And the number is 132

After another peaceful night at La Maison sous l'Orme Bnb and a hearty, yet artistic breakfast, it was off on the road again.

My partner needs another rest day for his knee so we say goodbye at the ferry in Lévis so he can catch the bus and I head along the very nice bike path that follows the south shore to pick up the 132 that we will take all the way to New Brunswick. 

Of course, the path is so nice that I miss the point where I am supposed to get on it and keep riding. This is where the mapping program is helping as I see I am going off my route and double back only adding 4 kms to my day.

I do finally get onto the 132 and start rolling up and down this scenic road with île d'Orléans on my left shoulder.

There is a very good and very wide shoulder that makes the riding comfortable since the speed limit is 90 km for vehicles but most drivers are doing 100 or 110. Not sure why people want to drive the scenic drive at highway speeds. 

Note to drivers: I am way over on the right hand side of the shoulder; you don't have to veer way over to the left hand lane and then wrench your vehicle back to your proper lane right in front of me to avoid opposing traffic. And maybe ease off on the speed instead of accelerating when going by a cyclist; we're not going that fast!

Note to other cyclists: the Route Verte signs will direct you off the 132 at each community. You might be tempted to ignore the signs and just keep on the 132. I would strongly suggest that you follow the signs. It gives you a break from the traffic, there is usually interesting things to see in these small towns, there are often stores and cafes to replenish but, most importantly I found, it is often a route, which provides a bit of shade that is a welcome relief on hot, sunny days.

Plus, in one town, I got to say hi to a German cyclist who is cycling to Vancouver. Not sure what this rationale is for doing the cross country east to west but good luck to them.

The kilometers rolled by as did the places such as Montmagny 

And L'islet sur Mer where there is a Maritime Museum 

This former icebreaker finished its career in 1978 just as I was beginning mine.

A short ride further down the road brought me to the destination for the day, Saint-Jean-Port-Joli. Still, I had to stop for a moment and enjoy the sights. 

Rest Day. in Quebec

After a delicious breakfast on the veranda with a view of the provincial capital through the trees, it was time to do a bit of laundry and bike maintenance before heading onto the ferry to visit Vieux Québec. 

A leisurely stroll through the streets of the Lower Town as we wanted to give our legs a break. Found a shady terrace not far from an interactive fountain.

The restaurant offered a wonderful, refreshing gazpacho that brought back memories of Valencia and, like most people in town on a sunny Sunday, we enjoyed being outside and people-watching. 

By the time we finished lunch it was time to head to our main activity for the day, catching the new Tom Cruise movie in some cool air conditioning. 

Unfortunately, the only place it was playing in English was out in the wilds of suburban Quebec involving two bus rides to the Galeries de la Capitale mall. Still, we got to see a part of the city that most people don't see when they come to Quebec and we saw what a city that spends more than half the year in winter has in their big mall.

Another two buses back to Vieux Québec (The movie was actually pretty good) and a more pleasant walk along the waterfront towards the ferry now that the sun was setting.

We decide to stop at another terrace near the Ferry terminal since they are only running once an hour on Sunday night.

It was called the Cochon Dingue so I appropriately had their ground pork burger, which was excellent and went down very well with the glass of draft cider though the fries were not as good as the ones I had in Richmond the other day.

What the hell, we are on holiday. We missed the ferry, continued to enjoy lounging on the terrace with the Coast Guard base in the background and caught the next one.

Didn't even mind the endless stairs back to the Bnb on a pretty great day with my son in Quebec.

Sunshine on my shoulder makes me sweaty

Today announced the first really sunny and hot day of the trip as we left Victoriaville heading for Quebec and our first planned rest day.

Unfortunately, Joe's knee issues are not improving so we decide to give him a day off when we get to Princeville, the next town on the route, and he will jump on the bus to Quebec. More unfortunately still is that no one at the bus stop, which is just a gas station, has a clue whether we can put his bike on the bus or, if so, how to pack it. Even when we call the main bus company phone number they are no help but we found the number for the bus station in Plessiville, which is just down the road and thankfully got someone who knows their job who told us we can ship the bike for a fee.

Had to make a command decision, so we decided to carry on to Plessiville where they knew what they were doing even if it meant a few more kms for the sore knee. 

The bike path is nice and flat in this area and the gravel compacted so we arrived without a problem and stopped for a break at the rest stop before heading to the bus station.

