Saturday, August 6, 2005

Progress: August 6-7, 2005

Traveled to and documented: LE-6 Legault Point (Grenville CT, Argenteuil, Laurentians, Quebec, CA).

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LE-6 ( map  l  path )
Grenville, Argenteuil, Laurentians, Quebec, CA
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Path: LE-6


YouTube  l  Panorama
LE-6 Legault Point / Pointe-à-Legault
August 6, 2005

 

Had a good early start from Bell's Corners, but as I was bringing extra stuff to leave in Montreal, I was really loaded down. Felt like a pack horse. Plus, I had to get my rear tire replaced because it was seriously warped, affecting my rhythm. Didn’t have time to go to a serious bike shop so I had to settle for Canadian Tire. The technician there didn’t have the right tires in stock, and I was too impatient to wait so he put on a slightly thicker tire. It could be my imagination, but I think the thicker tire affected my speed.

I decided to take the scenic route, taking the shore by the river all the way past the Parliament, Rideau Hall, and the Aviation Museum. All the way to Tenth street in Orleans, I was on a nice paved cycling path with little traffic. Soon I was on the highway, with a very narrow shoulder. There was heavy traffic and the noise was stressing me out. I had planned on taking the ferry to the Quebec side in Thurso, but decided to cross over early and took the Cumberland – Angers-Masson ferry instead. I remembered on my last bike trip to Plaisance, that the Quebec side had a generous shoulder and nice scenery to boot. It was good timing: I cycled down the hill just as the ferry was filling up. On the other side, I stopped at a casse-croûte for a real chicken sandwich, sat on a picnic table and people-watched. An elderly gentleman chatted a bit in French with me. He wanted to know where I was coming from and where I was headed.

After I passed Plaisance the trip became more interesting because it was all new. I had passed through Montebello once before when I was with Randonnée Aventure so it was slightly familiar. It is a quaint little town and I was tempted to stop but kept going. It was a very sunny day and hot. I needed to move and create wind so I could cool off.

Right before I reached Calumet, I stopped at a yard sale. It was then that I realized how sweltering it was. It felt like I was literally melting. I spent $10.00 on a old plastic doll with a satin dress. Turns out it was the Baby Jesus from a crèche. The woman ended up being the owner of the campground I was headed to.



My LE-6 waypoint was also close by: Legault Point/Pointe-à-Legault. I had been cycling beside a railway track for the longest time. On my left was fields or houses, on my right was the track and beside it was la rivière des Outaouais. (On the map it said Lac Dollard des Ormeaux). At an intersection aptly titled Terrasse Legault, I turned right and crossed the tracks to reach a row of small lakeside houses. I would bet most of these houses used to be summer homes which were converted into year-round homes. There was also the occasional monstrosity: huge, garish new constructions. I preferred the small, cottage-type dwellings. I reached a point that seemed to jut out a bit, where there was a road leading to the water to allow boats to dock. On either side were little houses with big decks overlooking the water with plants and flowers all around. The light was shining on the water and it looked so peaceful. I could imagine waking up early in the morning and having coffee on the deck, just soaking up all the beauty. This was one of the few times where I really felt like I was trespassing, so I stayed a bit behind on the road and furtively took my photos in the round. There didn’t seem to be anyone around. If someone would have approached me, I would have explained the nature of my project apologetically.

Soon after, I saw the sign for the campsite (Grenville-sur-la-Rouge) but as I was going at a fast pace, and it was a gravel road, I wiped out on my left side. My hand and leg broke the fall, but I got up all scratched up. The dirt stuck to my sweat so that I reached the reception area looking like a mess. The campsite was unremarkable and if I had had more energy in me, I would have kept going. I had done 108 km on a very hot day and all I could think of was a shower and something to eat. I hurriedly pitched my tent and looked around. I was disappointed. There was a small beach (packed) with a tiny canteen. Apart from that, there were no other activities, not even a restaurant or a corner store. There was nothing within walking distance in the immediate area. I was stuck at the campsite. My bottom was so sore, I could not envision getting back on my bike that night.

