Day 65: Douglastown to Chandler

Yesterday after writing my blog post, I fried two eggs and heated up a slice of bread. Along with a cup of coffee, that was my breakfast for the day.

After packing up my things, I said goodbye to Nadine. Jean-Marc was working in his office already so I didn’t want to disturb him.

I followed Route 132 along the coast. It was mainly flat until I got closer to Percé, where I had to climb up a mountain. The downhill was marked as a 17% grade, the steepest decline I’ve encountered on my trip so far. My max speed was clocked at 47.5 mph, a new personal record.

There were some constructions on the road as well. At one point, the construction zone was an uphill climb. I was going so slow on a bicycle that the cars on the other side started to come at me. Luckily, we had just enough space to pass each other and there were no large vehicles at that time.

Talking about large vehicles, there are still huge 18 wheelers around here, along with many RVs. Gaspesie is very popular destination around this time of the year.

When I came down the steep hill to Percé, I walked to the dock and took some photographs of Percé Rock and Île Bonaventure, a large island nearby. Then I had a lobster sandwich with fries at Resto du Village. I hung out at the boardwalk for a while and went up to a lookout tower to get a better view of Percé and the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

It was early afternoon and I didn’t feel like spending the rest of the day in Percé so I rode on. After riding about 30 more miles and with some rest stops, I arrived in Chandler.

I was looking to stealth camp and saw a playground beside a school. I thought about camping there, but I would be spotted by the neighbors across the street. Luckily, someone was outside so I asked her if I can camp in the playground. Her English wasn’t good so she went to get her neighbor. A man came out and said that he doesn’t think I can camp there because I don’t have permission. I guess I’m bad at stealth camping if I had to ask for permission. I ended up going to Camping Du Parc du Bourg de Pabos, a paid campground just outside of the town.

The campground cashier charged me an astonishing CA$46, or about $34, for a tent spot. That’s the highest price I’ve paid for camping, but I had no choice. I ended up telling myself that in life you win some and you lose some.

I took a shower in the community building before I went to my camp spot. I chose the one by the beach, which was a good choice because I could hear the waves as I fell asleep.

This morning, I awoke around 6:30, my usual time. After packing my things, I went to the community building to write my blog post, but it was locked.

I cycled back into town and had breakfast at Tim Hortons. Surprisingly, there wasn’t a single wall outlet at the place so I couldn’t charge my phone. I decided to cycle back to the campground community building since I’ll be going that way anyway, and write up this blog post and charge my phone.

Today, I don’t know how far I will cycle. Maybe I’ll ride only 40 miles or so to New Carlisle since I had ridden over 60 miles yesterday.

The church in Saint-Georges-de-Malbaie

On the flat road

Percé Rock from afar

A beautiful day for a bike ride

The view at a rest stop

17% grade downhill!

Île Bonaventure from Percé

Percé Rock

Downtown Percé from the dock

Overview of Percé from a lookout tower

The bike trail in Chandler has information about its paper mill industry.

Sculptures on the bike trail

Camp spot with a view of the water

Good morning!