La Tournée Maritime

In July and August of 2013 I spent four weeks riding a bike, ferries and buses through the Maritime Provinces of Canada and northern Maine. I was joined by a seasoned rider and outdoorsman, Ben Taylor, and together we rode just over 1000 miles around the Gulf of Saint Lawrence. While we often set up camp after dark and ate whatever calories we could find in gas stations, it was difficult to refuse the extreme generosity of the Canadians who invited us into their homes and campsites, shared their knowledge of local history and lore, and kept us up late into the night with acoustic sing-a-longs and whiskey. We traveled with two heavy B.O.B. steel trailers, fifteen rolls of 120 film, and a variety of boil-in-bag Indian delights provided by Tasty Bite—which lead to our coining of the hashtag: #tastybike. Overall, Ben was patient with my amateur riding and frequent photo stops, the results of which follow below:

The tour along our course moves clockwise from Rimouski, Québec to Bar Harbor, Maine.

Beth drove me and Ben to the Port of Rimouski where we boarded a ferry/container boat that carried us for four days along the northern shore of the St. Lawrence. Along the way, the "Bella Desgagnés" stopped in twelve ports to deliver provisions and passengers before arriving at Blanc Sablon: the easternmost community in Québec, on the boarder of Labrador. This ship runs regularly and its services are critical beyond Natashquan, which is the terminal community of the highway Route Jacques Cartier 138.

Havre-Saint-Pierre, Québec