Tag: bike touring (Page 2 of 3)

~The daily account of a 6 day Bike Tour from Burlington, Vermont to Quebec City, Canada~

Madame Boutin, Auberge Harris

Getting out of town was easier than getting in yesterday. The traffic was light and the temperatures cool. I should mention that we rode in and out on marked bike paths which are part of the street – i.e., a complete street. Complete Streets is a program in the U.S. aimed at getting our roads to work for everyone – young and old, cyclists, pedestrians, the disabled and drivers. What I realized as we rode from town to town this week, is that Quebec is one big example of the complete street philosophy.

This is about the time I started noticing for sale signs on homes and thinking as we rode by cute and quaint house after house, I could live here. Turns out Mark was doing the same thing.

Still going for that LA look with the socks. (Sojourn photo)

We made our way along the bike path that follows the Chambly Canal just as we did yesterday afternoon.  It was even more picturesque today since the sun wasn’t beating down and the wind wasn’t blowing.

The bike path also takes you past several locks on the way to Fort Chambly.

Lock along Chambly Canal (Google Earth-wimzip)

We arrived at Fort Chambly at 31 miles.  It had been an easy ride thus far – we even had a nice tailwind.  Much deserved after yesterday!  We parked our bikes and took a quick look inside the Fort.  Fort Chambly was built in 1711 to serve as protection against British invasion.

Fort Chambly (HistoricLakes.org)

We posed for a group picture (taken multiple times – with every one’s cameras) and individual/couple pictures.  What a photogenic group!

Still smiling and having fun!

Joshua & Mark – our fearless leaders!

Richelieu River at Fort Chambly

We refilled our water bottles, stocked up on goodies, then headed to a local bike shop for socks for me.  I still had the sunburn/rach despite all the sunscreen I was using. I picked up a pair of socks and more sunscreen and we were off.  The bike shop didn’t sell sunscreen but the guy that worked there gave me lots of sample sized tubes – what a nice guy – cool bikes too.  I love bike shops – my favorite kind of shopping.  No time for that now, there were miles to cover.

We may look lost, but we’re not. Really.

Our ride took us along the river and through small villages and towns, it was a pretty ride.  We stopped for a Sojourn picnic lunch at Saint-Marc-sur-Richelieu.

I was slowly learning not to eat so much at lunch because it made the afternoon ride too hard.  Overall the days got easier the more we rode.  Strangely, I felt better after day 4 for instance, then I did after days 1 and 2.  I could tell from the information from the Garmin Edge that I wasn’t working too hard – at least cardiovascular wise – my legs and butt had a different opinion.

Today was another day of riding through quaint towns and beautiful scenery – bucolic you might say.  Although we didn’t stop often to take pictures, I couldn’t pass this one by.

The Chateau Saint Antoine

Susan & Bruce

Lisa & Jerry

Just before we got into Sorel, we stopped for ice cream.  Nothing like ice cream to cool you off.

It was wonderful riding from town to town in Quebec. The majority of time we were on good roads, often on marked paths, but whether we were on a path or on the road the drivers accommodated us. No horns, no yelling, only waves.  Even in the larger towns or cities like Sorel it didn’t feel dangerous to ride. It was busy and there was a lot of traffic, but drivers accommodated cyclists. There are lots of reasons it would be nice to live in Canada, the ease and civility toward cyclists is just another.

For the day, I rode 61 miles, avg. speed of 15.1  Another fun day on the bike!

Read on:  Sojourners by Bike ~ Day 5

---

Back to the ride.  Today was a loop ride, we left the Auberge and returned to the Auberge 58 miles/6 hours later.

Madame Boutin, Auberge Harris

Every day the van, driven by whichever of the guys not on the bike with us, would stop so we could refuel.  It was always nice to see the van waiting.

Notice the name prominently displayed.

A seriously hungry group. 

This was a very small place and we completely overwhelmed them.  Except for Mark (Montreal Mark) and Joshua our French was pretty limited, as was the proprietor’s English, so it took awhile to order and get our food. It was worth the wait – not your run-of-the-mill ham sandwich – it was delicious!  

Planning the next attack of the sandwich

A happy and satisfied crew. (Sojourn photo)

It was another hot day and part of the crew decided to skip the Michel Jodoin Cidrerie, but about half the group rode on. The miles just before the Cidrerie were hilly – my Garmin Edge said we climbed 1,019 feet Day 3 – most of that was in the miles to and from the Cidrerie.  The wind was also picking up, unfortunately for us it was a headwind. The miles of apple orchards were beautiful. With scenery like this the miles actually just kind of melt away. 

