RAIN DAY 26, DAY 29

HELLO FROM BECANCOUR. This is Cres reporting. The humans are out to eat so its my chance. You just get cleaned and they take you out in the rain, again, and again and again. What chance does a bike have? Rain every day but 3 means a bath every day, that is not right, a bath every day, yuk. We are not talking about a nice warm summer shower folks, this driving , cool rain with a north wind as Rube and I are trying to head north east. These guys are plain sily, stay in bed you fools, what is so important that Rube and I have to be cold, wet and risking our gears in these conditions.
We keep looking for that guy who picks the animals 2 by 2 , the 40 days and nights of rain part is on schedule. No sign of the arc either but lots of great farms, vegetables, sod farms. perfetly flat and wonderfullt manicured. Interesting to see the sods being cut. Hundreds of acres of potatoes, all in flower. Fields of corn, soya beans but not mant cattle.
Todat we were routed out at 0510 and underway in early light. Leaving Lachute on highway 158 heading east. The plan was to remain well north of Montreal, and although the traffic became hectic the routs worked well, All through this area there are large and costly homes and estates. Rolling hills and forests but we were south of the Laurentians. Some road construction caused difficulties. The detour posted took us on divided multilane highways and Rube and I said nuts to that. We found our own way around the mess. The official detour added 30 km, ours added 500 meters. Rube is willing to sell the secret for a modest sum.
The original plan was to stay on the north shore and cross at Quebec city, however at Sorel we chose to take a ferry and procede along the south shore on highway 132. This allowed us to avoid all the lights and noise and potholes of Trois Riviers, and Quebec city. Highway 132 is rough in areas with narrow or no paved shoulders but the traffic is reasonable. We lunched in Nicolet, a spacious and prosperous looking town and then moved on to Becanour. Daily run 214 km, average speed 26.3 kmand 8 hours plus spinning our wheels. Great accomodations, with spacious rooms, very new and clean. A separate room for Rube and I, and another bath coming our way. Gravel and grease on brake pads are dangerous, and sandy chains break when stresed, No way we can avoid it.
Next you should hear about what the well dressed biker wears. Sure we get scrubbed and buffed daily. They show up looking like there was not another living creature in the world to see them. Biking attire requires special shoes with cleats that lock onto our pedals. Most bikers wear special shorts with padding to make the narrow saddle more comfortable, and a snug licra top to reduce wind resistance. These tops have 3 pockets in tha back for all manner of goodies. Biking gloves to pad the hands and reduce ulnar nerve damage and a good fitting helmet complets the basics. These should be colorful to make it easy for drivers to see and avoid us.
Our clowns do nothing to enhance Rube and I. No thought to c olors, mix and match becomes mix and no match. Them long johns come out, strpped knee high socks, rain jackets, work gloves ( rather than the elegant biking goves without fingers)and rubber overboots. Next we will be dealing with Welingtons. Our union tells us we have no choice, so we don't tell our friends where we are going in hopes that no one we know will see us. Really, Janet took such pity on us she gave them some great tops. Thanks Janet, now if we can just shake the blue long underwear and knee highs.
Rube and I are really carrying this trip. We continue to do all the work. Valerie and Jenny provide all the support. I expect we will pull this off by July 12 as planned. Kind of a neat thought. Finding our way across about 7500 km and "enjoying " it all. Yup, we'll just go one spin at a time, and soak up the country ( terrible pun but best I could do). Looking forward to Quebec City, Rube wants to race the horse drawn tourist carriages. What a juvenile. Say we saw a neat recumbent bike with a carriage in Lachute. It had 2 paying customers aboard and looked good. Maybe a wekend career.
If the Lord is wiling and the creek don't rise see you soon. That is becoming the most appropriate title for this journey.
Specia; god night to the randchildrn and happy birthday Abby. RRM