En Route to GC41 - Maine to Montreal

My breakfast view!

After my conversation with Melody I took some time and sorted some things out: contacted Helen and Andrew and made arrangements for tonight, contacted Mark and made arrangements for Friday night and rearranged some items in the luggage.  About this time the two senior folk who met me upon my arrival returned from the evening at the campground.  They are "day camping" with a group of friends - made necessary as a result of health issues.  They sold their RV a few years ago, but they still come here each summer to day camp with some lifelong friends!  The man (I am sorry I didn't get either of their names) turned 88 on August the 8th.  We wished each other a Happy Birthday and when he found out I was a minister he informed me that there were a number of clergy in his family, Baptism and Nazarenes.  Melody asked what happened to him and his response was a smile and shrugging his shoulders.  Turns out he would in the electrical engineering field and had some great stories to tell about his first computer and installing the first fibre optic lines in the country!  By the time out visit ended I had finished the bottle Kennebec River Summer Ale and I was ready for bed.

I woke to a shower passing by and drank my coffee and ate my MAINE MADE blueberry muffin to another shower... but the sun is poking through and the showers are heading north east so I should be fine!  And even if I do get a little wet... a wet day on the bike is better than a dry day in the office any time!!

Leaving the Inn with a hug to Melody and a warm farewell to the couple who were "day camping" I rode off into a shower of rain that ended in about 10 minutes...  and settled into an awesome ride!!

Maine #27 or the Arnold Trail led me toward the USA-Canadian border, but not before some beautiful twists and turns and some beautiful lakeside scenery!

Crossing into Canada I passed through Gaignard and began to follow the Route des Sommets... Oh, I thought... this should be good!  Boy was I wrong.  What a bore!

Within 20 minutes I wanted off this route! Below is a picture from the turn off just before I entered back into the USA... the road was as straight as an arrow and simply ran along the side of the hills.  No turns.  No twists.  No fun.  So, off we go... back to the land of "Live Free or Die".

Entering through US Customs for the second time in 30 minutes must raise your name in some kind of database - because this time the Officer actually made me open one of my side cases...!!  The hassle (not really) was worth it... again a road to enjoy: twists and turns and changes in elevation and the sun was shining!!!

US #3 is a road that I must travel again... and imagine my surprise when I reached Colebrook and turned onto US #3 westbound to discover that I had travelled this section before - back in June as I left Burlington, VT!  It was good then and it was good this time too!

Just past East Charleston I left US #3 and turned right onto Hwy 105... a new road!  At Derby Center I go on US #5 and cross over Interstate 91 and kept working my way west.  It was a fine day!!

At Richford I crossed back into Canada and explained my travels to the Officer on the Canadian side... he had a laugh and sent me on my way!  Just past Sutton I ran into my first Quebec construction detour sign that served only to confuse and frustrate... it pointed nowhere.  Thanks to the GPS and my willingness to travel some gravel roads I made it around the bridge that led to nowhere and saw a few interesting things along the way.

A round barn... some more gravel roads... and lots of agricultural land.  I thought briefly of stopping at the prison in Cowansville and visting the Chaplain there... but decided against it and by 2:30PM was on Autoroute #10 heading to Montreal.
I am glad I didn't dally!! Traffic on the Champlain Bridge was pretty thick!  Construction everywhere - but that's normal for Montreal!!


By 3:30PM I was sitting in Helen's back yard enjoying Andrew's last beer!!  Soon after Andrew came home from work and after a couple of hours of chatting we heading into Montreal for supper ending up at Hurley's - and ancient Irish Pub downtown!  We shared a great meal and then came home and had a slice fo the cake that Helen had bought for me this afternoon while I was having my hair cut!

Thanks Helen and Andrew and Clancy for the opportunity to celebrate my birthday with you!!  It was a grand end to a fine day!!

Tomorrow I will go into Andrew's warehouse to see some of his wood flooring then to a job where his crew is installing a rare hardwood in a home and then its off to Ottawa where I will spend the night with Anna's brother and family...

On the Sabbath Road...

Up way too early!  Looked at my watch... it said 5:30AM - ah that's good I'm rested!  Got up and made coffee and looked at the stove... it said 4:30AM.  Ah what the heck... I'm up.  I'll sleep tonight!!

Here are screen shots of the days tracks and elevation profile.

Today's track is in green...  447KM with an average moving speed of 67 km/h

Ascent 3626 m   Descent 3964 m