Apple Orchard of Michel Jodoin

Once we got to the Cidrerie Michel Jodoin, we parked our bikes and walked inside to the coldest air I had felt in forever.  I was happy – restrooms with running water and air conditioning – what more could you ask for.  Maybe a little cold cider?

Betty and the bikes.

We toured the area where the apple ciders and spirits are made then lined up for the tasting.  Let’s face it, that’s why we were there.

Michel Jodoin Winery

The sparkling rose’ cider was excellent, my favorite that we tried. The Michel Jodoin story is impressive and if interested, you can read about it on their website Cidrerie Michel Jodoin.

We left the cool and dark of Michel Jodoin’s and walked out into a bright, hot oven. A wise few of the group took the van back to the Auberge Harris, the rest of us headed back on our bikes. Betty was not happy.

The hills we climbed to get to the Cidrerie we had to climb again.  Hot, windy and hilly – three words cyclists hate to hear – much less do. The hilly section ended quickly but the heat and wind continued. We rode through flat farmland with nothing to block the wind.  Did I mention that the roads were terrible.

There were lots of turns, we were either going into the wind or with a crosswind.  Never a tailwind I swear. If there had been a tailwind we would have flown – but it was not to be.

Mark and I ended up by ourselves and even though we had filled our bottles up at the Cidrerie, we were quickly emptying them. We rode slowly and on the rare occasion we saw shade we would stop for a few minutes. It was brutal.

Miles later, looking up the road we saw what appeared to be a mirage – the Sojourn van.  Lucky for us it was no mirage, it was Joshua and he had ICE COLD WATER.  He had dropped the group off at the Auberge and then came back to make sure we were okay and refill our bottles with ICE COLD WATER. What a guy!

He sympathetically cursed the headwinds with us, asked us if we wanted a lift then went off to find the others.

Refueled we were ready to take the heat and wind back on.  The views started to improve as we rode through the Chambly Basin and then along the Chambly Canal.

I was too tired and too focused on getting to the Auberge as quickly as I could (imagining the taste of that ice cold beer) to stop and take any pictures as we rode along the canal.  It was beautiful!  The canal, beautiful homes and magnificently paved (and wide) bike path was like something out of a cyclist’s dream. It was simply gorgeous.

We rode alongside the Chambly Canal for around 10 miles then caught the bike path in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for a few miles and back to the Auberge.

As we were getting off the bikes (Betty was dusty and tired) we caught a glimpse of the group that had either ridden back directly from lunch or taken the van back from the Cidrerie, at the pool looking cool and refreshed.  We cursed them under our breath and went inside in search of Madame Boutin and her cold beer!

For the day, I rode 58 miles, avg. speed 12.3.

Read On:  Sojourners by Bike – Day 4 

---

We rode 52 miles today, the final 33 or so after lunch were tough because of the heat and headwind. I’m not sure what the temperature actually was, but the sun felt very hot. It must have been, because I ended up with a heat rash/sun/wind burn on my legs – despite using gobs of sunscreen.

from Toutain art website

---

Burlington, VT – Quebec City, CA

 

345 miles/6 Days

---

Looking like a couple of goofy kids.

Then yesterday morning we said au revoir to our bike tour buddies, we were sad to see them go. 

We biked, ate, slept, packed – and repeated – for six days – Sunday, August 29, 2010 – Friday, September 3, 2010.

Six glorious days of riding – 345 miles – ending with an epic ride into Quebec City of 85 miles (6.5 hours on the bike) fighting head and cross winds, walking up the final (10% +) two *hills* we (4 of us, plus our leader) rode in along the bike path to our hotel. 

It should be duly noted, that Jeff was the only one of the four to ride up all the hills – a tip of the helmet to Jeff. 

With no prior plan to, Mark and I rode every single mile of the bike tour.  Just ask my butt, she’ll tell you.

On Saturday – we (all 16 of our bike tour, plus our 2 leaders) took a *hilly* walking tour around Quebec City – just to make sure we weren’t starting to feel too good on our first day off the bike.

To say our Vermont to Quebec City bike tour was phenomenal is an understatement.  The scenery was beyond belief,  – our fellow tour riders and leaders became fast friends – and the riding was a blast. 

Pictures and report to follow, but for now we start part deux of our vacation in Quebec- jusqu’à la prochaine fois!

---