I awoke at around 5:00 AM to a bright sunny sky and promptly fell back to sleep. At 6:30 I tried it again and this time it stuck. The bike was still there under its cover, always a good sight, just outside the night manager’s window, Shower, repack the cases, load the bike and I'm on my way. I figure I’ll get some breakfast a ways out. The first half hour or so is pretty boring, except that it feels good to be roaring along on an unknown road. I pass a Toyota after about 10 minutes. It turns out this is the only vehicle I see going either way for about 1/2 hour.
After about a half hour of mostly straight, mostly flat, total pine trees, the road climbs and twists its way up another headland along the ocean, climbing past rock outcroppings and nice waterfalls emerging about 150 feet above the water, with meadows dropping off steeply to bluffs? over the water. There is a road crew up ahead so I slow way down and take a moment to glance down at the water. Wouldn’t you know it? There is all its glory is a whale, very near the shore, about 40-50 feet long with a small dorsal fin. I decide to stop and watch a bit. The whale surfaces again and again. As I scan across the wider water I notice several other whales. I watch them for about ten minutes then hit the road.
After a while the “50 KM ahead” signs announce my arrival at a village – Sheldrake, a small fishing village in another beautiful setting. There is a little gas station/market so I decide to fill up and find some breakfast. I also reach into the topcase for the heated jacket as it is bloody cold – sunny but cold – a reminder that I am pretty far north. The store has a “limited menu” so I settle for a big chunk of “carrot-pineapple” cake, which I eat sitting outside watching the ocean. It is pretty good. Then it’s back on the bike, winding my way through the village and out into the great unknown.
Now, the terrain is flat again, but in a totally surreal environment. We have the ubiquitous exposed granite but basically it is flat with very sparse vegetation, scrubby pines and moss. This continues for miles, as I am cruising by at 80+ mph, which despite all the undulations bumps and frost heaves, feels entirely secure. A mile or so of straight, then a bend then another straight. All I can think is that I’m on location for another Lord of the Rings movie – or video game. This scenery is punctuated by occasional river crossings and the realization that on my right side, the ocean is a few hundred yards away and visible. To the left (north), this scenery goes to the horizon, where some mysterious hills rise. I didn't take too many pictures here because I can’t figure out how to show the scenerey in a remotely interesting photo, and I don’t feel like stopping on those soft (very soft) looking shoulders. Later I realize that I could have parked my bike in the middle of the road, gone for a ten minute walk, and no one would have passed by.
I notice the terrain is changing again. The granite undulations are gone and now it’s really flat. Looks like a giant bog, to the north as far as the eye can see. Small ponds (puddles) of standing water are everywhere, a few scrubby pines, but basically a big bog. Again –very surreal – especially as one flies by. …. For miles and miles …. And miles.
I’ve got my I Pod (I broke down and bought one for this trip) going with sound attenuating earphones. I put about 60 songs in a playlist for the trip and in this section of the ride the I-Pod randomly selects the following:
Thunderstruck AC/DC
LA Woman Doors
Baby Please Don’t Go Amboy Dukes
Don’t Fear The Reaper Blue Oyster Cult
Hush Deep Purple
Free Bird Skynnard
Juke Box Hero Foreigner
Sympathy for the Devil Stones
Well, that’s a pretty good moment to be in: zipping along at 80-90 mph on a crystal clear day, in a surreal world with your heated jacket oozing BTUs and your I-pod serving up some nice riding music - and absolutely no traffic - at all. And the Multistrada is eating up the very less than perfect road surface.
Then reality sets in – A Moose warning sign -- for 15Kms, so I back it down to 65-70 and press on. A sign indicates Havre St Pierre to the right so I head in to check it out and top up the tank. You ride through this gaudy wooden gate – sort of lighthouse themed, with some message about 150 years of history. The gate, intended I am sure to attract tourists and show civic pride, gives the impression of a stockade. Beyond the gate is vaguely reminiscent of Mad Max – real modern day wild west. Nothing specific – just a feeling. I gas up and leave.
Back on the road, it more of the same, except now the road is lined with Larch trees, evergreens with feathery light green needles – for miles. Then, back into the Shield – granite, riding near the water, a few cute fishing villages, some bridges over some more awesome rivers --- then NATASHQUAN!!! The name has an almost mythical quality after 3 days and about 900 miles. In reality, it is a nice little fishing village in a pretty setting. There are some pretty decent tourist services – two or three restaurants, a few B&Bs and the nice inn I am staying at. Air is cool and very clear and crisp, almost fall like. I check in, then go to find some lunch. Behind the (nice) general store, there is some kind of food place – not a exactly a restaurant. Inside there is a counter and an older woman making what look like a cross between seafood pizzas and pot pies. One of these with lobster shrimp and scallops, about twelve inches in diameter, is $10 Cdn. I sort of understand that it will take her about 30 minutes to bake, so I go for a walk along the beach out to these old fishing shacks – picturesque. When I return she has the “pizza” and invites me to the ice cream parlor section, which overlooks the water - to eat. It’s delicious and the view is perfect!
After lunch I ride out to the true “end of the road” on the banks of the Natashquan River, a big time river that, at the moment, creates a barrier to further easterly highway development. I later learn that the Canadians have started building a road easterly from the villages on the other side of the river – and the Canadians version of the “bridge to nowhere” is in the works. At the moment, these villages are not linked to the rest of Quebec except by a ferry that arrives weekly. This is the reason I saw only two 18 wheelers on the entire 260 mile ride today.
That’s all for now.
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