Day 44 – Berthier-sur-mer, Quebec (Friday, June 19, 2015)

There wasn’t any breakfast offered at the Motel Beausejour so I set off around 7am on an empty stomach anxious to find something before hunger set in.

Luckily I found a Tim Horton’s in Montmagny and ordered two Bagel BLT Combos and a muffin. I figured that would cover me until about 1pm if needed.

As per the forecast the morning started with a strong head wind and tapered off in the afternoon. I planned to make Riviere du loup which would have been considered too short a distance with any tail wind.

Throughout the day I retraced the roads and trails that Katie and I took on the south shore in 2013 on the way to St John, NB.  The St. Lawrence River basin is a unique blend of water, flat fertile farmland, and outcrops of bedrock. I read on a plaque somewhere in North Dakota that a glacial lake existed in the area which is now prairie in Saskatchewan, Manitoba, North Dakota, Minnesota, Michigan, and parts of Ontario. Apparently as the glaciers melted in the east the massive lake drained through what is now the St Lawrence river basin. Now as I ride I imagine, in fast motion, a great river of water rushing along and leaving the flat deposits; the farm land I see all around.

About 10km from Riviere du loup I am sure I was passed by “Big Calves”‘ sister who waved as she sped by me on her time trial bicycle. No two people could have such big calves who aren’t related. I was going to call out “Say hi to your brother in Calgary. I really enjoyed the trip through the States!” but thought better of it since there was a remote possibility I was mistaken and she was Quebecois.

I arrived in Riviere du loup at about 4:30pm and booked a room at the Comfort Inn instead of camping which I now regret.

Tomorrow I will be taking a new route toward the Gaspe. The weatherman says I will have good winds. We’ll see!‎

A view of the St Lawrence River from the south side looking south west near Montmagny.

A view of the St Lawrence looking ‎south west.

Route de Verte along the St Lawrence.

New a welcome center that Katie and I stopped at in 2013.

Typical farmland.

Near a town.

Day 43 – Berthier-sur-mer, Quebec (Thursday, June 18, 2015)

I took advantage of the continental breakfast at the motel (Motel Marquis) where I was served home made swiss bread. I struggled to communicate with the proprietor and his wife. It turned out that they were from a french area of Switzerland, were taught German as the second language, and had no impetus to learn English fluently.   I spite of that they were very friendly and hospitable.  They looked after their motel with care and attention and as a result their quality ratings were quite high.

The hosts also pointed out that route I was taking along highway 138 was Chemin de Roy.   The road was commissioned by the king of France in 1707 making it one of the oldest roads in Canada. Apparently, as I found out, it took a carriage six days to travel from Montreal to Quebec. With fast horses you could do the trip in two days (or a bicycle.)

It was a good road with nice wide shoulders, relatively light traffic, historic town names, and occasional striking glimpses of the St Lawrence River.

The breakfast lasted me ’til lunch were I stopped in Batiscan for a tuna sub.

After lunch a nice tail wind had picked up and I made good time to Quebec City.   Although I enjoy Quebec, visiting the Plains of Abraham, and the old city this time there was no one to enjoy it with. Instead since the day was sunny and the wind westerly I resolved to take advantage, cross over on the ferry to Levy and cover as much distance as I could before supper.

Around 5pm I could feel my strength diminish so I stopped at a good little motel on the St Lawrence River with a decent restaurant within walking distance.

Perhaps I have been fortunate but the motels that I stayed at in Quebec have been excellent. The care and attention by the proprietors is similar to what I have come to expect in bed and breakfasts. The hosts are attentive and friendly, they are generally less expensive, they don’t have any frills like antique furniture, artwork, and quaint ornaments (which are lost on me), and are more private. I highly recommend the three motels; Motel Capri in Repentigny, Motel Marquis in Trois Rivieres, and now at Motel Beausejour in Berthier-sur-mer.

Beach on the north shore of the St Lawrence between Trois Rivieres and Quebec.

Church in a town on the North Shore. Typical of old Quebec towns.

View of Quebec (Hotel Frontenac and the old city) from the ferry crossing to Levy.

An inviting path going north east along the Route de Verte from the ferry terminal in Levy.

An inviting path going north east along the Route de Verte from the ferry terminal in Levy.

The Gulf of St Lawrence from the restaurant window in Berthier-sur-mer.