I ate a greasy burger at the canteen and drank the sugared water that passed for juice. When I finally got ready for my shower, I had to pay $1.00 for four minutes of water. I was not impressed. The facilities were really cruddy on top of that with mold in the corners and cobwebs in the sinks.

After bugging the guy at the front desk at least three times, he finally took pity on me and lent me some magazines to occupy the long night ahead of me. La Semaine. I took out my flashlight, bought a bag of chips and a pop and enjoyed my guilty pleasure. I told myself it was a way to practice my French. People passing by seemed to be intrigued by the fact that I came in on a bike. A girl told her boyfriend she like my pup tent. He grunted. I received lots of curious glances from my neighbours (a guy with two girls, and a father with his young son) but I was too beat to engage in conversation. I was in bed at 9:00 PM, completely exhausted. I slept like a baby though, and woke with the birds at 6:00 AM. Waking up in the morning, with the tent all glowing orange with the sunrise is one of my favourite things. A true moment of happiness.

I munched on a cracker and decided to pack up and eat later. I wanted to leave that dreaded campground as fast as possible. As I cycled, I noted that the closest campground was a good 30 km away – there’s no way I could have gone further the day before so everything worked out in the end. I was in good spirits as I thought it was to be a shorter day. Little did I know that I was completely wrong. I had a good 130 km to go.

I stopped to eat in Grenville and forced myself to sit there an hour so that I could digest and relax a little with the paper. Everybody seemed to know everybody else – a popular spot for young and old. I liked the mix. There was a young guy who reminded me of my cousin Yves from Hawkesbury. His body posture. I stand like that too. It was the way the guy had his knees locked back so that the calves curved. He was wearing flip-flops and shorts and had the same polite expression Yves had when he was listening to an older person talk. Charming. A long stretch of road had been repaved so I maintained a good speed. I didn’t stop at the Carillon Locks as I had been there before with two Randonnée Aventure cyclists about four years ago.

I called Toni as I neared Saint-Placide, but reached Stefan instead – my new subletter as Vess had moved out. He kindly agreed to wait for me as I did not have the new key. Passing through Kanesatake, I remembered my last trip in that area (LE-9). I took the ferry from Oka to Hudson and made my way home. By Sainte-Anne-de-Bellevue I was losing steam even though I knew I was on the home stretch. The heat had not let off and my legs were started to throb. My lower back was also aching.

I realized that I had not eaten since that morning. It was so hot all I could conceive of was drinking Gatorade. In Pointe-Claire I stopped and ate a kidney bean salad which completely revived me. The rest of the way I raced like a pack of wolves were at my heels. I just wanted to be home. Once I got onto the Lachine canal, I increased my speed clocking an easy 30 km/hour. However, once I passed the Sherbrooke/Marcil intersection I started to slow down. I blew a flat in my rear tire. In the end it was good because the walk home helped decrease my heart rate. I reached home completely burnt out, but happy to be back home with Dag and Toni. Stefan was nice enough to help me carry my bags and bike up the four flights of stairs.

Day 1 - August 6, 2005

 

Time Location Trip Odometer Moving Time Stopped Max Speed Moving Average
8:35
Stop:
10:40
  39.4 km 6:31 4 min 42.7k/h 20.4/h
Arrive:
11:20
Depart: 11:50
Masson-Cumberland Ferry
N 45°31'591"
W 75°24'619"
         
Stop:
1:30
Papineauville
N 45°36'995"
W 75°01'460"
77.8 km 3:50 30 min 182 k/h? 20.2/h
Depart:
1:50
Stop:
2:30
Fassett
N 45°38'638"
W 74°52'123"
91.8 km 4:30 54 min   20.4/h
Depart:
2:40
Stop:
3:25
Pointe-à-Legault
N 45°38'477"
W 74°44'365"
103 km 5:06 1:11   20.2/h

Arrive:
3:50

Campsite
N 45°38'471"
W 74°41'246"
108 km 5:27 1:18   19.8/h

 

Day 2 - August 7, 2005

 

