August 10, 2010
Granby to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu
After the fierce downpour of last night, we are looking forward to our ride today - most of our gear has dried out and the weather has improved.
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The next part of the trail was through beautiful rolling farm land with many wonderful wildflowers. This part of the route is called la Monteregiade. Extremely long and straighttrail made up of crushed gravel.
The ride into Farnham was amazing. We passed over a number of small dams. Farnham is a beautiful village. The Richelieu river runs right through the village. Our reading in French must be improving as we were able to read the historical plaques. During WWI and WWII, German officers were held here as POW's. We rode across a pedestrian/cycling bridge to the other side of the river to a huge 2 steepled church past an impressive fountain in the middle of the river.
Made lunch baguette, cheese, smoked meat and tomatoes) by the river and enjoyed the cooling breezes.
We passed by the now familiar petanque club, that is so typical of Quebec towns. Farnham was a gem of a town. On the outskirts of Farnham, we were startled by the loud roar of an airplane right beside us. On the other side of the hedge is a skydiving club and the next thing we knew, we were surrounded by colourful parachutes coming in for a precise landing. They were doing flips and somersaults in the sky.
We arrived in Saint-Jean-sur-Richilieu in the early evening. What an amazing place. Right through the village are locks with cycling paths following both the river and the canal. Bikes were everywhere.
We couldn't find a campsite so we splurged at the Hotel Relais Gouveneur. Best accomodation we have had for bike storage. They provided a large locked room next to the lobby with air pump, tools, info about local bike shops. etc. The room included full hot breakfast buffet.
Today's ride: 60 km (37 miles)
Total: 1,066 km (662 miles)
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