geeteetravels

From Terrebonne we switched from the Route Verte 5 to the Route Verte 2 and headed northwest into the Laurentians. The trail is also the ‘P’tit train du nord’ and the Trans Canada trail all on the same path. Since it was a rail trail the gradient was never more than 5% and was a mix of pavement and gravel, all very good to ride on. As we have seen before, the trail was well serviced with toilets, info, and bike fixing stations. Our destination was Saint-Sauveur, about halfway to the more famous Mont Tremblant but we ran out of time to go further.

I have a colleague/friend who lives close by and who had given us great ideas for the ride overall, so we met up with Dan and his charming wife Linda. We spent a great evening at their home in Morin Heights and were treated to a gourmet home cooked meal. These two love being active in the outdoors so we met for a guided ride on a favourite trail two days later. The scenery is truly breathtaking with lakes and trees and hills all around. If we could have been here a week or two later we would have been presented with the famous colour explosion of the season as the leaves change from green to gold, orange, red and burgundy. As it was, the start of this was apparent so we did not miss it entirely.

This is a skiing destination and there are no less than 4 downhill ski areas within 10km of St-Sauveur, as well as an abundance of cross country/mountain biking trails. We even found a cute little ski museum which related the long history of skiing in the area. As is typical for a ski town, our accommodation had a hot tub but also a warm pool and a sauna. One of the things we did not think we would need on this trip was bathing suits so we had to shop and found a $10 suit for Tara in a liquidation place. George made do with one of his two pairs of shorts. Also needed were $2.49 special gloves for the ride back to Montreal as the morning temps were getting low.

The route back was halfway the same way we came up, and then zig zagging our way through Laval and finally to our original B&B in the south side of Montreal. There was more bike racing in store for us as the UCI world championships were happening all week in Montreal, specifically including our street! Traffic was snarled and grumpy but we had no trouble. We got our bike cases back (phew!) and packed the bike up the next morning. That left us just a bit of time for sightseeing, race spectating, and souvenir shopping. An early morning flight meant a short sleep but it was smooth sailing with an Uber on both ends and a fast and smooth flight home to Calgary.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

Leaving Quebec City wasn’t as tough as our arrival, no 19% hills to climb or descend. Instead we took a long way around and only had a bit of climbing. If we ever come back we would come in this way too. The first 10 km or so out of Quebec is on Boulevard Champlain, a wonderful flat paved cycleway along the St. Lawrence. We were now following La Route Verte 5 which isn’t quite as nice as #1, more road sharing, often small farm roads and sometimes on a quiet-ish highway. The forecast showed a very good chance of rain on this day and we managed to ride most of the way before it started. We hid out in a Tim Hortons for a bit but eventually had to face the downpour. It was a relatively short shower but we did arrive in Port Neuf wet and dirty. However, our lovely room in the B&B had a washer and dryer! Sometimes we are very lucky.

The next day we rode to Trois-Rivières. It was a hard ride against a strong wind for most of the day so we were pretty beat when we arrived. We saw other cyclists that day, all going the other direction, so much smarter than us. I guess it’s the same as home, the wind is usually from the west. Luckily we had planned 2 nights here so had a day to recover. Trois-Rivières is an interesting city with a long history going back to the 17th century. We weren’t able to visit any museums as everything is closed on Monday but still were able to do a self guided walking tour to learn about the history. There were also many murals here to admire. We were surprised to see that large cruise ships are able to dock here. The St. Lawrence is a big deep river even this far inland.

The next leg of the journey back to Montréal was to Berthierville, almost 80 kms and still some wind but not as strong and relatively little climbing. This is a flat area around the river and prone to flooding we learned. We were too tired to do anything after our arrival and we stayed in a charming log house B&B run by a Romanian family that offered both supper and breakfast so we could stay put. Lucky again.

