Day 98: Dalhousie, NB -> Miramichi, NB

Date: Monday, August 21, 2023
Start: Dalhousie, NB (Inch Arran Park)
End: Miramichi, NB (Warm Showers host)
Distance: 169km

I woke up in my tent to find that the rain we'd been promised overnight had not arrived.  This meant that either it had missed us or it was JUST about to hit us. I looked at the weather radar and guessed it was the later.  So I immediately started packing and moving my stuff to a nearby covered pavilion where I might ride out whatever was coming.  Skipper woke up just after me and started doing the same.  I got my stuff to shelter and he ran with his tent as the skies opened up.  The pavilion was only opened on one side and we were able to set out stuff out to dry even with the rain falling outside.

Lucky for us, the rain only lasted about 25 minutes.  We were able to dry our gear, pack, and were on our bikes as soon as the rain stopped just after 8:30am.  I'd chatted up a local and learned that our breakfast options consisted of a truck stop restaurant or a place in town called Chez Rachel.  We opted for the local spot in town.

We found it over the Legion hall.  A good sign!  We walked in and found a hall with tables and a few locals.  Skipper had an omelette and I opted for The Big Gigi Breakfast.  Toast, 3 eggs, all three meats, potatoes, and a pancake.  It was another giant breakfast and I realized how hungry I was when I saw it.  Skipping the banana split the night before had been a mistake, but I was going to make up for it now!

Skipper decided that my pancake looked good and ordered two pancakes as a side.  The waitress advised him that he only wanted one, not two, and so he went with her recommendation.  When it came out, we learned why.  It was about 40cm across and cut in two just to fit on the plate.  It was twice the size of the one they gave me with my big breakfast.  Skipper decided it was more than he wanted and so we switched.  I ended up with the big breakfast and the big pancake.  It was everything I wanted.  I ate every single bite.  I don't know what regrets taste like, but I can say with confidence that it's not The Big Gigi Breakfast at Chez Rachel in Dalhousie, New Brunswick!

We thanked our waitress - who laughed that I'd upsized the pancake and still finished the meal - and left.

The goal for the day was Miramichi, New Brunswick.  This would mean ~170km for the day which would definitely be one of the bigger days for the entire trip.  The reason is that there were campgrounds in Bathurst which was only 100km away and then nowhere to camp until Miramichi which was about 170km.  We opted for the longer day as it would set us up for a faster arrival in PEI.

The day started with a grueling climb out of Dalhousie.  It was only about 400 meters, but it was one of the steeper hills I've climbed the entire trip!  I got to the top and wondered if maybe the Big Gigi Breakfast hadn't been the genius play I'd first imagined it to be.  We slipped out of town and onto a long spit of land that connected to a distant shore.  We had water on either side and in the distance we could see the lighthouse and park where we had camped.

We were the beneficiaries of an absolutely wild tailwind today.  It was so strong that it felt less like we were being pushed and more like we were being pulled.  We managed such speed that by 1pm we'd managed 60km.  We had to stop once, two hours after breakfast, for a Gatorade and water bottle refill because our breakfast was a touch high in salt content.  There we met a couple from Quebec City who were also cycle touring and were on a trip down the East coast of New Brunswick.  They were doing a 40km day and I have to admit I was just a bit jealous of them!

At one point we went through the town of Belledune, New Brunswick.  It immediately clicked in my mind that I knew someone from this town, but I have not talked to him in a very long time.  He always introduced himself as being from Belledune and was proud of his town and area.  I've never forgot the town name and was tickled that I was finally seeing the place!  It didn't disappoint.  If you're out there Sandenn, I made it to Belledune!

It was a day of flags.  The Canadian flag, the flag of New Brunswick, but especially the Acadian flag.  The Acadians are a ethnic group centered around the North and the East coast of New Brunswick, but also found in other places in the Maritimes of Canada.  They are considered distinct from the French Canadians of Quebec because they immigrated from a different region of France and Acadia was it's own administrative area.  Their history is largely defined by their forced expulsion by the British when the Brits took the area from France.  Many of them eventually immigrated to the area of Louisiana that we now think of as Cajun country, and eventually the British let them return to Acadia (New Brunswick).  Whereas Western Canada is defined by a kind of cultural uniformity with people's only connection to a different culture being through the place their ancestors immigrated from, Eastern Canada is a healthy mix of cultural and even sometimes ethnic identities that have had hundreds of years to develop in this part of the country.  The Acadians are one of those groups.

