Leaving Montreal we followed the directions on the GPS north eastwards out of the city and this was a mistake. We followed a busy road alongside the Autoroute Felixstowe Leclerc and it wasn't a place for a bicycle. Heavy traffic and heavy trucks going somewhere fast. Eventually, we made it across the Prairies River and onto Rue Notre Dame and everything was relatively peaceful again.
Over the next four days the cycling was just wonderful as we made our way along the north side of the St Lawrence River following La Route Verte which is a network of bicycle routes throughout Quebec. Whilst the signage on the road isn't all that it could be and the information from the Tourist Information Centres non-existant, if you manage to connect to the network and follow it then you are rewarded by some of the best cycling around. As an added bonus there are no hills, to speak of, in this part of Canada. It's a dream!
La Route Verte Highway 5 that we were following also followed the 'Chemin Du Roy' which is the King's Highway. This is the oldest road in Canada linking Montreal, Trois Rivieres and Quebec from 1737.
And this is the sign we all love to see on our roads, don't we? It says 'bloody cyclists this way' :)
Taking our time, we cycled through some lovely Quebec countryside in sunshine. After the many gruelling days we have had on the bike, this was like a cycling holiday. We feasted on strawberries, raspberries and blueberries from the countless farm stalls at the side of the road and when we stopped for a picnic there were no flies. Can you believe it? Honest, there were no black flies, bull dog flies or even mosquitos. We could actually have our lunch sitting still without waving.
Susan having lunch by the banks of the St Lawrence with her hands by her side.
In this area of Canada there are churches by the bucket load. Every small village has an oversized church with a silver painted tin roof. These churches are a quintessential part of the Quebec countryside.
Cycling an average of only 75km a day, we stopped overnight in Berthierville, Trois Rivieres and Neuville. There was no reason to rush through this part of our journey. As we neared Neuville, the weather threatened to hit us with another thunderstorm but thankfully it kept its distance this time and allowed us to get to our campsite dry.
Our cycle into Quebec was an easy 30km. We were actually smiling that morning over breakfast and it was only 20km later that we had 'poutine' for lunch at a popular snack bar situated under a magnificent cast iron railway bridge.
We reached Quebec City and will stay here over the weekend. It's time to do some carbohydrate loading. Susan calls it beer drinking but I prefer it's medical definition.
5,914km to date.
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