Prince Eduard Island

Nice island to be cycling on !

After 3 days doing so I ended up next to the East Point lighthouse on the most easternly point of the island. Superb scenery over the Atlantic ocean. The local people let me tent on the property and do radio and setup some antenna. I placed a 10 meter long antenna and hung up quarterwave antennas for 40, 20 and 17 in it. I already worked a doen European stations during evening and the night on 40! and 20 with 2 watt... Grab you're chance, I'll be listening until thursday 1300utc.

Tien miljoen miljard femtometer

Just west of Shediac, New. Brunswick, I surpassed the 10000 km-mark. The bicycle is, just as myself, holding on strong. The weather is ok, some 25 degrees C and 50 overcast. As PEI became within reach for the day, the wind turned in my disadvantage. I hope to do some radio on VY2 as the flies eat me alive when I stand still. Just searching for a free and safe spot and setting up the tent is tough enough for the moment. I got used to wash me in restrooms of gasstations whenever I can't stay with a fellow hamradio-guy. Last Tuesday I had the worst day, mentally, but got over it. I already made contact with Brent VE2HF on PEI. Let's see where I'll end up there as the wx for the next week doesn't look promising. Heavy traffic also as its the weekend again. For those who wanted my Canadian mobile number it's +1 778 668 9074. APRS still goes live and direct as coverage is ok. Still some 1500 km and 3 weeks to go to Boston.

Pukkelpop disaster

Just read on twitter and heard the news about the terrible weather on the festival in Hasselt back home and already three people dead.. Many ten thousands of people leaving the camping area right now and cellphonetowers out of service. Must be chaotic scenes over there right now. More over here.

Montreal - New Brunswick

After leaving Montreal I cycled for 100% next to the St. Lawrence river towards Quebec.
From time to time it led me on the Route Verte but sometimes it was covered with gravel or worse so I took the main road. Nice little towns along the river with a 'normal' church like the ones in Europe. If you don't speak any French over here it can be quite tough to find an English speaking person sometimes I guess. It's even a bit like in Brussels. I saw a dosen or so bicyclers doing the trail along the river. Only one was on a longer tour as I was, Sebastien from France.

The city of Quebec was so and so. The old city center was not so marvelous as expected.
It's very much alike to a city in France or the Walloon region, not to use the word dull.
The only positive side of visiting this city is that it had an excellent bikeshop where they replaced my gears and chain as it was worn out. Some of the guys in the shop spoke English but with hair up. Nice shop but pricey. I looked around for a new pair of cycleshorts, the one I wear were priced 199 dollar.. pfft..

I slept near a lake in Tue city under a big partytent that was set up for the weekend.
The road to the north brought me alongside nice little towns but once again with a majority of french look-a-likes in every form and style. Prices didn't went down, in contrary.
I took the small ferry to the other side of the river in Levis and cycled north again to Cap St. Ignace and and ended up in Riviere du loup the day after. I cycled along with a guy from Montreal for half a day and had a beer ion a microbrewwery near Rimouski that was opened up by a guy from Brasschaat, Antwerp, Belgium. I talked some Aantwaarps again and had a self=brewed beer over there. All the Geuze was sold out.. (after my visit hahi)..

Very much traffic on the road and weekend traffic was almost killing me. I slept alongside the route. Just out of Rimouski I slept in the garage of Ivon VA2YD, I saw his beacon of his repeater on the APRS. I got some leftovers of food from a party they were visiting and charged up the batteries. Cycling out to the north I took the road to New Brunswick and slept on the banks of a lake in Val-Brillant to find out it started raing 24/24 the next day.
The tent was packed in wet and that's not the way to go but wat do you do... I cycled for New Brunswick for the night and was ready to cycle under everything were my tent could dry until I saw 50% of what was the 4-band dipole antenna of Pierre VE1AXC. I slept on the couch and took a shower which was needed after this rainy day.

I was radioaktive again three days : 2 days on 20 meterwhen I worked KC8OYD, Lance KB0RGS and WA0HHN, also KE4TS Jim in North Carolina again and NS7P Jim in Oregon with 33. Rod NY4S was 59 from Tenessee. I just didn't make it in OE4XLC and PA3DHR I think but HB9RDE Rolf worked me with 52 ! On monday 15 I worked on 40 meter with KR4IS Jeff, KR4IS Jeff, VA2FSQ Tom, VE3SSR Eugene and WA2AKP Lou all with nice signals until the rain set in in the morning when I worked W1FC Fred, W3UX John and VE1DC Tom. In Quebec I worked on VHF KE4TS Jim on his way home.
I will try again on 20 when the sunspots go over 100 or I'm in a relaxed and good position to hang up the antenna. I don't like it to do it rush-rush.. If you want to stay informed on times and frequencies got to my twitter on http://twitter.com/#!/rafvz
You can also - like the whole journey - follow me on the APRS signal on the link in the menu.

