Hi Everyone,

Yesterday it was obvious from the first time that I looked 
out the window that I was not going to ride.  It was pouring!

Last night the weatherman said it was going to ok today 
and tomorrow and then maybe more rain or showers.  This
 morning I looked out and it was fine.  Then I checked 
the weather report and it said 60% chance of rain.  A 
person I talked to said that he heard was chance of 
rain this morning and sunny in the afternoon.  

I decided to ride based on two key factors: it was not 
raining and the wind was significant out of the southwest
 which meant a tailwind!

As I left the hotel, I felt a couple of drops but that 
means nothing. As I got out of the bank (ATMs are in the
 lobby) there were more drops so I put on the new rain 
covers.  As I rode out of town, I debated whether to 
return to the hotel or to keep on going.  I decided to 
keep on going it wasn't bad and it was probably going 
to end soon.

It was 10 miles down the road that I decided it was time 
to put on knee warmers, booties, and a rain jacket instead 
of my windbreaker.

When I stopped, I could feel the rain, but when I rode, I 
was going fast enough that I kept up with the rain.

I couldn't believe how fast I was going.  I was twice as 
fast as I rode into Riviere Loup but I was going real slow
 going into the headwind and today I had a good 10 mph tailwind
 with gusts up to 20 mph.  

At noon, the sun came out but I kept everything on just in case. 
 My original goal was Rimouski but I decided that with the tailwind,
 I might go to Sainte Flavie so as I rode through Rimouski, I kept
 looking for a motel on the far end of town to make it easier to
 get out of town tomorrow.  Then I was out of town and I decided
 to go for Sainte Flavie. 

So here I am in Sainte Flavie, the junction to stay on the St 
Lawrence and go on the north coast of the Gaspe Peninsula or to
 cross over to the southern coast of the Gaspe Peninsula. The 
weatherman now says that tomorrow is cloudy with chance of showers
 and sun and a tailwind and then Tuesday and Wednesday is a 40 a 
60% chance of rain so I have to go to a place where I am willing 
to stay for a rain day / rest day which means a longer day.  The 
only thing that I don't know is where the north coast starts the 
famous ups and downs.

  
The Statistics:  91.46 miles and guessing at 1000 feet of climb. 
 I don't believe the 6600 feet that the speedometer says because 
there was a weather change that changed the atmospheric pressure.


The St Lawrence is so wide now that I can't see across it any more.


Steve in Sainte Flavie, Quebec, Canada on the Gaspe Peninsula

Sent from my iPad