Day 108 L'Islet-sur-Mer, QC - Two Far 2019 - Coasting Along to the Maritimes - CycleBlaze

August 10, 2019

Day 108 L'Islet-sur-Mer, QC

Getting tired of getting wet

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We left this morning with high hopes of staying dry.  The rain chances were less than 40% for our route.

Morning on the St. Lawrence
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Just a couple of miles into the ride, the sky ahead started looking pretty dark, so we stopped and put the rain covers on our panniers and I got my rain jacket.  (Kerry was going to be tough and not use his jacket.)  Soon, we could see it raining ahead.

Rain to the southeast
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But, blue to the southwest, our direction!
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We were soon feeling much better about our chances of missing the rain.  Whenever we ride from dark clouds into clearing skies, I can hear our friend John P. saying "Ride toward the blue."  We manged to ride toward the blue until the last fifteen miles.

We saw this beautiful field of sunflowers.
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To get perspective on their size, here is a man taking some close up photos.
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We rode happily on until about fifteen miles before our destination.  It started to sprinkle, then we had a light rain, then a  little more rain for about seven miles.  We got to a town and Kerry spotted a home improvement store.  He pulled the bike into their lumber storage area.  It was a great rain shelter, but of course the rain stopped less than a minute after we pulled in.  We took a few minutes to dry off, then got back on the road.  

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There was a motorcycle museum on the route Kerry wanted to see.  I don't have much interest in motorcycles, but it was a well done museum.  They had all the bright shiny bikes you would expect,

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including this 1972 model, which Kerry said is the big brother to the one he had in 1978.

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I liked that they showed some of the bikes in the condition in which the museum got them.  They had a before and after of this model.   It was interesting to look at them side by side.

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They exhibited these in the environment in which they were found.

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And, they had a few that were wrapped for shipping.  Some guy was importing these Italian motorcycles to sell and the museum decided to display them lie this because they were the only known ones left in this condition.  You really can't see anything of the bike!

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And I couldn't miss showing you the best thing  - a steam powered bicycle from 1903.

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It was just a few quick miles from the museum to our auberge in L'Islet-sur-Mer.  It's a nice old inn.  I may take some photos of the interior in the morning.  Looking forward to a dry day tomorrow!

Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 4,042 miles (6,505 km)

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Comment on this entry Comment 1
Rich McKayI'm confused by the elevation chart on this ride. Did you two board a submarine at mile 34, and then rapidly surface and disembark at mile 36?
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