Carefree Highway: Day 67 - Granby to Nicolet Quebec - And Then We Pedalled...... Cross Canada 2015

August 8, 2015

Carefree Highway: Day 67 - Granby to Nicolet Quebec

So who wouldn't like this?

Bike path in Yamaska Park at Granby Quebec

Riding in Quebec is beautiful, and safe. Our first 70 km today were on Route Vert 1, then the route through Yamaska park leading to Route Vert 4 that went all the way to Drummondville. The first third of this was paved. Spectacular riding through lakes and forests. The rest, mainly route 4, was very well maintained and very hard packed cinder on old rail lines running through forests, fields and the towns of Sexton and Acton Vale. Very very good to spectacular riding again.

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When you are on trails like these you start to focus on the world around you. What type of trees are growing, how many ears of corn on on each stalk in the field, what bird made that interesting call, what type of bikes did the folks we just passed have, did that guys chain need oil from the squeaking we heard? The list goes on, and that's just the external stimuli, there is also far more scope for internal reflection as well. This brings cycle touring to a whole new level, the sort we used to have to go to Europe to get. Now it's here in our own country, we just hadn't realized it.

Leaving Granby in the morning. It was Saturday morning and the bike paths were just starting to get busy. Mostly day trippers ranging from the Lycra clad carbon crowd to the grandmas and grandpas on their sit-up-and-beg bikes. Everyone out enjoying a beautiful morning

Through Granby there were several trail side art installations. Another nice touch that adds to the already great riding experience

With beautiful rest stops along the way. Most of these had picnic tables, some sun shade and potable water

Extremely well maintained hard pack, and this is how you do it. It was smoother than the vast majority is asphalt roads we have ridden. There is a little bit more rolling resistance but that is a small price to pay for having your own road away from cars. Infinitely safer and more interesting riding

We stopped for lunch in Acton Vale and had a shady table outside on a terrace. Good soup and pasta, with a jug of ice water. It wasn't really hot, just warm, but a litre of ice water always goes down well. Although the place we were in was not fancy, it was much better than the fast food or gas station food that is often your only option in small towns we've been at in other provinces and states. One again showing that Quebec is different, in a good way.

At about 70 km we hit Drummondville and the Route Vert 4 trail continued on the west side of the Saint-Francois River however we took the secondary highway on the east side of the river. While this wasn't quite the same as having your own bike road, it was about as good as regular road riding gets. Once we got out of Drummondville the car traffic dropped right off and there we more cyclists than cars. Always a good sign!

We were heading north towards the St Lawrence and Nicolet, where we were going to stay with Claude Auger and his family. This was Claude from the Claude and Martin duo that we cycled with on and off from Wisconsin all the way through to Sudbury. Claude had finished his trip through to PEI and was now back home. We were looking forward to catching up again, swapping stories from the road and meeting his family.

We were riding through dairy country, long straight roads lined with corn fields and big barns with multiple silos, a dead giveaway for a dairy farm. I should have stopped and taken more pictures but we were keen on getting to Claude's house where a hot shower, cold beer and good meal and company were waiting.

Great riding north of Drumondville along the St-Francois river

Corn fields and silos on the horizon. It was interesting that we went through Abottsford Quebec yesterday and there were commercial greenhouses everywhere, just like Abottsford BC on the west coast. And here we are in the St Lawrence valley with dairy farms everywhere, just like the Fraser Valley in the west too!

We arrived to a very warm welcome at Claude's and were soon cleaned up and being fed and watered. During our conversations, a couple of things struck me. First, we all agreed that Quebec has done a fantastic job of putting together a real working cycling network. It's well used and has tremendous potential for more. The one thing that I think is missing is a better external presence and marketing outside of Québec. One down fall is the Route Vert website. It is accessible only in French. " late breaking edit ,,,, Claude just found an English version of the website .... Ignore the next few sentences! " I think this is a lost opportunity. There is a huge market next door in the U.S. North east, and in the rest of Canada that is probably overlooking the holiday potential here. Having the website available in multiple languages (start with English and Spannish) like just about every european site does, would make the Route Vert much more accessible for people to PLAN their trip. No need to change anything in the province, the French language and Quebec culture is a large part of what people will come here for. Just make it easier for people to plan in their native language. "New update, I have had my head stuck I a part of my anatomy that only a yoga master can do. We are stopped for lunch at Gentily and have just used the English language site to search out and book a bike friendly hotel in Quebec City for Monday and Thuesday.We are going to take a day and a half off in QC. The Route Vert site made this very easy and efficient."

The second thought that occurred to us was that we are starting to see the end of out trip now. We went over the 6000 km Mark today, more than 2/3 of our planned distance. Also, Claude took only a week to get from Nicolet to PEI. We will take longer, and go a bit further, but we are now looking at a few weeks of cycling left, not months. Although I'm looking forward to completing the journey, that does not mean I'm looking forward to finishing. We're enjoying this too much to end it. That thought may be premature, as there is still a lot in front of us, but we may just debate the merits of turning south once we get to Signal Hill!

Thanks Claude and Jacinthe for the great hospitality. Hope we can reciprocate in Canmore

Song of the day:

Fool for Love by Lord Huron

Just seemed to fit the day

Historical monument of the day...Still working on it .... Could be the Route Verte network itself .... Recent history but it will be a lasting legacy

Today's ride: 134 km (83 miles)
Total: 6,167 km (3,830 miles)

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