Day 42 – Trois Rivieres, Quebec (Wednesday, June 17, 2015)

The route today followed highway 138 on the north shore of the St. Lawrence< River.   Between Montreal and Quebec the road is generally flat and at various points runs close to the river. As expected the road had wide shoulders and clearly marked bicycle signs. The day started somewhat overcast and cool with a slight head wind but overall turned out generally clear with a helpful north west wind.

I had breakfast along the way and lunch in Louisville where I had originally planned to stay.   I now plan to cut out at least one day by covering the distance between Montreal and (at least Levy) in two days instead of three. I had a late lunch in Trios Rivieres and settled for the night just west of the town in a clean Motel, Motel le Marquis, managed by a friendly couple from Switzerland who knew very little English.

Day 41 – Repentigny, Quebec (Tuesday, June 16, 2015)

It started to rain just as I was getting up in the morning – the timing couldn’t have been worse.  Luckily it didn’t catch me with the tent partly down.   I waited until it had subsided a bit (which wasted time) and managed to pack everything, save the tent without getting wet, ate a chocolate bar, and got going.

It rained in varying degrees for the first part of the trip. Sometime lightly like a falling mist and sometimes quite hard. I had breakfast just west of Cornwall in a deluge with rivers of water running down the road.

The last time I went through Montreal with Katie I booked a B+B in the downtown core. Driving through traffic, being stuck with buses and cars on both sides was an ordeal I was not keen to repeat. Because of this I spent a bit of extra time making sure to follow the famous scenic bicycle routes.

I ended up following the Lachine Canal route which was easy to find coming from the west.   This was one of the best routes in the tour so far.   It is reassuring to see that it was well used with bicyclists, runners and pedestrians.   I imagine that there was significant investment in creating the trail system through Montreal.  The high use forced you to be alert. Commuters on bikes were leaving and entering the main trail from other trails which were not always as clear to visitors.

As I was passing through the heart of the city the rain poured down again.   Many commuters took refuge under bridges but the majority simply got wet.   The rain doesn’t effect me too much but it does poise some technical challenges:

1. Dynamo Issue: Normally I turn my lights in the rain for additional visibility. Unfortunately only my lights or my gps can effectively powered by my dynometer at the same time.  I end up disconnecting my gps or turn off my lights out of frustration.
2. GPS Touch Screen Issue: When it is raining very hard drips of water confuse the gps making it almost impossible to keep the map visible rendering the gps useless.

As you may imagine these issues, in the pouring rain, in the heart of Montreal, with frequent trail forks make the going slower than I had anticipated.

In a deluge I rode past my planned stop at the Montreal Hostel which happened to be quite close to the Lachine Canal trail. Perhaps another time it would have made a good place to spend the night.

My idea was to follow the route for the next day and stop at a Motel or Gite along the way but the delays caused by the rain and the now dwindling daylight introduced urgency. As I stopped to look up the closest accommodation in East Montreal I was approached by a friendly man name Andrey who pointed a Motel Capri in Repentigny on the outskirts of Montreal.  It was well past 9:30pm when found the place to stay for the night.

It was the first day when I had to use my lights because of the dark.

Day 40 – Long Sault Parkway, Ontario (Monday, June 15, 2015)

Physical necessity often puts you in a bit of a pickle twenty kilometers from nowhere about 1 hour after breakfast. Today I happened to find I nice spot at Peck’s Marina with a bonus view of the lake in the misty rain.

Day 39 – Gananoque, Ontario (Sunday, June 14, 2015)

Left wellington – took pictures.

Noted lack of public washrooms for bikers.

Saw Lake on the Mountain and met four ladies from just south of ottawa. They were doing a 5 day trip which included staying at a B+B in picton. One of the ladies named Sylvia was from a town along the road between Montreal and Quebec city.   She advised against being near Quebec city on the Le fete Nationale holiday on June 24th. I am worried because I believe that I am scheduled to pass through Quebec close to June 24th. I will do my best to avoid it now that I’ve been told.

After noticing the general absense of public washrooms along the  Waterfront Trail and PEC in particular I become aware of my growing fondness to construction style portable outhouses which would have formerly been an eye sore.  Perspective is a strange thing.

I passed by the locks at Kingston Mills and witnessed someone catching a fish. I had always thought that fishing and buying lottery tickets were similar activities; people waiting for the impossible to happen. Now I know that there not.  I’m pretty sure it wasn’t staged.

I had a pretty good supper and local beer at a pub in town and settled at the Days Inn.

