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.
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