Errors

Day 76. Montmagny to St. Pascal. 74 miles. 2000 feet elevation. Weather hot with a good Tailwind.

One of the 10 books recommended by AI for me to read was The Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu. It’s a book of Chinese philosophy. I did listen to it. It was quite interesting. One of the quotes from Tzu that’s often used is: “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.” As previously noted for me, that is a single pedal stroke, and it is now coming up on 5,000 miles. Regardless, my own take on this quote is: “A huge diaster often begins with a simple error.”

The day started very early as I was hoping to avoid some of the heat. By 7:30, I’d already done my Canadian Duty by eating at Tim Hortons and was headed out of Montmagny. “We don’t pronounce the T,” according to the hotel clerk. However, when he said Montmagny, it didn’t sound like he pronounced any of the letters that I was reading. Anyway, I continued Eastward along the beautiful St Lawrence. With a wide shoulder, almost no traffic, almost no hills, and a little tailwind, I was able to make great time for the first 30 Mi or so.

Eventually, the lightly traveled back road I was on turned into a busier highway. Of course, being Quebec, that meant there was a beautiful trail cut through the trees and grass next to the St. Lawrence.

Trails in Quebec also mean beautiful picnic areas. This trail was no different as I came upon a lovely picnic table on a wood deck, the shape of a boat overlooking the water. With a short day of only 64 miles, I thought it the perfect time to really pause and eat. Not only did I explore the shore a bit, I set up my tripod camera to take some pictures.

After a nice break and eating, I was talking to my daughter on my phone while I packed up and then jumped back on my bike and headed down more beautiful trail.

Sometime later, I came upon another rest stop I couldn’t resist. This one had an overstuffed love seat recliner. It was not a throwaway. It was in pretty good shape. It was also very comfortable. At this moment, I thought what a great time to take a picture. I then realized my error. The tripod and camera were back at the last rest stop about 5 miles in the wrong direction. Going back also meant against the wonderful tailwind that had been picking up speed and pushing me to this point.

The camera wasn’t that expensive but I had taken some pictures with it I didn’t want to lose. Additionally, it was a beautiful day, and the trail had been wonderful. I turned back and into the wind road for 5 miles. Not too surprisingly, the tripod and camera were still there despite there being many people on the trail. The people on the trail were, of course, Canadians, and if they saw the camera, they didn’t take it. I picked it up and came back the 5 miles to the overstuffed recliner and took my picture.

The rest of the ride was filled with beautiful fields and coastal views. The picture of the church was just one of many similar churches that are quite impressive and found in every small town.

When I came to my final destination, St Pascal. I dropped my gear at the motel and then rode over to the grocery store. It’s always a challenge to try and decide what I can and can’t carry and what I do and don’t need as well as want. But I finished shopping and went to the checkout stand, and as I prepared to pay, I realized I had left my phone on my bike locked outside. My visa is slotted in my phone. My heart stopped as I ran out the door. Thankfully, I’m in Canada, so this small error didn’t turn into a monumental disaster. The loss of my phone and my visa, in a foreign country, ok province, where I don’t speak the language, would have been a nightmare.

What’s weird is that I have been traveling now for 76 days and have never left my phone or left the camera behind. Hopefully, these little errors today and the terror of the potential disaster will keep me on my toes for the days to come.