I'm heading For Prince Eduard Island the next week and then up to Nova Scotia by the next and then one week to Boston from St' John in New Brunswick. The end is coming closer, I hope the weather remains dry and warm as it is today so I can camp outside as much as possible and do some radio-ing and enjoy the scenery without the need to go to a crappy motel !

As Google is messing things up since the last update on the droid I have problems to put pictures on this blog from the picassa account. You still can see ALL the pictures on the link to Picassa if you click on the link in the menu on the right side of the screen.

Niagara - Montreal

Ok, I can't make it to Newfoundland anymore this trip.
So I reconsidered taking a new route that will bring me to Prince Edwards Island or PEI.
The main reason for not being able to go there is because the lack of a ferry route from Yarmouth to Portland that went out of bussiness. Sad.
To make the tour as planned and bicycle back the whole way is no option.
Taking the train back to Boston from Halifax or so is no option either. It's a three day trip on train and all the wishwash that comes along.  Taking the bus back like Greylines or so is also a real undertaking and will bring me first back to Montreal ... and some transfers + not really cheap also .. and remember .. I got a bicycle to take back also.
The other remaining option is to rent a car and I searched some stuff and that would cost some 600+ dollar all inclusive as would a trip by plane cost me to fly back to Boston - the same as a ticket from Halifax to Schiphol ... and the ticket from Boston is already bought..
So, gonna try to remain on the cheap side and the main goal now is to spend a few days on PEI Prince Edward Island and enjoy nature over there and activate VY2 !

But, the trip until now has been really nice, relatively good weather, no accidents except the one with a matrass on the shoulder..While climbing I didn't looked very good in front of me and was looking to the map and I saw something white emerging in front of me but too late and I cycled halfway over it.. nothing broken on the frontwheel ;-) btw. it was there to be collected as trash ..

I cycled fron Niagara over the Canadian/US border (I had to make a brief stop of course) to Lake Ontario and was radioactive from Fort Niagara and worked GUIDO ON7GR, Dave KJ4MCZ, IK4DCT, Tim N5RKK, Collin KD4QFT and The World Scouts Jamboree in Sweden!! SJ22S with Phil on the radio ;-) al with 5 watts and a vertical on 20 meters.

From there I cycled on to Rochester area where I slept in the wild and in someones garage since it was really pooring down over there. From Oswego I went on to the beginning of the St. Lawrence river bu the Thousand Islands region in the direction of the Atlantic sea. Easy cycling and did an average of about 140 km a day until I reached Beauharnais, a town just before Montreal where I again was sleeping in Serges garden and could take a shower, really wet evening there.. From there it was a relaxed drive to Montreal I thaught .. not .. heavy traffic and not really good directions to find a good path into town until I found a parallel bridge where it was possible to cycle to the main Island where I stayed in the youthhostel. Very nice, safe and cool place for 2 days, right in the middle of the big city. It was since Vancouver I saw these size of skyscrapers .. Montreal is ok. I went out and saw Aliens versus Cowboys or the other way around , a really bad film except for the effects. Visiting the Olympic Parc was a good decision, nice lookout over the whole city and superb views, the old stadium - already from 1976 (so old .. o'boy) - is still intact. The bicyclearena is tranformed to a kind of animalpreservation or something.. pff .. I took the metro and did some on and off hopping. and bought , again , a new isolation matrass since the one I bought in Niagara again went bezerk..
This time I bought again a Thermarest Prolite Plus but made from another maybe more durable fabric, and more expensive ... 160 Canadian dollars .. a slam in my thight budget .. no more food for 12 days ..

I was again radioaktiv south of Montreal on 07 augustus in the afternoon at 2200 local Flemish time to work the 14345 kc net but I heard Germans on 14343 kc and a US-net on 14347 kc. No Flemish stations on there so I called cq and worked Pat KI4SVM, Arno F4DCG, KURT ON8MT, Tod N4LA and Tom KI4NSP. I didn't had the time to be active on VHF over here in Montreal maybe later on the trip.

The remainder of the month I try to cycle to Quebec and maybe meet Gregg VE2HIT and then to Riviere du Loup, and in the Province of New Brunswick (Braunschweig) : Edmunston, Grand Falls,  into the mountains again in Plaster Rock, Miramichi, Moncton and over to Prince Edward Island and then to the province of Nova Scotia by Caribouand take the ferry from Digby to Saint John in New Brunswick again. From there I'll cycle south again some 100 km to the US of A and from there it will be some 600 km to Boston by oa. Kennebunkport. Up till now I cycled 8650 horizontal kilometers and 47 vertical ones and probably will do another 2600 horizontal or so km in the next month. Hope to find some good bicycle paths like the route vert if they are not too much gravel. Fingers crossed for good weather and if somebody knows a nice place on Prince Edward Island to stay for some 2-3 days with a big beam and a shack or just a more normal place let me know !

Van CANUS4

Van CANUS4

Van CANUS4

Van CANUS4

Van CANUS4