Cadillac to Pont du Casse

Cadillac to Pont-du-Casse, Wednesday, May 27, 2009

It's getting late and I'm on the clock at an internet cafe in Cahors so I'll make this short and sweet.
After a quick Continentinal breakfast I checked out of the Hotel D'Etrée and headed for Agen. It was a bit cool when I set off but soon warmed up to around 22 C. I stopped for lunch in Casteljaloux (no connection to Mailloux) at 12:30. I asked the waitress for an iced tea to go with my ham and cheese on a foot long baguet. She said "c'est à la pêche." I thought she meant I had to go fishing for it!!! Once she brought out a bottle and showed me the label I realized she had said "it is flavoured with peaches".
After lunch while trying to find D119 I met a cyclist from Agen. He suggested I take the path along the canal and cycled with me for about 10 minutes to show me how to get on the path. Wow was this ever great. Paved, no bumps, no potholes and very flat. I must have cycled at least 40 kms along the canal. Unfortunately instead of programming Sylvie's address in Pont du Casse in my GPS I relied on directions from a couple other cyclists that I met along the canal on the way to Agen. They told me to keep going 5 bridges past Agen and then I would have to make a left turn for P du C. I ended up going to far and decided to put Sylvie's address in the GPS. It of course calculated the shortest route which was up the side of a cliff and down the other side. It was so steep I had to get off and push my bike up on two occassions for several kms. Coming down was another story the narrow winding back alley roads were in really I mean really bad shape I had to brake all the way down. Eventually I did manage to find Sylvie's place at around 6 PM. I was totally exhausted. Sylvie must have realized this right away as she offered me a nice cold beer which barely touched my lips it went down so fast.
I had a wonderful time staying over with my sister Marie Jeanne's internet friend and do highly recommend their five star B and B.

Bernard, Sylvie's husband, after showing me his classic cars drove me into Agen to show me where to find France Telecom so I could purchase a no contract cellphone which I did later on for 39 Euros. Afterwards we went to visit his friend "Papi Doudou" who has quite a collection of antique and classic French automobiles and a garage to die for.

The trip from Cadillac to Agen to Pont du Casse took almost 7 hours and was a total of 123 kms.
Staying at a F1 hotel in Cahors this evening which is on the outskirts of town. Haven't had dinner yet so will sign off for now.

Bordeaux to Cadillac

Bordeaux to Cadillac, Tuesday, May 26, 2009

We arrived at Bordeaux Merignac Airport at 5:24 AM (local time was 11:24 AM) 45 minutes early. It was raining. Passport control was a breeze. Waited 15-20 minutes to collect my paniers. Bike was waiting for me opposite side of baggage area about 50 meters away. Plastic bag was a bit ripped and left top handle bar gear shift was scraped but otherwise everything appeared to be in good working order. Spent half an hour getting the plastic off (I really got carried away with the wrapping tape) and pumped up the tires. By this time I was completely lathered. The humidity in the baggage area must have been in the 90s. I wheeled up to customs and they just waved me on through. Didn't even bother to ask me if I had any drugs to declare!!! In the arrival area I found a washroom where I was able to wheel my bike right into a "cripple" stall and changed into my biking gear.
Once I got outside I turned on my GPS and searched for Agen. The directions were a bit vague so I asked a couple of taxi drivers for directions. They pointed me in the right direction and said I had to take the highway by the Renault garage. So off I went into the wild blue (maybe not so blue because of the overcast skies) yonder. The Google Map directions I had printed off before leaving were totally useless. I managed to get quite lost and ended up turning into an autoroute access ramp and was told quite blatantly by some guy waving his finger at me that I was not allowed to go on the autoroute with my bicycle. Not far off I saw a restaurant so I turned around and headed in that direction. There I met a gentlemen coming out of the restaurant who was a cycling enthusiast. He suggested I try programming my GPS for the next village down the road. This I tried and with the directions from the GPS was able to make my way from village to village until I arrived at Cadillac at 5:30 PM local time. The rain only lasted about an hour and afterwards things began to clear up. I had to take my yellow jacket off as I was getting quite hot.