Time Location Trip Odometer Moving Time Stopped Max Speed Moving Average
7:50
Stop:
8:50
Grenville 15.4 km 48 min 12 min 48.7 k/h 18.9/h
Depart:
9:40
Stop:
10:40
Carillon
N 45°33'977"
W 74°22'453"
35.6 km
1:42     20.8/h
Arrive:
12:10
Depart:
12:25
Oka Ferry 66.2 km 3:07 1:12 50.6 k/h 21.2/h
Stop:
1:40
Depart:
2:15
Arrive:
4:00

Beaconsfield

Rear tire flat at Sherbrooke and Marcil

126 km 6:22 1:46 48 k/h 19.8/h

 

Saturday, June 25, 2005

Dear Diary: July 25, 2005


… The neat thing is that the trail I took (Ottawa River Parkway leading to Orléans) was the trail I took 3-4 years ago with the two people from Randonnée Aventure, when we cycled from Ottawa to Montreal.

So I decided to make the trip again for a couple of reasons. First of all, I need to bring my bike back to Montreal and I don’t want to pay the $40 fee to box it on the bus. And second, waypoint LE-6 is on the way. In terms of tracing the Path Map, I need to do the route in order to “connect the dots”. This way I can incorporate the Ottawa trails. Though I have been berating myself for not working very much this summer (on my thesis, on Tongue Rug) things have taken a turn.

… Now that I have the G5, I can actually open very large Photoshop files. So I believe it is now possible to make a to-scale map of Quebec, and have all my paths (in proportions) in the same document. Making the Path Map seems doable now.

Also, I went to the National Gallery on Saturday to see the Renaissance exhibition [Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo and the Renaissance in Florence]. I wasn’t that taken by the show safe for a few gems, but in the permanent collection I found much inspiration. I realized (after seeing some gorgeous plans by Dennis Oppenheim) that the reason the T.R. documentation was stalled was because I was trying to do everything on the computer. I need to get back into drawing, sketches, collage, bricolage. And to do this, I need space.

 

Saturday, June 18, 2005

Progress: June 18-19, 2005

Traveled to and documented: LE-1 Legault Waterway, LE-8 Legault Peninsula, and LE-10 Legault Stream (Plaisance, Papineau, Outaouais, Quebec, CA).

Visit this waypoint

LE-1 ( map  l  path )
Plaisance, Papineau, Outaouais, Quebec, CA
Do you have a story about this placename?
Visit other placenames.

Path: LE-1, LE-8, LE-10


YouTube  l  Panorama
LE-1 Legault Waterway / Cours d'eau Legault
June 18, 2005

DAY 1 - June 18, 2005

Left the house at 8:00 AM and didn’t stop again until I reached Masson-Angers to document a road sign. I had gone straight through for 50 km. I was feeling strong and energized. When I worked for the IBM Software Lab in Kanata, I spent all my weekends acquainting myself with the Ottawa and Gatineau trails instead of working on my thesis like I should have. With all this cycling experience in the Green Belt area, leaving Bell’s Corner was a breeze. I ended up in Quebec on rue Saint-Louis, overlooking the Outaouais. I realized that it was where I went with Pa last summer for the Montgolfières Festival. I remember having really liked the area with its little houses and large yards beside the water. It had character.

After the rush of downtown Gatineau traffic, I took rue Notre-Dame — a quaint, quiet street with rows of old houses. When I reached the highway again (148) there was little traffic and for the most part, I had a wide paved shoulder to bike on. All around me there were fields with cows and horses grazing and on my right were large expanses of wetland. It was nice to see land that was undeveloped and left to the water fowl and fauna. It was like green tongues were licking the river. Far off in the distance I could see the Ontario shore with the occasional steeple.

I stopped at a bank machine and a young man wearing yellow cycling glasses asked me: Comment tu trouves la circulation aujourd’hui? It was nice to meet a fellow cyclist, with the familiar wild gleam in his eye. He was craving the road. I stopped to eat at a casse-croute in Thurso and enjoyed reading a celebrity magazine. (I told myself that if I was improving my French, that it shouldn’t matter what I read.)

