Quebec City: Reuniting with old friends

July 14, 2016

It was another hot and sunny day as I continued on the trail towards Quebec City. The cycle route took me out of the forests and back into civilisation, then across the rusty old steel bridge over the Saint Lawrence river and on towards Quebec City itself. I remembered that fantastic old bridge from my last visit here, all rusted and creaking and magnificent.

I turned north to follow a cycle path beside the great river. There were nice parks all the way along but it was extremely hot and sunny, and there was nowhere to sit in a shady spot. I thought it rather a shame to have such nice riverside parks and not be able to stop and take a break without sweltering in the heat. Eventually I decided that an alternative method to keep me cool would be to jump in the river, and I chanced upon an area that was sort of designated for swimming, though the ugly little beach, dubious water, and concrete steps down to it meant it wasn’t exactly popular.

As I rested my bike at the top of the steps a friendly man named Mike said hello and we got to chatting. Mike told me he was a local, and he’d come out here to try and get some nice photos of the lightning. I looked up and saw what he meant. Dark clouds were rolling in, about to obscure the sun and ruin the lovely weather. It was still so hot and muggy that I chose to go for a swim anyway.

Then the rain came down in torrents as I cycled on towards the city centre. I was getting soaked and there was indeed thunder and lightning, but I kept at it anyway, snatching glimpses of the fine old buildings that make Quebec the most European of all North American cities. The last time I had visited I’d had quite a magnificent guided tour from my host, Meggie, and, having seen it all before I didn’t feel the need to explore the city again right now, and instead hid under a bridge.

Once the rain eased a little I continued on to VeloCentrix, a non-profit bicycle workshop where I had arranged to meet a man named Julien. Now, way back in 2010 I had been cycling through Quebec in the opposite direction from that which I had just come, and I’d encountered a local cycle tourist by the name of Meghan. We rode together for a few days to Montreal, and became friends. Now that I was back in Quebec we’d arranged to cycle together for a few days again, north from Quebec City this time, with Meghan’s boyfriend Julien also joining us. As luck would have it they worked for this bike workshop, and I’d arranged to meet Julien today, because my overworked bike was in need of a little TLC.

As I’d been cycling out of Montreal with Daniel I had noticed that my bottom bracket was broken. It was pretty frustrating timing, as I’d just had three days off when I could have fixed it, but hadn’t. Now I was worried about whether it would make it all the way to Halifax. I had a tough time schedule now, and a mechanical breakdown was not something I could afford. Then Meghan had stepped in, and volunteered Julien’s services as a bike mechanic. He found me a second-hand bottom bracket that we fitted, and I also replaced the middle chainring with a spare that I had been carrying since Siberia. The original had become so worn that for some days it had been unusable and I’d been having to get by on just the small chainring. Now, thanks to Julien and VeloCentrix, I had a working bike again, and I was delighted.

There were also a few pedicabs. I felt nostalgic

That's Julien in the background, talking with another fellow after my bike was back on form

The skies had brightened up again by the time I left Julien and cycled a few more kilometres to the place where I would be staying for the night. Once again Meggie had invited me to stay and I was looking forward to see her again. We’d first met in 2010 in Quebec, but we’d also seen each other in 2012, when she had stayed with me in Munich and we’d drunk pitchers of beer together at Oktoberfest. Another four years had slipped by since then of course, but it was time to rekindle our friendship once more. Times had very much changed, however. When I had last seen her she was single, now she lived in a really nice house with her boyfriend Martin, and their young baby, Isaak.

I pulled up to her lovely big house and she came out to greet me, though our moment of reunion was slightly interrupted by one of her neighbours, who’d spotted me and had come over to ask me about my brand new, bright red Arkel panniers.

“Are they good for food?” he asked, confusingly.

“What?” I replied.

“Are they good for storing food?”

“Well, yes, I suppose so.”

“We just have a container.”

I literally had no idea where this conversation was going, but eventually he noticed that Meggie was waiting to say hello to me after four years and he slipped away.

“Hi Meggie. It’s so good to see you again! Do you own this house? Wow! You must have been working hard!”

And she had, it was a fantastic house. It even had a pool. For days I had been cycling along in the intense heat, noticing pools in people’s backyards and wishing I could only jump in one. Now I had my chance.

I was still enjoying the pool when Simon and Marie-Claude arrived. They had been Meggie’s flatmates six years ago (in a slightly murky student apartment - how times change!) and now came over for the evening so that we could all be reunited again. Simon was his usual humorous self, joking around and playing the fool as he dived into the pool. Things had also changed for them, however, and Marie-Claude arrived looking much more fat then usual. I was worried about giving her the traditional two kisses, lest I get too close and bounce right off. She was nine months pregnant, and due any day.

It was a fantastic evening, including a tofu-burger barbecue, 9% Quebec beer (though not for Marie-Claude) and a lot of fun. With plenty of space in the garden we soon pulled out some summer games. It started with boules. Meggie was busy putting Isaak to sleep, and so it was just the three of us taking part. I’d imagined that Simon would be my major competition, but in a surprise result it was Marie-Claude who triumphed. Quite convincingly actually. Next up was another throwing game, this one involving trying to hurl a string with two balls on either end so that it would land successfully on a rack at the other end of the garden. Once again it was Marie-Claude who came out the victor. By now I was getting a little sick of losing to a heavily-pregnant woman, and for the final game I teamed up with her to take on Simon and Meggie. Continuing the theme, this was yet another throwing game, with the object this time to get metal rings into a box. With the reigning champ on my side I was confident of finally securing a victory.

We lost.

Another winning shot from the heavily pregnant competitor

It was a great evening. So good to catch up, and to see how much lives can change in six years!(p.s. a few days later Marie-Claude gave birth to a healthy baby girl!)

Today's ride: 69 km (43 miles)
Total: 54,545 km (33,872 miles)

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