After wasting half an hour in Princeville, it took five minutes to get a bus ticket in Plessiville and they even had a bike bag and stored the bike until the bus arrived!

After lunch, I had to say goodbye to my partner for a few hours as I still had to get myself to Quebec. 

I made good time but the miles seemed longer without Joe to chat with. At Dosquet, the path is paved for a good portion but it is also follows the 116 without too many trees just as the sun was its strongest so I didn't dawdle. 

Got to the entrance to Lévis and continued following the directions to get to the ferry where I would meet up with Joe. I took the trail through the Parc de la Chaudière, which looked on the map like the shortest route to get to the shore bike path. It was except it took longer because of the hills and walking across the suspension bridge but it was worth it for the view.

After the park it is a bit hairy getting down to the shore path along roads full of suburban traffic speeding along as if they were on the highway which was nearby. There must be some chemical phenomenon that occurs in drivers that ramps up their aggressivity and makes them drive faster just by being in proximity to a highway. 

Finally got to the shore bike path when I get flagged down by a cyclist coming the other way. He asks me if I have a place to stay for the night. I think this is a bit bizarre but he explains that he is cycling to South America this fall. I thank him and say I've already got a Bnb booked. He wishes me well and I do the same and we shake hands.

This feels like the fraternity of fellow traveling cyclists and I sense the pleasure of riding without a fixed plan and letting come what may. Thoughts of a future trip are already formulating in my mind as I gaze at the Coast Guard ship docked on the far shore.

Waiting at the ferry terminal, two cyclists sit down across from me. They are loaded with panniers on Surly bikes so I ask them where they are coming from. Taylor and Pete are from Ontario but are cycling from Halifax to Vancouver! I wished them well riding against the prevailing winds but it fits with their blog title: 
http://crazyamateurbiketrip.wordpress.com

My partner arrives and we head to the Bnb, which is only 500 meters away on the map but the map didn't show that it was 500 meters up a vicious hill!

Anyway, we pushed our bikes up there and were greeted by Felix who showed us around the very nice house and gave us suggestions for a nearby place to eat. He also told us where to go for the best view of the Ville de Québec. He was right.

Journée d'enfer

Eight hours in the saddle, one sore knee, killer trucks, attack pheasants, horse flies as big as, well, horses but still some beautiful stretches through forests and farmland with a welcome lunch at Pizza Richmond (much better than it sounds) just before a shower drenched us.

And still we made it to Victoriaville just as the sun was setting.

A dip in the pool, a soak in the hot tub, a bite to eat and zzzzzzzzzzz

What's in a name

Day two on the road and a pleasant ride along the Estriade from Granby to Waterloo with a bit of culture thrown in by the local Bromont municipality along the way.

Passing through Waterloo, a good place to stop for a break is the Plage Municipale with toilet facilities, picnic tables and nice vistas of the surrounding hills.

The "Route Verte", which we have been mostly trying to follow now becomes a section called "La Montagnarde " from Waterloo to the other side of Magog.

What an appropriate name! Gravel trails following hydro corridors and dirt roads with one hill after another. Really, this was meant for mountain bikes not touring bikes with full saddlebags.

We stuck it out for a few kilometers but when the route intersected the 112 road we admitted defeat as we gazed at the next hill in front of us and took the 112.

Dieu merci that we did. A nice, newly paved section of road with a wide shoulder and no potholes! Who would have thought in Quebec.

Our bikes practically rode themselves all the way to Eastman where we stopped for lunch. Lots of choices but we found a wonderful little cafe with a terrace called Les Trois Grâces. Highly recommended.

A good cappuccino at the end of lunch put us in good form to continue our ride to Sherbrooke. We passed by Lac Orford just below the mountain before heading into Magog.

You have to watch for traffic as the 112 gets close to the 10 and there is a roundabout where we got off the main road and picked up the Montagnarde  again. Of course, we picked it up a couple of kilometers too soon and had to contend with a couple of steep, gravelly climbs before we got to the paved path leading into Magog but the next 15 minutes gliding down the wide bike path into town was a delight.

Our day was almost over but we still had another 25K to ride. It always seems like the last bit will never end but eventually our hotel in Sherbrooke came into view.

A tough day. Next time, we'll pay more attention to the name of the trail.