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After a delicious and copious breakfast at the Mystic Meadows Bnb, I headed east on the 2 towards Lancaster and then the Ontario/Quebec border. The stretch from Cornwall to Lancaster is quite nice with views of the St. Lawrence, a good shoulder to ride along and a bunch of ostentatious homes that have been built in recent years.

I figure it must be the Belgium effect-where rich French citizens relocate to Belgium to avoid the taxes of their home country. I'm sure most of these homes must be well-to-do Montrealers who have transplanted across the border to the relatively lower taxes of Ontario while still being within an hour of the city.

After Lancaster, the 'Waterfront Trail' runs along the 401 south service road. A good road with wide shoulder but no waterfront to speak of. If I was advising anyone, I would tell them to avoid the section of the trail between Brockville and Upper Canada Village, and take in the actual trails and road with shoulder between Morrisbourg and Lancaster. The fact that the promotion of the Waterfront Trail is, for large sections, along a road of moderate quality with traffic travelling at speeds in excess of 90 kph is disingenuous at best.

Another tail wind quickly brought me to the border.

I was happy to get back to the province in the forefront of cycling infrastructure. I followed the main road until I picked up the bike path that follows the old Soulanges Canal.

Along the way, I spotted a new postal station at Les Coteaux.

I wonder how something like this will fare in graffiti-happy Montreal?

It was nice to get away from the sound of traffic and ride along the old canal. They have some interesting panels along the way that explain the building of and life and work of the canal when it was in operation.

In no time, I was in Pointe des Cascades.

I pedaled through Ile Perrot without noticing too much the suburban bliss and then made my way across the Galipeau bridge with its fancy new bike path and circular ramp into Ste-Anne-de Bellevue.

At the base of the ramp is a market/cafe called the Coop du Grand Orme, which looked promising so I decided to make it my lunch stop. The vegetarian chili with homemade cornbread and the beet salad went very well with the local brew (ah, the joys of biking when you can burn off those calories right away).

After a scone and a cappuccino, I was ready for the last leg of the journey home. Having done this road many times, it seemed to take no time at all before I was rolling through the Lachine Canal and then up the Berri hill.

Ah, Montreal. Go away for a month and come back to find the streets just as torn up as they were the month before if not more so, and breath in the vibrating air of frantic drivers trying to make their way through the labyrinth of orange cones. You have to admire their determination to stay in their vehicles when so much conspires against them in the big, bad city.

All in all, a couple of excellent days of riding.