Day 4 - Ormstown to Huntingdon

58.7 km - Total so far 316.4 km - https://ridewithgps.com/trips/9797591

Helene - https://ridewithgps.com/users/13982/activities

Petite Aventure 2016 - Journée 1

La Petite Aventure started bright and early for us this morning. Once again Helene and I woke up well before the alarm set time of 5 am. 

We easily settled back into our well practiced routine of packing everything inside the tent, loading up the bikes, tearing down the tent and taking our luggage to the truck. By 6:15 am, we were ready for the coffee and continental breakfast that is provided to the volunteers.

Jean-Paul is the distinguised looking gentleman with the white ball cap

Once again, we got a chance to catch up with other friends we had not seen in almost a year. At 8 am, our team leader Jean-Paul Blais, briefed us on the route and our assigned tasks for the day. Being the second team to leave makes it easier to quickly move to our assigned positions. We are dispatched one at a time every 25 or so participants.

Encadreurs milling about the start point. The guy in the blue long sleeves is me.

Both Helene and I got a chance to help out participants with minor issues but otherwise everything was pretty uneventful. We both like it that way and can thus take advantage of the nice Quebec country side.

Participants heading to the lunch stop

I was here the first time as an Encadreur in 2010 and for some odd reason I had forgotten how lovely this area was. Today being Canada Day, there was little traffic on the road and all 1,700 participants got to enjoy a nice day of riding. The area is mostly flat with the odd little climb to offer a challenge. 

Encadreur friend posing for posterity!

Good thing we were not riding the day this happened. We saw a few
trees like that on the route

The required picture of the Covered Bridge

I was surprised to find TARDIS sitting in front of the General
Store in Athelstan, Quebec

We are here in Huntingdon for two nights so we don`t have to tear down the tent in the morning, The plan for tomorrow is for participants to do a 50 or so km loop starting and ending in Huntingdon.

Tomorrow evening, VeloQuebec is giving a lecture on `cyclo-camping`and we were asked to speak about our touring bicycles and trailers. Helene and I are both looking forward to that. 

Who needs a titanium bicycle when you can have one
made of bamboo