Two Wheels in Transit: Cycling the Gaspe: A Relaxing Day In Perce

Most people would sleep in on their day off, especially those who are touring. However, most cycle tourists do not have the sunrise over Perce Rock to enjoy early in the morning. So at 5:10 I was up with my coffee in hand enjoying the sunrise from our patio. It was simply put, amazing!

After washing out some of our riding gear and enjoying some more coffee, we were off to explore Perce. We were surprised to learn that this community had a 1960's hippie movement where young people came from all over Quebec to escape Quebec society. Four of these people would become famous or I probably should say became infamous. Paul and Jaques Rose, Francis Simard and Jaques Lanclot spent a year living in Perce in 1969 and were the major players in the 1970 FLQ Crisis. We also hiked up to a rock outcropping that overlooks Perce for a different view of the famous rock. It also helped us stretch out our legs.

We are a little nervous, or more accurately, 'damn well scared', thinking about tomorrow's ride. We have only been in the warm up stage of our adventure. We walked to the base of the hill out of town to have a look. We had heard it was a 17% grade and that just might be conservative in our estimation. Oh well, I guess we will see how good our walking and pushing skills are!

PS Today is the 7th anniversary of our arrival in St John's at the completion of our Cross Canada Ride.