Salt is in the air

Carrying on the 132 out of Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, we pass La Roche à Veillon restaurant where we had dinner the previous night. Super food and service (I highly recommend the traditional Cipâte meat pie). Worth the 4 km ride outside of town.

A little further down the road we see a road construction sign that says local circulation only with a detour but when we turn onto the detour road it is leading up hills and no sign of ending so my partner says f××× that and we carry on the 132 and hope to get through.

Just a minute further we meet two cyclists heading west so we know they got through. We hit the construction zone and there is only one lane closed so we think this is no problem. We get through there and a bit further there is more construction with the whole road torn up.

While looking to see how we can sneak by, an older gentleman comes along and leads us up through people's front and back yards to get to the other side. We thank him profusely but he just says "If we want to come back, you'll want to have a good memory of the place!"

He said the work was started last year and it is supposed to finish by the end of July. Mmmmmm, I wonder.

Some of the most interesting sights along the road are the personal touches people put on their lawns or street signs and some people go a bit beyond.

Stop at La Pocataire for a coffee; our first Timmies on the trip. Once we cross the 20 and regain the shore, the traffic eases off and we start to get into some beautiful country with the ever present North shore hills visible across the St. Lawrence. 

It takes a while as we are bucking a head wind all day but we get to Kamouraska and stop for lunch at Poissonnerie Lauzier, which also has a small restaurant. Delicious though I would regret the chocolate brownie once I tried pedaling again. 

The St. Lawrence is widening out all the time and we are just now starting to get a real salt tinge to the air.

There is a richness to the land here, the contrast between the flat river plain and the surrounding hills. Combined with the large boulders strewn along the shores, which are visible at low water one can sense the presence of the glaciers that carved this terrain thousands of years ago.

People obviously love their land here, the farms are well maintained. We have come across this distinctive sign that speaks to their concern in preserving it.

The wind finally calms down late in the afternoon and we arrive into Rivière du Loup. Not the prettiest entrance on the 132 as the shoulder on the road disappears with a Route Verte Fin sign posted. We know it isn't the end of the Route Verte and finally figure out that Velo Quebec does not give a town or municipality the designation if it doesn't meet its criteria for the Route Verte designation though the signage seems a bit confusing when you are trying to follow the route. 

While staying in Lévis, we thought "The worst road in the Ville de Quebec would be the best road in Montreal. Strange how the capital city has such good roads with harsher climate.

Now we would add an addendum as the 132 road running through Rivière du Loup is the worst we have come across yet! Thankfully, we didn't bust a rim on our way to the hotel. I hope it isn't an indication of the road ahead.