The next day’s ride to Terrebonne was another long one due to part of our route being “barre” for construction resulting in a fairly big detour for us and another almost 80 kms to cover. On the bright side it was quite a nice day with light wind only so we were lucky yet again. Terrebonne is a good sized city north of Montréal on the Rivière des Mille Îles (maybe not a thousand islands but many). We stayed in the old Terrebonne area which was very charming with many historic buildings, one of which was our B&B. Right beside the old city are a few of those 1000 islands with old mills (moulins), barns, farmhouses, etc. It reminded me of Heritage Park at home.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

It was a short(ish) ride to Lyster but too far to Quebec City so we had to stop somewhere for the night. The B&B we booked turned out to be an excellent choice, owned by a lovely couple who lived in half of the large house, the other half for guests. We met a Quebecois cycling couple on the way and had a lively conversation. Their style was definitely less posh than ours, camping for free whenever possible. Everything is relative. Once again the trail was fine gravel and almost dead straight and surrounded by trees, with shelters, tables and WCs, more than required. Lyster is a small farming town with 2 restaurants, both of which were closed the night we were there, and 1 poorly stocked grocery store. Despite this we managed to find some supper and a lovely breakfast was provided.

We were looking forward to getting to Quebec and the last leg went quickly as we were going slightly downhill, and with more to see than gravel and trees. We came to the Chaudière falls as we approached the south shore of the St. Lawrence and the city of Lévis. Crossing over the St. Lawrence on the 107 year old iron and steel Pont du Quebec took a while as it is a narrow single lane ped/bikeway. Later I looked up the story of the bridge which is very interesting, especially for aspiring engineers. (Hint: mistakes were made and it collapsed not once but twice in the making). The terrain once in the city was challenging with steep hills although we had it easier than the British soldiers who scaled the hill with guns and drums in 1759 before the battle on the Plains of Abraham, as our path was paved.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

We left Sherbrooke on a drizzly morning, not full out rain, but heavy mist requiring rain coats at times. We’ve found often that if we go to the trouble of digging out the rain jackets, the rain stops. Temperatures are on the cool side from 10-22C but good for riding and not too much wind. The route was again almost all separated lanes except for about 10 kms on a quiet paved road. The gravel paths here are mostly quite good and we can usually stay well above 20kmph. There was one section on this day, however, just before Richmond that was clearly closed for work, was not in great shape (I guess why they are working on it), but it was a Saturday, nobody was working and they had only just begun so we were able to sneak through anyway. This was a good thing as there wasn’t really another good way except to get on the busy highway, which we (the royal we) like to avoid.

Richmond Quebec is a pretty small place with only a few hotels and businesses but very charming with friendly people. We stayed in one of those motels which was an historic train station turned motel, built in the early 1900’s. Interestingly there are several towns that we’ve been through in this area that share names with Ontario cities: Waterloo, Brompton, Richmond and Windsor.

The next day we were off again to Victoriaville still following La Route Verte/Transcanada Trail through the trees. This one appears to be an old train route with minimal grade changes and very straight. George finds these a bit tedious as he needs to pay attention to what’s ahead of him (bumps, puddles, other riders as well as wildlife sometimes) however I can enjoy the scenery a bit more so I don’t mind the trails at all. They are very peaceful and lush. The trails are well used by cyclists almost everywhere we’ve ridden so far. Also interesting is the number of 3 wheel and 4 wheel scooters piloted by aging speed demons on the trails. We’ve never seen this before, the amount of these is amazing.

Victoriaville is famous for a few things: hockey sticks (although not anymore and we didn’t find much evidence of this history), Jean Béliveau (famous Montreal hockey player in the 50-60’s) and Sir Wilfred Laurier (7th Prime Minister from 1896-1911) who wasn’t born here but lived much of his life here. We tried to see his home which is now a museum but it was closed for Labour Day. Interestingly most businesses were closed for Labour Day, even the grocery stores, so not what we are used to, but good for the workers. Despite this we managed to feed ourselves and enjoy the day exploring some of the lovely parks here.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

The ride to Sherbrooke from Magog was only a bit wet with about an hour of lightish rain, better than we thought it might be. The route looks a bit indirect but it is the scenic route following the Route Verte 1 mostly through the forest, only a bit on roads. When George prepares the routes at home sometimes he tries to slip in a shortcut on the road but mostly I veto this. If I don’t then he will generally hear my complaints while on said road so maybe just stay on the pathway? The trees here are quite different than home with maples, oaks and others so interesting to experience. I am told that the black bears, if encountered, are quite skittish so I am (maybe) not really worried about that. We didn’t think to bring the bear spray.

