Day 3: Ville de Québec – Trois-Rivières
Left at 8am this morning for Trois-Rivières. The plan was to follow the 138 on the North Shore of the St Lawrence river all the way down to Montréal.
The other option for cyclists is to take the South Shore down through the countryside towards Drummondville on the Route Verte and to head from the south up into Montréal.
I chose the North Shore following the advice of a touring cyclist. It’s a gentle route through farmland and pretty villages.
The day starts and I managed to get lost leaving Québec coming from my friend’s house near Université Laval. Ended up underneath the two magnificent bridges heading south. I cycled around for about 10 extra kms and it took a long time going in the complete wrong direction but I got a good photo of the bridge.
Lost underneath the bridge!
After some advice I headed back upwards to find the Chemin St Louis and from there it was a straight ride through to Route 138. Easy.
I had cycled 45km at this point, with some steep uphills, so I pulled into a supermarket at Neuville to recharge the battery, which had began to weaken on one bar. I met a family of cycling tourers,
Mini-tourers!
including some very mini-tourers, so I took a cute picture.
My plan today is to keep three bars on Pedal-Assist all the way, stopping only when the battery runs down completely.
This worked out very well. The route to Trois-Rivières passes through fields of corn, and the lefthand-side is always next to the river, so you get some great views of the St Lawrence River. It’s absolutely straight too, and with a wide lane for cyclists, lots of stops for water fountains and little cafés along the way.
l’Arrêt du Temps – a garden full of flowers and a cool shade to have a quick nap
I stopped at a little Bed and Breakfast called “l’Arret du Temps” which welcomes cyclists. I fell asleep under a tree in the garden after lunch. The owner very kindly left my bike recharging around the side for an hour, and even gave me a water refill – with ice!
I had 40kms to go with a full battery. I got lost again in Trois-Rivières but after asking a lot of people I found my place to stay, and just before it started to thunder and lightning. Phew!
All in all, a long but successful day of touring.
Total distance: 140km