Day 38 – Wellington (Prince Edward County), Ontario (Saturday, June 13, 2015)

After breakfast I left Quito Inn and took a route along a well maintained, paved trail following a river which wound it’s way south toward the lake.  It would have put anything in Kitchener around the Grand to shame. Perhaps I was too hasty in judging Oshawa’s treatment of the bicycle.

The trail eventually follows the shore of the lake and leads to Darlington Provincial Park. (This would be a good destination for future rides if they allow overnight camping.) Not far from the park I came to the outskirts of Clarington and the massive Darlington Nuclear Power Station (supplies about 20% of Ontario’s electrical power.).

The eastern border of the Darlington plant the road was fenced preventing entry into the adjacent St Mary’s Cement plant which was equally impressive. (I have to look up why large cement plants are often located next electrical power plants.).   This was one of the few times on my trip that I was forced to retrace my progress for nearly 2km and follow an 6km alternate route.

Throughout the day I was never far from the lake travelling through a number of quaint towns via trails and roads with generally good shoulders and marked bicycle routes.  I had lunch at a small deli that served a good tuna panini in or close to Port Hope. I traveled through Colbourg where they had cordoned off the downtown for a street market.

I arrived in Prince Edward County (PEC) about 5pm and got something to eat at Emm’s restaurant just outside of Consecon along Loyalist’s Parkway.    My plan indicated a trail which wound through PEC but it appeared to be rough, wet from the recent rain, and poorly maintained.

What is unique about PEC is that the main road through the county is the Loyalist Parkway and the traffic, especially before the summer, is very light and is essentially used only for tourists and PEC residents.  The road has perfect shoulders, light traffic and the community is receptive to bicycles.  Perhaps it helps that the ferry to the east is the only route to Kingston and beyond forcing trucks and cars travelling between cities to find more direct highways.

Needless to say it made no sense for me to take difficult trails when the roads were ideal.  So I biked 20km further than I intended and stayed in a B+B in Wellington called Magnolia Meadows. Before closing out the day I had a milk shake and a chicken salad at the adjacent Dari Bar and Grill.

Day 37 – Oshawa, Ontario (Friday, June 12, 2015)

A number of things didn’t work out today.

1. My breakfasts and all my mixed nuts (3 pounds) were eaten by a raccoon. They had carefully un-buckled my  front pannier which is not so easily done.
2. It started to rain when I was packing up after my tent was down.
3. I lost one of my water bottles.
4. I had to take immodium for the very first time on the trip.
5. It rained.
6. The rides through the city were especially unpleasant with heavy traffic.

And… it was one of the most enjoyable days on the trip.

There are waterfront trails running from Oakville all the way to Pickering that are about the best bicycle riding that I have seen anywhere.   Each of the cities (Oakville, Mississauga, Port Credit, Toronto, Pickering)  have done a great job with their trails. In almost every case they are paved with a center line.

I met Lois for lunch at 11:30am at one of the beaches by Leuty Street. After the beaches the route took me through part of the city before the trail picked up again.    Although ride trails is slower and you have to give more attention to the route, the beauty and the frequent curves make the time passes quickly.

After a while on a trail for a while I stopped to take stock of my surroundings and was surprise to find myself at Frenchman’s bay beside Auntie Ida’s cottage. The panorama of the bay was taken from that vantage point.

I was reminded again how close the bay is to Pickering Nuclear Power Station.   Somehow, as big as it is, it remains hidden from view from the bay.

Because it was overcast and raining all day it kept the ambiance of an early dewy morning even into the late afternoon. Even the birds seemed tricked. It made riding tranquil.

The approach to Oshawa was not pleasant. I rode past the Oshawa assembly plant at a shift change.   There were no provisions for bicycles either on the roads or in people’s minds.

I stayed at the Quinto Inn in downtown Oshawa.

Day 36 – Mississauga, Ontario (Thursday, June 11, 2015)

I had a lazy morning. I got up late compared to other biking days. I made breakfast at a leisurely pace and went about replenishing my food supplies, and did a few things with my bike (replaced the pedals which I started to suspect were wearing and topped up the tires).

Ann, Michelle and I biked together for about 8 km to a point a little beyond the Butterfly Conservatory.

The route took me through quiet interesting trails in Guelph. It was nice to be off the road for a change even though it was much slower.

I had a good wind today and arrived at Bronte Provincial Park in good time in spite of the late start. It was good it was only 75 km today. I am not really in the rhythm yet.

Route through Guelph.

I spent time in Kitchener and Toronto between late Friday, June 5th and Thursday morning, June 11th with family. I saw Ann and all the kids, visited Dad, Lois and John in Toronto.