The manager of the hotel was waiting for me and showed me where I could store my bike behind the hotel in the laundry drying area. Later on I spoke to him about locking up my bike in a more secure area for the night. He said I could put it in the "garage" which was really a musty/dusty old cellar but at least it had a door that could be locked and my bike was out of site. The room was quite adequate but overlooked the main highway and as I suspected there was traffic noise throughout the night. A lot of lorries passing through at all hours of the night.
After freshening up I went down to the bar and invited the manager to have a beer with me. He hesitated, just for a moment, but eventually said because I was a Canadian he would accept my offer. Turns out that after Morocco received its independence his parents decided to relocate to Canada and he ended up living in Montreal for 9 years before moving to France.
Went out for a walkabout around the village and discovered there were a lot of ancient ramparts. When I asked M. D'Etrée about these he explained that they had been built by the British during the Aquitaine reign.

Returned to the hotel for dinner which turned out to be a three course affair i.e. mushroom omelet with lettuce and tomato, huge no hormones locally produced steak and chips with more lettuce and tomatoes and cheese and butter with bread and of course the obligatory 1/4 litre of red local house wine to wash it all down with.
Total costs for my stay at the hotel including room, drinks, dinner and continental breakfast the following morning € 74.

First of all I would like to apologize for any typos in this next posting as I am using a French keyboard. For those of you who have never had the pleasure of using a French keyboard several of the letters and characters are not in the same locations as on a QWERTY keyboard.
On Monday while waiting for my flight to Bordeaux I decided to cycle into Montreal. To be more specific I cycled to COSMO Restaurant at 5843 Sherbrooke St W to try their famous "mish-mash. I stopped at a couple bike shops along the way to look for a better T-bar which mounts on the handlebars and is used to accommodate my GPS, computer and front light but no luck in finding a replacement. I did find COSMO and ordered the mish-mash. Ate the whole thing!!! This was a big mistake which I was to pay dearly for later on. The onions were quite raw and raw onions do not agree with my tummy. Man did I have some serious gas pains later on especially on the flight to Bordeaux. I cycled back to the hotel and collected my 2 rear paniers where I had kleft them in a storage area for safekeeping. Round trip was just a little over 33 kms.
I got to the airport easily enough from the hotel (1.71 kms) arriving at 3 PM. No line-ups so I was able to get my bike wrapped up in a large plastic bag which Air Transat provided for a $5 fee plus $30 for shipping charges. I changed out of my cycling clothes and checked my bags, proceeded to clear security who were not happy with the small container of motor oil that I had packed in my trunk bag in case I needed to oil my chain. They were very kind and allowed me to go back to the Air Transat checkin counter and check my trunk bag. They also allowed me to take a shortcut to get back to the security check counter and eventually into the departure area. Now all I had to do was kill 5 hours while waiting for my flight to takeoff at 23:10. Just before departure Air Transat announced that there were a few seats available in Club Class. I was able to upgrade to for $250 which was a bonus as when I had asked previously about upgrading they wanted to charge me $384. I was also promised that I would be re-imbursed for the $30 I had paid for seat selection.
Well it's quite late and and I'm really exhausted after having cycled 122.78 kms to get from Cadillac, where I stayed last night, to Pont-Du-Casse where the people I am staying with live. more about my trip from Bordeaux to Cadillac to P du C. to follow later. Bonne soirée.

Hawkesbury to Dorval, QC

Hawkesbury to Dorval, Sunday, May 24, 2009


The "business" PC at the Dorval Best Western is quite flaky so will make this short as I'm getting the business... Arrived at 2:30 after cycling a very beautiful and picturesque route along the river on my left and then on my right after crossing over L'Ile Perrot. Total distance cycled with mostly a tailwind 97.14 kms. The road was mostly smooth with the exception of the stretch going through Hudson (very bumpy) (the guy in the black Mustang convetible, that buzzed me and nearly ran me off the road, needs to grow up!!) and crossing over the 2nd bridge at L'Ile Perrot which was under construction. What a beautiful day. Wish my ass wasn't so sore.





