September 8, 2014. Carleton-sur-mer to Bonaventure, Quebec. 42 Miles.

It was quite chilly this morning, in the low 40s. After breakfast we started unloading bikes and getting ready. Fred put his foot in his helmet, Otis left his bag full of laundry in his room and Diana put a bike rag on her head to keep her ears warm.... maybe not ready for prime time.

 

Today was Downriver Cycling Club jersey day, and most of us had one to wear. Left to right are Stan Barbara, Dianne, me, Diana, Otis, Tom and Fred. Diana, Otis, Tom, Fred and I are all DCC members and I gave Dianne a club jersey as a gift when I visited her in Florida last February.

By the time we rolled out at 9:30 it had warmed up to the 50s but the wind was blowing at 20 MPH. Fortunately for us it was at our backs! The prevailing winds here are from the west and most of our days we travel east (we planned it that way). We got on the route verte as right out of the hotel and it took us past a sculpture of 3 birdmen. I stopped to read the plaque which states that Birdmen call on us to change how we live our lives on earth.

By the time we rode out of town we were back on highway 132, but there was a wide shoulder and moderate traffic. The Baie des Chaleurs was on our right, in our sight most of the day. This is exactly what we wanted from this ride!

We had a rest stop at a park about 11 miles into the ride, where we saw this sculpture. There is much interest in art in this part of Quebec.

Across the road from the seagull sculpture in the park we saw a giant tooth; not exactly art, but kind of an interesting thing to see on our ride.

Diana told us about a place that makes and sells mead and other honey-based products in this area, so we rode off route to go there. Dianne and Stan rode right past the turnoff (we were on a long descent) but Diana, Barbara and I took the turn at the giant honeybee sign and Dianne and Stan soon came back.  Our route took us along the Cascapedia River from the highway until it empties into the bay.

We watched through the glass as workers processed the honeycombs, an interesting thing to see, but not so enticing for anyone who's ever had a reaction to a bee sting. We bought some honey and some mead, but Bill and Doris were not around to tote them for us! The owner offered to deliver them to our hotel, so we paid for our purchases and went on our way.

The 5 of us stopped again at a visitors' center and then parted ways as Dianne and I stayed on the highway to watch for the lunch stop and the other 3 went on a route verte. Soon after they left us Bill and Doris drove by and told us where the lunch stop was (next town ahead of us on the highway).

 

We had lunch at a roadside park with yet another work of art. Fred, Tom and Otis were already there and by the time we were finished Diana, Barbara and Stan arrived.

 



The route from our lunch stop at Caplan to our destination at Bonaventure was right along the bay. The cliffs we had seen from miles away were now right below us. We had a minor construction delay, but still arrived at our hotel around 2 PM.

 

St. Bonaventure church is right across the street from our hotel. After we checked in Dianne, Diana and I walked to an area of art shops, also across from the hotel;I wanted to find cards featuring the sculptures we have seen in this area, but did not find any.

 

St. Bonaventure church was built in 1760 and our hotel in the early 1900s. We're not sure of the vintage of the buildings housing the art shops. I guess if we had gone into the museum we could have found out, but it was late in the day for that. We all walked to dinner at the Rendez-Vous Restaurant, which Fred and Doris had found on their scouting trip, then returned to the hotel and drank 2 bottles of mead as we visited on the second floor balcony overlooking the sea. I told Bill this reminds me of a place people would go for a honeymoon. It is beautiful.