The Ups and Downs of 10 Degree Nights

Sunrise in
Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan

With my day of sloth behind me, I woke today to another sunny morning – something I definitely don’t take for granted even if it means waking up at 5:00. I have to say I felt really good. I think my day of nothing was good for me. Much like all of my electronics I felt recharged and ready to go again – I certainly didn’t feel that way yesterday.

I would’ve been a lot closer on the tour!

As usual I didn’t know exactly what my plan for the day would be other than at some point I hoped to be in Havre-St-Pierre (a mere 43km down the road). My initial plan was to take the early morning boat tour around a few of the islands. However, that plan got derailed (or perhaps, sank) when I found out the tour was fully booked. Well, at least I think the tour was fully booked. There was a bit of a language barrier at the office.

With the boat tour no longer an option I saw no reason to stay in Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan and decided to get an early start to my ride to Havre-St-Pierre. Before heading out, I had a chat with my new friends from Sept-Îles – which included Edmonde taking my bike for a test ride (I think I’ve got him sold on a road bike, although his cargo bike is pretty cool). We parted company and I was off for Havre-St-Pierre.

Ready to leave
Longue-Pointe-de-Mingan.

I made it about 250m before I ran into someone else who wanted to talk about my travels on a fully loaded bike. Turns out he remembers seeing me a couple days earlier when I was going through that less than pleasant construction zone. We discussed my trip for a bit and I definitely encouraged him on his wish to do a bike tour one day. Once again, company was parted and I was on my way. For real this time.

Bienvenue!

I know I’ve said this before but today was a really easy day. I mean, seriously easy. I stopped twice along the way – not because I was hungry or tired but because I just felt that I should stop at some point. There was a beautiful tailwind pushing me along a generally flat terrain. The hills I did encounter came and went with ease. Did I mention this was an easy day? Google Maps indicated today’s ride should be 2 hours 18 minutes. At no point was I trying to beat that time but I still managed to arrive in Havre-St-Pierre in under two hours. I averaged an effortless 23 km/h on the trip.

With such an early arrival I headed to the Tourist Centre to see what organized activity options I had. There were a few boat tours on offer but the most appealing trips left in the morning so I decided I’d take one of those tomorrow and hope something else would come along for the rest of the day. It did.

View along the way.
Did I mention this was an easy ride?

I was sitting outside the Tourist Centre going through the usual “Is there WiFi here?” routine when I saw a familiar face. The previously referenced cyclo-tourist that I had met briefly outside the Tim Hortons in Port Cartier had also just arrived in Havre-St-Pierre. Good timing! We chatted for a bit. Discussed our trips and our rides into Havre-St-Pierre – both agreeing how easy of a ride it was. And she was kind enough to help with translation when I was trying to book a trip for tomorrow – turns out we’ll be on the same boat, although she’ll be stopping over on a different island for some wilderness camping. We went for a coffee/beer (I had the beer) and then once again parted company. Well, until we met up again at the grocery store. After which we wandered back into town during which time we had a great baleine sighting. The first sighting was about 100m away. By the third sighting it was probably only 20m from shore. Very cool.

Fast-forward a couple of hours later and I’m now back at my campsite and as suggested in my headline, it’s about 10 degrees (how’s that for a long-winded introduction!). As I may have mentioned before, I’m not particularly big on cold weather. Especially in July. However, being the happy-go-lucky guy that I am, I’m looking at the positives of such a temperature. Sure, I can’t feel my toes. Sure, I’m shivering. Sure, I’m literally wearing a toque while I type this. But there is an upside – there isn’t a mosquito to be found. Anywhere!

Today’s Totals:
Distance Travelled: 65.10km
Time on Bike: 3:28:26
Maximum speed: 38.78 km/h
Average speed: 18.72 km/h

As noted earlier, my average speed riding to Havre-St-Pierre was actually 23 km/h but I did some leisurely riding around town which significantly brought down the overall average.