I passed Rue Legault on my way to the Parc national de Plaisance. I took a quick look around and went and paid for the campground. I was very impressed with the site. It was basically a long green strip of land that lurched into the Outaouais so that you could see the Quebec shore on one side, and the Ontario shore on the other. There was a lot of bird activity and it was very peaceful. I pitched my tent and ate a bite before setting off to visit two waypoints before night fall. At a crossroads in the park, I startled an animal and I heard a very loud splash. I neared closer and saw a huge beaver. I had never been that close before. I checked my map and went to leave again and I heard another splash. This time the beaver startled me. It sounded like a dog leaping in the water.

 

 

Legault Waterway/Cours d’eau Legault (LE-1) was just a street away, up a hill – Montée Papineau. I passed the cutest little houses, interspersed with old dairy farms. People were mowing their lawns, putting laundry outside to dry and taking care of their properties. It would be amazing to spend a couple of months soaking up the small town life, enjoying the slower pace. As it has often been the case, the river was buried in tall grasses off the road in the field. I could just see a hint of an indentation that suggested its passage. I went down a hill, my feet squishing and sinking in thick mud and came to a sort of foot bridge where water flowed underneath. Because I was so low, I felt like I was surrounded by a sea of green. In the distance I could hear kids crying out to each other on their motorbikes.

I’ve noticed that going back from my destination always seems shorter. Plus it was downhill. I decided since it was still relatively early (3:30), that I would go document Legaults’ Peninsula/Presqu’Ile Legault (LE-8) at the Baie Noire section of the park. This was the smaller tongue that made up the park and it had a few weathered sorry barns on it. I looked in one and fought the urge to scavenge – it looked to be an abandoned workshop. It was in grave disrepair with the roof falling in and grass growing on the inside. It reminded me of the boat house at camp.

On the trails, there were turtle nests everywhere with just the telltale shreds of their eggs remaining. I did not see one turtle. In fact, I did not see anyone at first and thought I was alone on the “almost island”. But at one point, my cell rang and it was Paul, wanting to know what I was doing for Canada Day. As I talked to him, a family cycled by and warned me that the ferry back to the campsite was not functional. (I was unaware that this ferry existed.)

 

YouTube  l  Panorama
LE-8 Legaults’ Peninsula / Presqu'Île des Legaults
June 18, 2005

 

I cycled on anyway, wanting to photograph the tip. It was worth the ride, which in itself was pleasant: pebbly lanes lined with trees with the water on both sides. At the tip there was a small rickety dock, a perfect vantage point. The sky was overcast and threatening to spill itself on the water which was clear but rippling slowly in the breeze.

I arrived back at the camp at around 5:30 and ate supper before setting off for an educational talk on frogs. We learned to discern their calls and then about ten of us piled into a rabaska and hit the water. We visited three small bays filled with lily pads and tried to be silent so that we could document the frog calls. It was a very scientific system. There were children in the boat which hampered our findings. They could not sit still nor could they paddle with rhythm. I nonetheless enjoyed our evening ride.

Jeannette called and then I got a hold of Lucien for a chat and a much needed, good hearty laugh. It was soon dark outside and I had nothing to read (plus the mosquitoes were relentless) so I went to bed early. At around 11:30 my cell rang again and I fumbled around for it in the dark. It was Pa calling from Korea. I laughed. It felt very surreal. We didn't talk long because I was not making any sense in my sleepy state. In the end, I did not sleep well at all because I did not bring a mat and the ground was very cold and humid. It seeped into my bones so that I had to shift positions every 15 minutes. I finally got up at 5:00 AM feeling exhausted.

 

DAY 2 - June 19, 2005

The next morning I decided to take the same route to LE-1 and then veer left to document Legault Stream/Ruisseau Legault (LE-10). This way I could see the Plaisance Falls. I passed a farmhouse where two dogs were barking. I took out my whistle and eyed the big gray dog warily. Turns out it was the smaller poodle type dog which was gutsy. It came at my heels and so I let it have the full whistle blast which eventually deterred its course. In the end, I passed right through the falls because I didn’t want to stop and pay the admission fee. The rest of the way I wound through farmers' fields, but it was uphill the whole way. I had to cycle on the road as well, but there was little traffic. The more I went north, the more I was surrounded by dense forest and rock. It seemed very deserted and lonely. I came to a place that seemed to be the stream but I was not sure. I could have gone further but as I neared a bend, three large dogs ran to the edge of their driveway to growl and bark their warnings. None of them were tied up and I did not want to risk it. Plus it was uphill.

