Vive la différence!

After 2,000 kilometres of shoulder discomfort riding Highway 17 through Northern Ontario, cycling through Quebec has been relatively pain free.

As we’ve whined before, 17’s paved shoulders were exceptionally narrow forcing us to often be side-by-side with transport trucks. It got extremely painful for the final 150-200 kilometres because some dimwitted bureaucrat thought a good safety measure would be to put rumble strips into the narrow shoulder. Maybe for a few sleep-deprived drivers, but not for saddle-sore cyclists.

The bumps forced us to ride inside the white lines. Not good. Not good at all. It’s unfair and unsafe for cyclists and drivers.

But Quebec has been been a pavement revelation. The roads generally have a wide enough shoulder for us to ride on. And where there is little or no shoulder the traffic volume is low enough and speed slow enough to keep it comfortable.

A big bonus is the terrain is quite flat, so a steady pace can be maintained. That keeps our days in the saddle to a reasonable time, even when we make some wrong turns like happened for us on Tuesday.

When we left Ottawa on Sunday, we were in a quandary about how to avoid the traffic nightmares surrounding Montreal. Although it’s a neat city to visit, and likely a nice place to bike once you get to the downtown and Old Montreal areas, the frequent freeways crisscrossing the city are scary.

We got our answer that evening from an unexpected source. We’d just finished dinner and Clive had begun setting up his tent at the Brownsburg-Chatam Municipal Campground when a man in his 60s, who had just arrived on a bicycle, strolled across the tenting area and introduced himself to Clive.

Walter is from Victoria and he’s on his third cross-Canada cycling trip. This time his destination is the Magdalen Islands, which while part of Quebec are closer to Prince Edward Island. He’s been moving at warp speed frequently riding 200 km in a day. He left home on May 15, more than two weeks after I departed Vancouver.

He suggested a route north of Montreal and the St. Lawrence River with stops in Joliette and Trois Riviéres on our way into Quebec City before crossing over to the south side.

So far, it’s been good advice.

Most of the towns appear to be merely dots on the map so we weren’t expecting much. But that has been far from the case. Sure there’s been a fair share of quaint villages where front porches loom over top of sidewalks and road curbs. Many of those dots, though, are full-fledged cities supporting large numbers of inhabitants. They all have their fair share of grocery stores selling beer and wine alongside produce, Tim Hortons, McDonalds and Subways.

The nail that went right through Grant’s back tire. His mechanical support team (I’m kidding) work on the repair

The biggest challenges have been camping during thunderstorms and sign reading, since they’re all in French (the signs that is, not the thunderstorms), and a nail puncturing right through the tire and tube and out the other side.

So far we’ve always been able to get service in English, much to our relief. In some ways I’d like everyone speaking English, but at the same time I envy them being able to communicate in two languages. That is an asset I wish I had.

It’s a difference I can handle, especially with all the positive differences that have come our way on the road.

Kilometre count

Days 55-57: Rest in Ottawa (total count does not include riding about 20-25 km a day)

Day 58: Ottawa to Brownsburg-Chatam (Quebec) Municipal Campground 129; Total: 5,131 km

Day 59: Brownsburg-Chatam to Joliette 113 km; Total: 5,244 km

Day 60: Joliette to Trois Riviére (includes wrong-way mileage) 105 km; Total: 5,349 km