Following is the unfiltered writing from my trip journal.

Saturday, 8/19/23 10:27 a.m. Matapedia

We rode about 16 miles along the Riviere Restigouch. Pleasant riding; easy, long uphills, headwind but not bad, light traffic, shoulders not always great but road is good. Temp is perfect, clouds clearing.

We’re at a lovely rest stop on the Matapedia River across from the town.

5:38 p.m. Causapscal 56 miles.

As so often happens, we changed our plans, The campground before Ste. Florence didn’t look like much and it was too early to stop. The general store in town had limited provisions. The campground in town was nice enough but nothing special. And it was only 2:30. What would we do all afternoon?

The campground owner was very helpful. First she told us we could stay in a pret-a-camp for a thousand dollars – Oops! – she meant a hundred. She told us there was a nice campground a couple miles past Causapscal. I said she was giving away business. She said it was owned by her cousin. It had a pool. We took off, but stopped to check out an inn along the way, in town. I thought it was too expensive – $135. Rob didn’t. He said it’s probably only $100 American. So here we are. It was $160 with tax.

Sunday 8/20/23 (breakfast)

Time to fill. We only have about 25 miles to ride today. And it’s raining. Not heavily, but still.

I’m reading a great book. Could just read all day.

Crepes with petit fruit, whipped cream, and maple syrup. Delicious.

11:43 Amqui

Thirteen leisurely miles brought us to Amqui. (Rob says, “Not leisurely – we had several hills we had to climb.”) The route took us through a park where we’ve stopped for lunch.

Not raining but cloudy. It could rain. We’ll see what Amqui has to offer.

5:57 p.m.

Amqui had not much to offer. But we did get soft-serve ice cream cones – Rob’s with dark chocolate mint, mine with dark chocolate.

Then on to Val Brilliant for a total of 25 miles. We arrived at the campground/marina on Lake Matapedia around 2:00 with plenty of time for a swim (the water was cold) and a round of mini-golf. (Rob won but I got a hole in one.) Who cares what’s for dinner when we’ve already had delicious treats and we have such a beautiful camping spot? The local grocery store had cooked spaghetti with meat sauce and cole slaw. A red pepper topped off the meal – not as good as last night’s but the ambience was superb.

Tomorrow will be about 40 miles. The hills begin. 22 miles today.

Monday 8/21 8:35 am.

Staying at campgrounds like the one last night is why I love to camp.

We woke up this morning to rain and wind. The rain stopped but not the wind. It would be a headwind day of riding.

Too windy to start the stove so we ate a cold breakfast in the campground lounge.

On the road at 7:00, we rode ~8mph into the wind, but the riding was not unpleasant. We were off the highway, riding through farm country, passing fields of crops and hay bales, people out early picking blueberries.

With no cafe or diner on the horizon, we’re stopped at a gas station in Sayabac(?). Split a ham and cheese sandwich and got hot water for tea (they didn’t sell any). A few M&Ms to top it off should take us another 10 or 15 miles.

I finished my book last night. Now what?

5:15 p.m.

40 miles to St. Flavie. We’re staying at a B&B/art gallery/restaurant called Centre d’Art Marcel Gagnon.

Enjoying sitting outside watching the tide come in. The riding was challenging w/a headwind but the hill climbs weren’t too bad.

I just asked Rob, “What did we ride through today?” His reply, “Not much – hay fields.” I guess you could say the riding was unremarkable. I think we were just focused on tackling the headwind. But we’ve had worse.

Arrived at the hotel around 2:00. Time to look at the artwork, shower, watch the tide come in while eating sandwiches and strawberries (YUM!), nap, check our itinerary for tomorrow.

Tuesday 8/22/23 12:09 pm

Despite the traffic noise outside our window, I slept well. $150 included a full breakfast – bacon, eggs, toast, homefries, fruit. With a view of the water, just as last night.

With only 34 miles today we weren’t in a rush to leave, only got on the road around 10. After a long patch of road construction and 15 miles, we found a beautiful rest area on the water. And I had a choice of books – in English – in a little free library.

9:30 p.m.

Another day of not sticking to the original plan. We arrived in Matane around 2 and I wanted to keep going. The campground we’d picked out wasn’t very nice and the town seemed like mostly strip malls. I found a youth hostel 10 miles further where we could camp. Rob wanted to find a motel but couldn’t find any place w/a room available. We did this while staked out at a Tim Horton’s in Matane.

I won. The hostel is great. Beautiful spot on the water. Clean, modern. Only drawback was smelling and seeing all the good food the other guests were cooking.

Great riding today. Mostly flat w/a tailwind. 48 miles.

Wed. 8/23/23 8:00 am.

We had a beautiful camping spot last night. Only drawback was neighbors who talked long into the night. Every time I started falling asleep, her lovely laugh woke me up.

These days we take a more leisurely approach to our bike tours. With fewer miles to cover, we linger over breakfast. This morning it’s crepes again, at the hostel cafe.

10:00 p.m. 43 miles

With a tail wind all day we mastered half a dozen climbs quite handily.

Stopped at a rest area in Les Mechens then through Cap Chat, a little town with a handful of hotels and restaurants but nowhere we cared to stop. We did see several kite sailers.

On to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts where we found a motel with a lovely setting on the water. After snacking, relaxing, and showers, we walked over a mile to the grocery store (along the water) then over a mile to dinner. I had seafood crepes and Rob had seafood lasagne. We shared an appetizer of sea scallops (3) in a maple syrup glaze – YUM!

Thur. 8/24/23 10:17 am

Loving this ride so far. The hills are fun challenges – always the end in sight and plentiful views of the rugged coastline. I’m never feeling exhausted when we stop at the end of the day.