All of this to say, the Acadians have their own and distinct culture within Canada and the area we were now biking through was their home.  The way you knew this is because nearly everything is done up in the colours of the flag of Acadia.  It is blue, white, and red (same as the French flag) with a yellow star in the top left.  It was plastered on so much stuff while we were biking through.  I thought it was almost obnoxious in areas, but later I learned that the week before - August 15th - had been the national day of Acadia, and I'll chalk it up to people celebrating their holiday and not having taken their decorations down.  But I would say at least half (maybe more) of the houses were flying the Acadian flag.

As I biked along I decided to pop in my headphones.  It was time to get in the spirit with a bit of East Coast music.  And again, this area of Canada had many cultural sub-groups and so it's difficult to pick one music that would define New Brunswick!  Instead, I picked a few different pieces of both old and new to get me in the New Brunswick mood!

Starting off with the old, I listened to some Don Messer.  A fiddle player born in Southwestern New Brunswick, he was popular from the 50s to the 70s in Canada.  His TV show - Don Messer's Jubilee - was one of the top shows in Canada for its 20 year run, frequently beating out The Ed Sullivan Show.  It was a music variety program similar to The Lawrence Welk Show.  But Don Messer And The Islanders entertained an entire generation with their East Coast jigs and reels.  I know him well because my grandfather was a huge fan and the reason I grew up learning to play the violin was that my grandfather dreamed I'd play Messers music (...but I had a teacher who taught classical music).

Because Messer was such an icon, of course there is a song about him written and performed by Stompin' Tom Connors!  It gives a bit of the history of Messer.

Next I moved on to the newer stuff.  There are any number of contemporary New Brunswick artists to choose from, but a favourite of mine is Les Hays Babies.  A trio from Acadia, their indie folk is a wonderful blend of old and new.  One of my favourite tracks of theirs is Fil de Téléphone.  It was just the right feel for cruising along the Acadian coast...

Pis ça m'tord les bras
Que j't'aime pis que j'peux pas être là
Pis t'as mal à m'dire
Notre amour se tient par un fil de téléphone

We biked along the beautiful coast until we reached Bathurst, New Brunswick and there we stopped at a grocery store to pick up some lunch.

We ate quickly because we still had so far to go for the day.  We set off again and saw more sights and reminders of where we were as we bounced down the old highway through Acadia/New Brunswick.  At some point on this road we heard back from a Warm Showers request we'd made and now we had a place to stay in Miramichi!  This put a little kick in our step as it meant we weren't going to be searching for a campground when we arrived and would allow us to stay in town.

Eventually the old highway rejoined the new and current highway.  This meant we were treated to a wide shoulder and perfectly smooth road.  The tradeoff was the traffic that flew by, but neither of us was uncomfortable on these roads and it meant we could put on a little speed and get to Miramichi.  The highway was hilly in this section as we were cutting inland and no longer on the coast, but the tailwinds and confidence of knowing we had a place to stay buoyed our spirits and pushed us onward.

We reached Miramichi by about 6:30pm.  It was overcast now and felt darker than it truly was because of it, but we continued to ride knowing that there were still a few hours of daylight left.  We reached a monster of a bridge that crossed the Miramichi River and started across.  There was no shoulder and the sidewalk sat almost a foot higher than the road and was narrow and without a railing between it and the lane.  As the semi-trucks zoomed by we both felt pretty uncomfortable and opted to walk our bikes on the sidewalk.  This gave us a little break from biking, and let us take in the incredible views of the river as we crossed into the city!

Once across we biked to the house of our Warm Showers host.  I didn't take any pictures from this point out of respect to our host, but they had a wonderful setup that let us dry our gear, shower, and get comfortable.  He even had some beer on ice waiting for us.  He's a really awesome host and we were super thankful that he allowed us to stay!

We ate a dinner of instant mashed potatoes and whatever else we had.  Our host showed up and we spent some time trading stories and experiences with him.  When that was over we tucked in for the night.

It had been one of our longest day together in terms of distance!  170km is a biiiiig day.  And we were given a fair amount of climbing as well.  We both said we didn't want to do another day that long again!  But we'd been through and visited some really beautiful towns and coastline.  This is the first time I've even been down the East coast of New Brunswick and it was 100% the right choice in terms of the route to take.  I can't imagine going for days through the forests of Western New Brunswick!  And the people were so wonderful and kind to us.  I'll definitely come back to this area in the future to do some more exploring!