You would think I would have learned my lesson after day 2 and La Montagnard but after 40 smooth kilometers along the 132 from Rivière du Loup to Trois Pistoles I decide to take a break from the endless stream of transport trucks (the 132 is the only road between Cacouna and Rimouski) and follow the Route Verte sign leading down to the shore.
It is a nice change from the road and traffic with lots of beautiful coast to gaze upon.
But do they ever make you pay for those views. Down a hill just to come to another one and then another one. Not enough of a challenge for you. Let's add in gravel and makes those hills a bit steeper still.
As I am standing midway up the next but not the last hill trying to catch my breath, I realize that there is not so much route in the Route Verte. It looks great on a map but what it is actually designed for is driving someplace with your bikes on the back of the car and then riding 10 or 20 kilometers before calling it a day. There is probably a reason why I am the only idiot who, at one point, is trying to push my loaded bike up a hiking trail adopted by the Route Verte that I can just barely walk up.
Needless to say that when I finally see a sign for the 132 I head straight (well, up another hill) for it, giving the finger to the Route Verte sign beckoning me to follow another it to a new, fresh hell.
I wave hello to my trucker friends as I get back to the road and my little section of heavenly shoulder. I only wish they would slow down a bit. Things are going too fast if even a strip club can't stay open on this road.
Unfortunately, my sojourn on the RV between Trois Pistoles and San Simon has left me drained and uninterested in venturing into the Parc Nationale du Bic, which is where I probably should have gone off the road so I only glance at it in passing as the rest of the speedier travelers do from the 132 though I do stop for one shot.
A few more hills on the way to Rimouski but at least most of the traffic has continued onto a highway bypass. Then a city bike path comes along that leads all the way to the hotel and I think the Route Verte isn't all that bad. And I know another day will come along and I'll be Charlie Browned again.
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