Day 8 - Rest Day in Trois Rivieres

La Route Verte 2007
August 29, 2007, Wednesday
Day 8 - Trois Rivieres

We had reservations at the International Hostel right in the middle of town or in French known as the Auberge  International de Trois Riviere.  I had stayed here about 5 years earlier and had no problems.  It's not plush but centrally located, and reasonable.
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Touring Gear

I thought I would ramble a little bit here about gear. This year I decided to go light.  No panniers, no trailers, no camping.  In fact when we didn't stay at hostels it was either with friends, or what in French they would describe as Auberge or gites (bed and breakfasts). Since my goal was to keep it light as possible I limited my self to a handlebar bag, a seat post bag, and what is known as a bento box to carry my camera and some sunblock.


The seat post bag I used was by a small company called "Detours ".  I first heard the husband and wife owners of the company speak about light and fast touring I thought, "Wow, that would be both different and fun".   I got something called the High Tail EXP , which supposedly has a 5lb. weight limit but I think I loaded it with more.  The handlebar bag I got at REI .  Both bags had use a KlickFix system that makes it extremely convenient to take the bags off the bike.

As you can see, since I had the bag over its weight limit it did sag a bit.  In fact on some of the rougher trails it did rub against the tire once or twice but no major difficulties.  I did have some trouble removing the bag by flexing it upward.  Of course it became more difficult, when I had more gear strapped to it like you see in the picture above.  The Bento Box although limiting in the amount you can carry is great purely for its convince factor.  It is a great place to store a digital camera since it sits right in front of you and all you have to do is tear open the Velcro to access the camera.

So here it goes with a gear list....In the Handlebar bag I carried....

1. Medium weight combination lock
   
2. Cateye - Front Light
   
3. Flash card reader for camera
4. Cellular phone and charger
   
5. One pair of "Primal" lightweight Tatoo arm warmers
   
6. Ball cap
   
7. Small lightweight towel
   
8. Sunglasses
   
9. Clothes line
   
10. Dr. Bronners Liquid Soap
    
11. Toothbrush/Toothpaste
    
12. Disposable Shaver
    
13. Sunblock
    
14. Eagle Creek "Undercover" Security Belt"  containing*:
    
15. *passport
    
16. *cash and coin
    
17. energy bar
    
18. Google Notepad and pens
    
19. Maps
    
20. Tire Lever
    
21. Patch Kit
    
22. Pocket Knife
    
23. Spare Inner Tube
    

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1. Rear Seat Post Bag
   
2. Two Bike Jerseys
   
3. Patagonia Lightweight Rain Parka
   
4. Two Polyester T-Shirts
   
5. Yellow Protective Rain Cover
   
6. REI Sahara Convertible Pants
   
7. Pearl Izumi Black Mountain Biking Shorts
   
8. Black Polyester Button Up Bike Jersey
   
9. Two Pairs Bike Socks (Camelback and Google)
   
10. One Pair of Polyester Underwear
    
11. One Pair of Padded Bike Underwear
    

All of this fit just perfectly into the bags which really didn't leave room for souvenirs but it was worth it.  It also meant having to do laundry every other evening which meant the liquid soap got a lot of use, along with the clothesline.  Also with less stuff to carry it was easier to get up in the morning and just go.  Obviously this meant that campgrounds were not an option but compensated for the greater expense by staying in hostels and with friends, in addition to motels.

15 miles

350 Cumulative Miles

Day 7 San Francois-du-Lac to Trois Rivieres 


Day 9 Trois Rivieres to Quebec City