National Park. Terri and I will visit with Paula and Brian who will take us around the park and into town. We each had 3 ears of corn last night, homemade hamburgers and brownies. Tonight we are having STEAK and NEW POTATOES. Yes it is all about the food.

In discussions with a few of the other cyclists it seems that several are looking forward to the end of the trip.
Whether it is a psychological awareness that we are almost finished or we are just naturally tiring from the day in and day out cycling. We have 9 days of cycling left and have travelled 6691 km.

The rest day in Saint-Louis-de-Kent has been relaxing. Sleeping in till 7:30/8:00 is a treat. The sky was filled with stars last night so we were encouraged that the weather would be good today. It would have been a great day for cycling as the blue sky and cooler temperatures stayed with us for the day. I am working on the blog sitting in the screen room where Paula and Brian are camped. Well not camped really, they have a beautiful trailer with an indoor loo. We took a drive to Miramichi to run a couple of errands and stopped in at the trailer dealership. Brian is looking to upgrade. After we get our things organized for tomorrow's ride we will work on supper preparations.

This is the last rest day before the end of the ride but we hope to have access to the internet where we are staying between here and the end. We both have one cooking day left. Wish us good weather and safe rides to the end.