 

YouTube  l  Panorama
LE-10 Legault Stream / Ruisseau Legault
June 19, 2005

 

I couldn’t even see the stream, the foliage was so thick. But I could hear it trickling. There may have been a small waterfall. This was probably the least striking waypoint up to date. Basically some bush by a highway. No water to be seen.

I ate in Thurso again and actually sat down for breakfast as it was chilly out and I wanted to warm up. The couple beside my table were very friendly and wanted to know more about my trip. The woman had just come back from Switzerland and had been very impressed with that country. They asked me if I had seen the small group walking up the hill. In fact I had smiled at a group of hikers as I passed. A couple of them carried what looked to be staffs. I discovered that it was a group of pelerins (pilgrims) following Le chemin des sanctuaires. They depart from Ottawa and follow the trail bordering the Ontario and Quebec side of the Outaouais all the way to Montreal — 225 km divided into 12 days of about 18 km.

I was fascinated by this concept of time and space. While cycling alone on long trips, I am often left to my own thoughts. I appreciate the relative "slowness" of my travels as it leaves me room to reflect. Also, the physical aspect of it centres me into the present moment. My 20 km an hour average is equivalent to one day of walking. I would like to attempt a walking pelerinage someday to experience that unique relation with time, space and solitude.

The route back was fast because it was now familiar. Once back in Ottawa, I decided to try out some new trails. Baseline. It was a bad idea because I was tired and of course, I kept getting lost when all I wanted to do was go home and sleep. The first day I had done 120 km and the second day, 100 km. It was not the distance that wore me out so much as the lack of sleep. I arrived in Bells Corners at 2:00 PM and promptly took to the couch. I woke up at 9:00 PM when Jane called. It felt very decadent to sleep in the middle of the day.

Day 1 - June 18, 2005

 

Time Location Trip Odometer Moving Time Stopped Max Speed Moving Average

8:05

Stop: 10:55

Bells Corners

Masson-Angers

49.9 km 2:31 20 min 85.2k/h? 19.8/h
Stop: 11:55
Depart: 12:25

Thurso
N 45°35'786"
W 75°14'741"

Rue Legault
N 45°36'336"
W 75°07'385"

67.6 km 3:25 23 min    

Arrive: 1:15

Parc
N 45°35'943"
W 75°06'531"

81.2 km 4:08 31 min
+ lunch with GPS off
   
Arrive: 3:25
Depart: 3:35
LE-1
N 45°38'087"
W 75°06'945"
91.2 km 4:51 1:19    
Arrive: 4:35
LE-8, LE-1
N 45°34'921"
W 75°07'190"
102 km 5:27 1:36    
Arrive: 5:35
Campsite
N 45°36'047"
W 75°03'982"
118k + 4k
(campsite)
= 122 km
       

 

Day 2 – June 19, 2005

 

Time Location Trip Odometer Moving Time Stopped Max Speed Moving Average
6:15
Arrive: 7:50
LE-10
N 45°41'065''
W 75°12'993''
22.6 km 1:21 15 min 35.8k/h 16.6/h
Stop: 8:30
Depart: 9:10

Thurso          
Arrive: 11:20 Lady Aberdeen bridge to cross Rivière Gatineau
N 45°27'333''
W 75°42'183''
75.7 km 3:48 31 min 167k/h? 19.9/h
Arrive: 2:00
Bells Corners
Took Pinecrest way and got lost. GPS stopped.
97 km 5:01 1:01   19.3/h

 

Thursday, May 19, 2005

Dear Diary: June 19, 2005


On the weekend, I actually did work on Tongue Rug, I documented three waypoints. I biked in Gatineau passing through Angers, Thurso and camping in a provincial park – Plaisance. It was an intense weekend. 120 km the first day, and 100 the next. I needed to get away and think after a stressful week.