Sherbrooke is a bigger city with 2 universities. The pathways coming into the city were all newly paved along the river and very nice. The city itself appears somewhat depressed economically however, from what we saw in one day, as there were a number of closed businesses in the downtown core. We spent the day doing a self-guided walking tour following a trail of murals around the central area. They were themed mostly about the history of the city and were very good. We also visited an art museum with works by mostly local artists as well as a bunch by Marc Chagall. His works displayed here were prints from etchings based on the fables of Jean de la Fontaine (The Fox and the Grapes, The Tortoise and the Hare).

We have now finished our Eastern Townships tour and are heading towards Quebec City tomorrow with 3 stops along the way and continuing to follow Route Verte 1.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

From Granby to Magog was our first harder ride with about 725m in elevation gain and about 65kms. The terrain became hillier and even a few small mountains in the vicinity that are skied on in the winter. The one we encountered was Mont Orford which is also a provincial (Quebec National…) park with biking/skiing trails and lakes. The trails were often gravel but very small stones so not an issue and the scenery more than made up for it. So far the weather is cooperating and we had a lovely day to ride. Quebec has definitely put some tax dollars to use creating this vast network of trails. The sales tax here is 10% on top of GST.

Our accommodation in Magog is a B&B in a historical old house full of charm in the centre of the town. The town is the most touristy we have seen outside of Montreal, offering lake activities, cycling, hiking, skiing in the winter, etc. It isn’t far to the US border so we see license plates from Vermont, Maine and even Florida. The town sits on Lac Memphrémagog (there’s also a Lac Magog) which is derived from an indigenous name and apparently has a lake monster named Memphré who curiously looks just like the Ogopogo.

During the 2 days here we rode around the Orford area again, took in the lake front, strolled the shopping street (no purchases though due to lack of space on the bike), sampled poutine, visited a historic home/museum and hiked in the marsh area. A lovely place to visit!

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

We left Montreal on a sunny morning after having been assured our luggage was going to be cared for by the B&B we just stayed at. Fingers crossed, we’ve heard this before. The cycle trails and separated lanes made getting out of town very easy. We crossed the big old steel Jacques Cartier bridge on the way out giving us a nice view of all the islands comprising Montreal, then on to well sign posted and separated bike lanes along the Route Verte 1 (RV1) the entire way to our first stop at St Jean-sur-Richelieu. There were many other cyclists using the system because, why not? From Chambly going south we followed a canal with many locks and pleasure boats reminding us of the Bourgogne region we recently cycled. The canal was built to get around the many rapids and shallow spots of the Richelieu river which we were never far from. Because of the water we saw many shore birds and a lot of folks fishing as well. We stayed at a bit of a dive motel as there wasn’t much choice but it had a good situation next to the river.

After looking around St Jean for another day we were off to Granby via two essentially long straight and flat ex-train lines mostly well paved for the cyclists. These went through farmland with soybeans and corn predominantly with the occasional smell of dairy cattle and a bit of poison ivy too. We stumbled upon a small active airfield where skydiving was the thing and we got a close-up view of the landings. Just one night in Granby so not much to say. It thundered and rained heavily in the evening but we missed most of it while dining in an Italian restaurant.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling

We landed in Montreal late, but on schedule, and Ubered to our B&B, La Loggia, in the gay village of Montreal. It is an “art B&B” so fits well within this neighborhood, which is eclectic, especially in the evening. It is also well situated for us as it is a walkable distance to Vieux Montreal attractions. We took in a guided historical walking tour as well as a boat tour of the old harbour. So much Canadian history that we have either forgotten or never learned. Our host at the B&B was very accommodating and had agreed to store our bike cases for the month we are cycling around the area. We hope that goes well.

Our first impressions of cycling here are very positive, there are a lot of folks cycling obviously for transport (not just recreation), and the separated pathways are everywhere. Also the drivers have been very mindful of both pedestrians and cyclists which is great to experience.

Tags: bikepacking, quebeccycling, tandemcycling