OK so maybe not everyone who follows this blog is a Cool Hand Luke fan but I had to use that line at some point.

Poutine: recommend early and often

So it’s now a verifiable fact that Tanya bears eat Poutine with voracity. What do Robears do? … Crap in the woods like all the other bears, of course. Out of respect for my audience I’ll skip the details of a particular nature call that solicited such an immediate answer that I forgot my years of training and scampered off into a mosquito and black fly infested fen without insect repellent. Needless to say I emerged most non-triumphantly with the burning desire to butter my raspberry muffins liberally with hydrocortisone cream.

Poo-tine: recommend only as needed

So we are underway and after a week on the road Tanya Bear and Robear are hitting their stride. The ride over the last three days from Saint-Siméon to Québec City has featured 2100 meters (6890 ft.) of climbing along the north shore of the Saint Lawrence river through the region of Charlevoix and enough mosquito bites to make me look like a poster boy for a chicken pox vaccination campaign. The weather has been wet and cold for the most part but our dynamic duo has been blessed with some pretty sweet and stealthy campsites in the wilderness of scenic Québec. Being lulled to sleep by rivers rolling over lightly bouldered narrows and feasting on a steady diet of Charlevoix cheese and pâté has made it worth every grueling hill climb. The damp chill of the night is soon alleviated by the welcoming warmth of the folks ’round these parts and my crappy French is more a source of amusement rather than ridicule. Made it into Québec City Saturday evening and, after some initial difficulty, managed to secure diggings on short notice with our generous host, Maude, in the quaint neighborhood of Limoilou. Our plan is to explore the city on Sunday and spend another night here before heading toward Montréal on the bike path.

¿Cómo te llamas?

“Bring me moose and squirrel!”

Our rides, Tanya & Toulouse near La Malbaie, QC

OK, so it’s only been about nine months since I’ve been on the road for real but it’s crazy how one can become so spoiled that you come to take for granted the things you love most about traveling. It’s not that things aren’t memorable or that you don’t appreciate them; it just seems that a lot of great experiences meld together and it becomes difficult to delineate the specifics at times.

Our first stop with our gracious hosts, Pat and Erin, has brought us back to the “right” frame of mind; that is, this it what it’s all about. Hanging with cool people who are genuinely excited to share their life experiences, not in a competitive fashion but simply out of shared enthusiasm for setting one’s priorities and doing the things that make us happy. Tanya and I could not have asked for a more hospitable pitstop on our way to Maine, complete with a welcoming glass of wine and an evening of stimulating, lively conversation accented with mutual admissions of choosing the wrong path at those times in life where being a jackass just seems like the thing to do. Needless to say that we thoroughly enjoyed our stay and it would have been great to have spent more time with our new friends had our traveling schedule permitted.

Well, I’m on the road but not quite “on the road” as yet. Flew into Houston on Thursday to see my family and some dear friends and to pick up Tanya, my touring companion for the first part of the ride. While we’re on the subject I guess it’s time to meet the playahs:

Robear, moi, a.k.a. Bobo, Robay, or just plain Robert Tolar for income tax purposes: Just your garden variety burnt-out engineer turned bartender turned full-time, homeless cycling bum. Likes: Grassy white wine from the south of France and chicks with cool eyeglasses. Dislikes: cocktails with more than two ingredients and listening to people misconjugate the intransitive verb “to lie.”

A bear named Tanya, a.k.a. Tanya Marin and not to be confused with my main touring bicycle named Tanya: Not your average bear but a honey nonetheless with a voice that melts carbonite and a vorpal, vivisecting wit that feeds on pseudo-intellectuals and rubes with equal voracity. Likes: Wistful, contemplative walks on the beach at sunset … uh, no, not really … Likes: Undercooked red meat and any acoustic version of “I Love Living in the City” by Fear. Dislikes: Straight guys who tuck their shirts in too often and that white crap that infects really old chocolate bars. Tanya is also doing a little fundraising for her mom’s sea turtle conservation. Details here.

The elephant in the room: I knew the time would come in this blog when I would feel compelled to say a little something about my dad and that time is now. My father, James Tolar, departed on January 23 this year after a brief but intense battle with cancer. At the time of his passing my plans for this trip were pretty much set and the wheels were already in motion. This year’s adventure is still dedicated to my mother, Betty, but in this case, three is not a crowd and the spirit of his memory will travel right along with us. It is my intention to do something grand in his honor upon completion of this undertaking. I’m not sure what that will be but I will have plenty of time to give it some thought.

…and now for something completely different…

Turn that frown upside down because things are happening. Tanya (the bear, not the bike) will be arriving from Austin later in the week for us to do a final equipment check. My cousin, Roxy, has already ordered 300 pounds of mud bugs for my uncle Roddy’s birthday bash-slash crawfish boil extravaganza this coming weekend. I’m staying with my dad’s wife, Carol (my other mother from another mother), so we’ve had a chance to spend some valuable time together. I’ve had the great fortune to have spent the last few days catching up with my awesome aunt, Jan, and I’m looking forward to seeing additional family.  I was able to hang with my homegirl Natalie who lives here also and I hope to see some more of her before I go.

What’s on deck?

Tanya and I will fly back to Boston on May 28th and spend the night at the home of our gracious hosts, Pat and Erin (whom I met while working at Desperado’s in North Adams). On Friday, May 29th, my boy Marley will bring our bikes to meet us at South Station in Boston and we’ll hop on the bus to Caribou, Maine. On May 30th the wheels hit the pavement and the game is afoot!

Life is good, God is great, and I’m ever grateful to all of my friends back in the Berkshires for enriching my life and being those kind of people that charge my spiritual batteries rather than drain them.

See you on the road.