Day 104 Sayabec-Campbellton
Today started out fantastic. After a great sleep and a very nice breakfast I was ready to get a jump on the 140km’s I have planned for the day.
That’s where my plans changed. I ended up having a great conversation with the Auberge hosts who it turns out are actually French and our looking after the place for a while (something I’m considering doing) about travelling and my trip.
I eventually did make it to the road at a little after 8:30am which was fine by me. Turns out that the day was great, the road was really fast and I was settling a nice pace waiting for the hills to break my legs. That didn’t happen and I keep a strong pace throughout the day, passing through a lot of construction in Quebec.
After an impromtu stop at the ice cream shop (where else was I going to get my water filled up?) I powered through the last stretch to Campbellton in New Brunswick.
The Bridge to New Brunswick
Au Revior Quebec it’s been a blast! Hello New Brunswick and welcome my 7th province and The Maritimes. I’m looking forward to what you have to show me.
The unfortunate fact is that even though I blasted through the day averaging a strong 28km an hours I still lost out and got smacked in the face with another time change. Here I though I got here at 3:00pm but in fact it was 4pm. Time zones suck!
It’s OK though a pesky little time change is not enough to ruin my mood after a great day of riding through the mountains. Tommorrow is another ambitious day to Bathurst as I round the northern edge of New Brunswick. I’m looking forward to travelling the Maritimes and so far it is quite nice to be able to read the signs again.
Time to rest…
Welcome to New Brunswick! Another corner of this country I’m familiar with. If you’re headed to Bathurst tomorrow i can hook you up with a beach front cottage stay for the night if needed. Some pretty interesting people to boot Email if you want details.
As for a sandwich sandwich recommendation, try the lobster rolls, nothing the best lobster roll i’ve ever had is 50 K out of town off the beaten track track, but the local ones are just as good. Even McD’s version is serviceable. (horror) If you want lobsters straight off, go to Mcleans
All in all i recommend doing the detour through the miramaci web worth it
Cheers
Hi Mike,
Thanks! I’m actually in Bathurst right now but wouldn’t be opposed to staying another day if you got the hook up. Let me know. Haven’t had a lobster roll yet that sounds fantastic! I’ll have to keep my eyes peeled.
I was thinking of splitting through the middle from Bathurst to Miramichi. What is the detour you speak of?
Hope all is well
I’m off to Miramichi today. Know of anything I should check out?
Thanks 🙂
Apologies for not following up. Came down with the dreaded summer cold on sat which resulted in a grumpy, miserable state and having kept off grid for my and everyone else’s safety.
New brunswick is an odd place, the people are wonderful but there’ s a genuine beaten up nature to it. Jobs are scarce as most of the local industries ( Pulp, mining and fishing) have disappeared in the recent past. Doubly so with the oil price collapse as a lot of the locals had switched to earning good money in Alberta working the oilsands.
Once you get into the Mirimichi, you’re into a whole different set of politics, you”re into the Mi’kmaq area, a population that has been shuffled around and persecuted for hundreds of years.
Sorry for the history lesson but if the folks in New brunswick seem off, they’ve probably got a good reason.
I see your headed to PEI and not doing the traditional 1 day pass through, for the sake of pure canadiana, visit Green Gable’s (no, I can’t explain the boatloads of Japanese tourists) and Charlottetown to see the related musical.
Regards and safe riding,
Miek
…and if you’re not doing the traditional 1 day pass through..
Thanks Mike and hope your feeling better.
I noticed the same thing that you mentioned, everybody was very nice but beaten down. I learned a bit about the Mi’kmaq while I was in Quebec, definitely some history there. It is important to remember history both the good and the bad.
PEI has been great so far, it’s pretty sparse so I’ve been able to spend time with myself and ride some of the back roads. Heading to Nova Scotia tomorrow.
K