I didn’t get up to a lot today, which was great. I spent the day at Ewan and Aimee’s house, poring over spreadsheets and maps as I planned out the final weeks of my trip. I’d been concerned that I’d been signing myself up for more than I can chew as I head towards Newfoundland, as I’d calculated the rough distance between cities by bicycle, but I knew the real distance would prove longer. That’s been happening the whole time, but as my end-of-trip deadline approaches I need to be more certain of what I’m up against. So I spent time plotting the rest of the route to get accurate numbers, and the good news is that I can make it if I stick to an average of 150 km/day. That’s exactly the average I’ve kept up to now, so I’m going to proceed as scheduled, though I still reserve the right to take the short way across Newfoundland if I get behind schedule.
I’ve been having a wonderful time visiting with Ewan and Aimee and their kids. We first met them on a Halifax Bike Week ride in 2009, where we both showed up on tandems and obviously had to become friends. We did. Though they moved to Quebec City in 2011, we still kept in touch, making sure to visit each other when we can. Aimee’s mom was also visiting while I was there, so it was a full house of fun and friendly people. We went out for drinks on Sunday night, spent lots of time on their deck, and then Aimee’s mom treated us to dinner at le Cheval Blanc, where (as suggested by Twitter) I finally celebrated my arrival in Quebec with poutine. C’est bon.
Today’s distance: 0 km
Cumulative distance: 6165 km
