Wind in my Face

10.9. A most welcome change in weather brings along sunshine, albeit with some mean crosswinds, which will cause some trouble later.

First gander out of the window

This section of the Gaspé loop will lead me further along the shore of St. Lawrence river. The air smells of an ocean breeze. Again traffic is almost non existent. The road is mine! (Except for the occasional long haul truck that shows up quickly in my rear view mirror, and blasts away with at least 20km/h over the speed limit of 90.)

Meanwhile it's about time I find a gas station, and the GPS tells me, there are a few ahead... however, the operative term being were... because they were shut down for business, and I am now officially running out of fuel.

Suddenly, an unmarked gas station pops up in the middle of nowhere. It must be the tackiest place I have ever had the pleasure to refuel, however the owner/attendant/grease monkey looking as shoddy as his shop is a nice guy, and made some smalltalk, while the bike got fed.

At Grande-Vallee I pick up some supplies from the Bonichoix Market and find the perfect picnic spot with an ocean view. The flag on below picture is to demonstrate how strong the wind is.

On return to the Shadow I notice that my jeans, which I had put under the bungee net to dry (it was still a bit wet from yesterday's rain) is missing. It must have somehow slipped through some opening, and now is gone with the wind... I backtracked my route to the supermarket watching out for something blue, but to no avail. Oh well, it was an old one, and would have been tossed out after this tour anyway.

The beach is calling, and I am going to take that Honda as close as possible to the water. A little roadside adventure that the T-Bird and I manage just fine (and a piece of driftwood serves as side stand support).

Action shot on the beach

There is way too much construction going on in Gaspé city, where I had planned to stay the night, so I push for Percé, which is another hour down the road, and gets interrupted by several photo ops.

Rolling down into Percé

Today's highlight coming up: The Percé Rock. 88m high, 90m wide and 433m long, with an arch of 15m span. Before I am going check into one of the many motels (Percé village seems to consist solely of accommodations, souvenir shops and restaurants.) I find all vista points to capture the rock in this gorgeous evening light.

I ride through the village there and back, and pick the L'Eglantier Motel, which is as good as any. It is located right across the supermarket where I intend to do my dinner grocery shopping. After this it's housekeeping, as well as tire pressure check and oil check, and readjustment of the holding straps for the sissy bar bag.

After I go for a walk along the boardwalk, soak up the last rays of sun, and admire the evening light shimmering on the rock.

Riding with water views: So far, today's leg of the journey was the best riding day!

***

Und HIER gibt's wieder die deutsche Fassung.