Sunday, 9 March 2008

On the luck of the draw

Despite (or possibly because of) the snowstorm yesterday, I went, as my father puts it, on a hunting and gathering expedition for items relating to the trip. I started with a couple of bike stores on the plateau. I was hoping to find better gloves for biking in the rain. Instead I came away with a some Sprintech handlebar mirrors. These you stick into the ends of your handlebars. I saw people with them at Vélo-Québec summer challenges. While I have generally avoided mirrors, these seemed a relatively non-intrusive way to look backwards. Of course, I will have to wait about a month before I can put them to the test: there was approximately 40 cm of snow dumped on the city yesterday alone. I think this is the snowiest winter I can remember since my first Quebec winter back in 1977-1978!

After the bike stores, I hit both Indigo and Chapters downtown. (For some reason, the two biggest anglo bookstores in Montreal are only a few blocks apart.) There I hit a jackpot of sorts. I could only find the P.E.I. Trans Canada Trail Guide, but it was only about $5.00! A steal at the price.

I suspect that new editions of these guides will be coming out shortly. Certainly, comparing the guide with the map from the Confederation Trail website, it appears, there are a few changes. However, the gist of the information should still be correct. Reading the guide, I think that I will not need to bring it with me, and rather rely on the information from the Confederation website, the trail guide handout and notes taken from the TCT guide. The TCT will also be useful as background reading.

Now if I can only make sure we stay well clear of anything Anne of Green Gables related... ;-)

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