Days 59 and 60: Saint-Ulric to Matane, then to Sainte-Anne-des-Monts

Yesterday morning, I made myself a cup of tea then walked to Marché Richelieu, a local grocery store in Saint-Ulric, to buy a Philly cheesesteak sandwich and a bag of ketchup flavored potato chips. The “Philly cheesesteak” wasn’t a Philly cheesesteak since it had slices of pickles in it with roast beef and sliced cheese. Definitely not the original. I ate the whole thing and the entire bag of chips as my brunch.

I left Sebastien’s house around 11:30 AM since it started to rain. I didn’t have to be in Matane until 1 PM so I had plenty of time to ride 10 miles or so. I’ve been averaging about 12 miles per hour if I don’t take rest breaks.

As I cycled on the road, the light rain made me wet and the splashes of water coming from the passing cars made the ride feel worse. As I got near Matane I took a bike trail to avoid Route 132 since Sebastien had warned me that part of the road has narrow shoulders and can be dangerous. I arrived in Matane via Îles de Matane, or the Matane islands.

It was still before 1 PM. I decided to go to a bakery called Boulangerie Toujours Dimanche in downtown Matane to get a cup of macchiato and a slice of cake. Just as I was leaving, a man and his partner started chatting with me and asked me where I was going with my bicycle. By now, I’m used to telling the usual story about where I started, where I’m going, and how long it’ll take. Like most interested people, they seemed impressed by what I’m doing.

At 1 PM, I arrived outside of my Warmshowers host’s apartment building. It turned out that the apartment number is written before the street address number, which is opposite than what I’m used to in US. Luckily, my host Michel came out and met me. I had ridden a total of only 11.1 miles from Saint-Ulric.

Michel lives in a small apartment so I stored my panniers in the trunk of his car and my bike in the shed. Michel doesn’t have internet so I only brought a few things inside his apartment and didn’t bring in my laptop to write my blog post.

Michel and I chatted about politics and our bike touring experiences. I’m still surprised that I didn’t meet a Canadian Trumper yet. They must be rare like Big Foot. I think I have to go to Alberta in order to meet them.

Michel told me that he started bike touring in 1986 and has done it every single summer except for Covid. He’s bike toured in 42 US states already! We shared some Warmshowers stories. I must confess that if it wasn’t for hosts on Warmshowers and Couchsurfing I don’t think I would have bike toured due to the high cost of lodging. I’m very grateful for these websites and the hosts on these platforms.

Outside was still rainy and foggy, but I decided to walk to the Super C grocery store to buy some snacks and grab dinner somewhere.

At the store, I bought a bag of trail mix and a bag of gummy bears. When I came out I realized I was hungry for the rotisserie chicken I just saw. So I went back to Super C and bought it. By the time I came out again, I realized that I wanted to buy a drink, but I was too lazy to go back to the store. I ended up eating 3/4 of the rotisserie chicken at a picnic table. I couldn’t finish the rest since my mouth was so dry from chewing the chicken. I really wish I had bought a drink. I didn’t want to waste the 1/4 of chicken meat so I tossed them on the grass nearby. Not too long after, a crow came and ate it. I was glad the meat didn’t go to waste.

I walked back to Michel’s apartment via the promenade by the Matane River and crossed the dam on the bridge.

Soon after I came back, Michel had to go to the gym. I listened to some music while charging my phone. At 9:30 PM, Michel came back and we chatted a bit more while having some late night snacks. I went to bed around 10:30 PM.

This morning, I woke up a little after 6. Michel made some coffee and I had a bowl of cereal, along with a banana. Afterward, I gathered my things, bid farewell to Michel, and got on the road at 7:15 AM.

The hills are more common now that I’m in Gaspesie. I was able to ride up all the hills I encountered today and saw some magnificent sceneries. The shoulder on the road was wide and smooth for the most part so I didn’t have to riding too much on the gravel.

I tried to not ride on Route 132 if there was a local road to my left. I took three of them and each one brought me into a small village where the main attraction in town was a church. I guess Catholicism must be big around here due to the number of churches and the names of the villages. 

As I rode mainly on Route 132, I was looking for a restaurant to eat lunch, but I didn’t see many of them, and the ones I saw weren’t open yet. After riding about 45 miles I saw a restaurant called Valmont Plein Air in the town of Cap-Chat. I had the best poke bowl I’ve ever had. The chef was very generous with the shrimps. The portions of vegetables, fruits, and rice were just right. And everything tasted so fresh!

After lunch, I rode about 5 more miles to Caroline’s farm on the west side of Sainte-Anne-des-Monts. Caroline is a friend of Élise, the Warmshowers host I stayed with in Montreal. I contacted Élise a couple of days before and she was able to ask Caroline to host me. I got lucky again!

I made good time today, having ridden 50.1 miles and arrived at 12:15 PM. Caroline was working in the field with her helper Tommy when I arrived. She showed me where I can pitch my tent for the night and where to take a shower. I’ll be cooking and camping in the back of the farm tonight.

I don’t have any hosts for the next several days so I’ll be camping. I don’t think I will have internet so my next blog post will be in a few days.

Riding toward Matane on a local road

The industrial part of Matane

The quiet bike trail going into Matane

Downtown Matane

Église de Saint-Jérôme-de-Matane

A ship on land will never sail.

The dam in Matane

My Warmshowers host, Michel

Beautiful day riding on Route 132 in Gaspesie

Are these sculptures?

A small waterfall

The church in Les Méchins

Wish I had a house by the shore.

A long hill to climb, but at least it has a wide shoulder

The scenery is just beautiful.

The church in Cap-Chat

The most delicious poke bowl is at Valmont Plein Air in Cap-Chat.

The view of Route 132 and St. Lawrence River from the road to Caroline's farm

An army of chickens at the farm

Tommy and Caroline