Cooked oatmeal for breakfast outside our room.

We stopped at a little outdoor cafe at the side of the road. I had a chai latte and Rob had hot chocolate. We enjoyed the free donuts given to cyclists.

9:30 pm 57 miles Madeleine Center Hotel du Rocher

Once again we changed plans mid-day. The riding was way easier than we anticipated – long, flat, fast stretches along the water’s edge and hills that were certainly manageable. We arrived at our planned destination – Mont-Saint-Pierre – around 1:00. Not much to the town and I wasn’t ready to stop. Rob said his legs were tired but I wouldn’t hear it. He was keeping up just fine.

After lunch and ice cream – mine was maple syrup and Rob’s was oreo – we took off for Madeleine Center in spite of all the hills indicated on the Map My Ride elevation profile. It was wrong. We had a beautiful fast ride with one long climb at the end. Stopped at the Hotel du Rocher. Weather that is perfect for cycling was too cold to camp.

Dinner was not extraordinary. I tried poutine w/shrimp. No need to try that again. But the meal didn’t break the bank.

Tomorrow we should ride as far as we can. Rain coming Saturday – all day.

Woman at rest stop exclaiming about the beautiful rock formations: “We don’t have to go to the Rockies anymore.”

Then she asked, “Do you have a car following you?” I couldn’t resist this reply even though it was a bit snippy. “Would we be carrying all this shit if we did?”

Friday 8/25/23 10:12 a.m., outside Grand Vallée

It looks like we’re not going to take the bus. Just tackled the hills to Grand Vallée – even a 13% grade. We can do this. We’re not too proud to walk.

4:53 p.m St. Yvon 31 miles

Arrived around 2:00 and Rob felt it would be a struggle to try to tackle more hills. With rain in the forecast we didnt want to camp so we checked into a tired motel – no amenities, not real sign out front – $119 – more than last night.

Riding was certainly challenging – 13%, 10%, 8% graded hills. Fortunately only one 13% and that was at the beginning. Now they’re shorter, but they keep coming.

Had an early “dinner” at a snack bar at the municipal park – hot dogs, grilled cheese, ice cream sandwiches, and Bud Light.

Saturday 8/26/23 10:17 am L’Anse aux Vallée

Lots of hills to start the day. We went down one that was marked 15%.

Rob doesn’t have the energy he had yesterday but I’m hoping he’ll push through it.

Stopped at an info center w/hot water for tea and covered picnic tables.

Rain came down hard as we came down the last hill into town but it stopped. Wind hasn’t been bad and only that one bit of rain. Hopefully it will hold.

8:22 pm 41 miles

Camping at de Rosiers campground in Forillon Nat’l Park. What’s not to love about Canada’s national parks? A beautiful shelter, enclosed w/sink for washing dishes, showers, picnic tables, wood burning stove complete w/firewood. It wasn’t raining much when we arrived but the shelter was exactly what we needed and far better than I’d anticipated.

Plenty of hills until we got to L’Anse-au-Griffin where we arrived just as the rain began in earnest.

Stopped at a wonderful restaurant for a late lunch – shrimp roll w/salad then chocolate dessert w/plenty of hot tea. Absolutely delicious.

The last 10 miles to our campground were just plain fun. Flat and fast.

No significant wind but needed to keep watching out for fissures in the road.

Sunday 8/27/23

51 miles to somewhere past Douglastown at a golf club. We were aiming for the campground across the street but it wasn’t very nice and Rob saw a sign that said rooms (and camping) available at this golf resort. $89 for a room and it’s very nice, with a little deck where we were able to cook dinner.

Good riding today. Headwind or tailwind as we changed direction. A few hills – one worth walking up.

Stopped at a museum in Gaspé where we learned about the history of the area.

Monday 8/28/23 25 miles to Percé

The riding today was a great collage of cruising and hills, head and tailwinds, good and bad road conditions w/a stretch of gravel and sandy beach thrown in for good measure. The last 5 miles were very hilly with a 17% downhill stretch into Percé.

After finding our campground, eating lunch, setting up, and getting showers, we had a pleasant afteroon. Ice cream, boat ride, and expensive dinner – lobster, scallops, and salmon.

Tuesday 8/29/23 49 miles

After 12 miles of easy riding we’re stopped at a rest area outside Saiinte-Therese-de-Gaspé. Talked to a fellow who was waiting for his semi to be loaded w/fish. Said a lot of fish – esp. big lobsters – go from Canada to New England.

Stopped for lunch in Chandler -shrimp roll, fries, and beer. Then a hard 22 miles to Port Daniel Gascon – hills and a headwind and traffic. Found a nice little family-run motel and called it quits for the day.

Happy w/ramen for dinner – along w/tomatoes and cuke.

Wednesday 8/30/23 51 miles to New Richmond

Got up early and on the road by 7:00 because rain was in the forecast. Stopped for a 2nd breakfast after 15 miles. After another 15 miles stopped in Bonaventure for bathroom and Acadian museum. Stopped for lunch after 13 more miles and to evaluate. Rob was ready to stop – traffic was unnerving. But the miles mostly flew by. It started raining w/7 miles to go and we stopped for ice cream with 2 miles left.

Enjoyed a Warm Showers stay – very relaxing.

Bruce’s delicious spaghetti sauce:

• 5 cloves garlic
• salt & pepper
• 2 T maple syrup
• red wine
• canned tomato chunks
• hot chili peppers

Thursday 8/31/23 61 miles back to Campbellton, NB

Today was a hard push. Cold & windy, lots of traffic. Stopped in New Carlyle for tea and a treat and at Nat’l Park for lunch.