Monday, May 25, 2009


After checking out of hotel and leaving paniers in storeroom behind reception cycled into Montreal for lunch at Cosmo Cafe. Checked out several bicycle shops on the way looking for a new T-Bar mount for my computer/light/GPS. No luck. After lunch cycled back to hotel. Sat in lobby for a couple hours updating my journal before setting off for the airport.






It was just a short ride from the hotel to the airport. After checking in and wrapping up my bike in a plastic bag that Air Transat provided for $5.00 I wandered about the departure area for several hours before boarding my flight. Departed Montreal for Bordaux at 23:12

Home to Hawkesbury

Departure Day, May 23, 2009 Ottawa to Hawkesbury

Steve and Eileen, who had agreed to escort me out of town, arrived just before 9 AM. After a quick look at the Spitfire we set off f0r Hawkesbury. First stop was at Timmy's on Hawthorn at Stevenage for coffee and a cinnamon bun. Once we got that out of the way we set off in earnest for Hawkesbury. Unfortunately we had a fairly strong headwind and with the additional 50 lbs of baggage I was carrying on my bike we were only able to cycle at 20-22 kph. We only made one mistake at Russell and Hwy 27 and somehow ended up going down a very steep hill and ending up at Walkley Road. I was a bit of a slog getting back up that hill but I made it and soon we were back on Hwy 26 heading east. We stopped at 12:30 at a chipwagon in Bourget for lunch.

Steve and Eileen decided they had had enough so Steve called his wife and asked her to come meet them on the way back to Ottawa. I continued on my way to Hawkesbury and eventually arrived at the Best Western Hotel on Tupper St. at 4:30 after completing 116 kms.
After a hot shower I went out for dinner at Everydays Restaurant a half hour walk from the hotel on Spence Avenue. There was a guy playing music. The place was really hopping by the time I left at 8. Almost got eaten alive by mosquitoes on the way back. Got to get some rest for the next leg of the journey into Montreal. TTFN

One More Sleep

Most of the day was spent getting organized for an early morning departure for Hawkesbury. Well maybe not to early...hope to get away by 9:00 AM. For those who are interested in specifics the following are the Specifications for my touring bike and various accessories.
Make & Model - Rocky Mountain Sherpa 10 Touring
Frame - RMB custom 7005 Aluminium
Fork - Alloy Fork w/ eyelets
Headset - FSA
Stem - Easton EA30
Handlebar - Easton EA30
Brake Levers - Shimano Tiagra
Shifters - Shimano Tiagra
Cranks and Chainways - FSA Vero CK400 30 / 42 / 52T
Bottom Bracket - FSA ISIS
Pedals - Shimano PDM 505
Hubs (FR) - Shimano M475 DISC
Hubs (RR) - Shimano M475 DISC
Cassette - Shimano HG - 50 -8
Spokes - Stainless Steel (black)
Rims - Mavic A-319 w/ eyelets
Tires - Continenta Grand Prix 4000 700 x 23C with Mr. Tuffy Bicycle Tire Liners
Tubes - MEC Road Tubes Presta 700 x 23-25
Seat Post - RMB
Saddle - San Marco ISCHIA
Rear Paniers - Axiom Champlain
Rear Trunk Bag - MEC
Front Handlebar Panier - Axiom Jolliet
Garmin Edge 605 bicycle GPS
Sigma Sport BC700 bicycle computer
Planet Bike Beamer 5 White LED Front Light
Planet Bike Rear Light

Hope I didn't upset anyone when I sent out my first e-mail with the link to my blog. If I did upset anyone I do sincerely apologize.

Lime Night at Chu Shing Restaurant

This evening while having dinner at the Chinese Chu Shing Restaurant I was convinced by all those present that I should create a blog to keep a record of my European bicycling adventure this summer. Departure for Bordeaux, France, where my European adventure will begin starts Saturday, May 23rd. I plan to cycle from home to Hawkesbury and spend an evening there. The following day I plan to cycle to Montreal and spend a second evening there. My flight for France leaves Monday evening at 23:10 and arrives in Bordeaux the following day at 12:00. Must get some rest now. It's been a very long day.