Underpantless in la belle province

After the NY NMBS we high tailed it out of Windham to get to Georgia Gould's farm where the boys were staying all week. From what we could tell, the Gould's pretty much owned half of NY state as the family had properties scattered all over. They were hosting the Kona team, the Luna team, family from Italy, family from out of state, and maybe a few random people off the street to bring the party to an even 50. We had a yummy BBQ, drank wine, played ping pong and looked for bears. Unfortunately I was flying out to Quebec Monday afternoon so I had to get a childhood's worth of memories in just one morning so we trucked down to the river to see "the Forge", the coolest swimming spot ever. I wasn't really planning on swimming before my flight but when I saw how awesome it was I dove in with shorts and a sports bra.  I jumped off the high rock, swam upstream and checked out the crazy rock formations smoothed out by the river. We hit "the picnic rocks" and skipped rocks, tested out war paint colours, picked berries and looked for "pollywogs". As Ben said, "its like Narnia!" Too bad for me I had to take off to catch my flight. I was freezing so I changed into some dry clothes on top of my packed luggage. No time to dig for dry underpants. I figured it was a short trip so I went to the airport commando, smelling like river. Its not like I was flying to europe or anything. I could take my wet clothes out of my bag and get some underpants on soon enough. It was worth squeezing out a few extra minutes at the river. easy peezy lemon squeezy. But I was wrong.

I arrived in Quebec with spare wheels. No bag, no bike, no underpants. I had been on 2 small planes so I figured they just didnt fit and would be here in the morning. I filed the paperwork and went to the airport hotel with my parents. My mom offered me her "flannel nightie" but I took her up on some HIGH waisted XS shorts and an XS tank to sleep in. Its not a fashion show OK? We headed to Mont St Anne the next day with no bike or bag and no clue where they were but I wasnt too worried.  Delayed luggage is pretty normal. Two days later I started to get worried. The airline had no clue where my bags were and the dudes from India that were manning the "help" lines appeared to be quite useless. 

I had washed my clothes by then (while hanging out in my high waisted shorts) but I still had no underpants and no bike. It was time to stop hoping for the best and get proactive. My legs felt like crap and I needed to ride. I tracked down the local Kona dealer but he only had DH bikes to loan me. He did take pity on me and gave me a good discount on a chammy and sports bra and suggested renting a bike from the hill. The shopping selection wasn't exactly prime in Beaupre (unless you want cheese curds) but I found some underpants and something  to sleep in (no, not a nightie) and a change of clothes. Then I rented a bike. Not exactly your finely tuned race machine with heavy ass wheels and 40psi in the tires but my legs really needed a spin. It was a $150 spin. But I did get some good looks when I ripped down the trails and nailed the skinnies with my rec rider attire. 

Of course once I shelled out some cash my bike and bag showed up that night. I had to wash everything in the bag because it smelt like dank river water but at least I had my own underpants back and my sweet sweet Hei Hei. Traveling is so glamorous.