A short little update blog with pictures. For those looking for another entertaining edition of Brod on the Road, one should be forthcoming soon. The topic will be saunas. You’ll have to wait for it before finding out what that means.

We’re close to saying au revoir to Quebec – we’ve reached Rimouski which is up toward the Gaspe Peninsula and we’re about to turn southeast to New Brunswick – but before we do here are some pictures of our trip through La Belle Province.

Our trip from Trois Rivieres to the western outskirts of Quebec City (Saint-Augustin-de-Desmaures) came on a blustery day. There was one rainstorm and a bridge with a frightful see-through metal deck.

But on the final day of June the sun shone. First stop was the Plains of Abraham, which now are a federal park that is used for rugby, running and cycling.

Although the weather was perfect for sightseeing in the Old City, the difficulty was, when you’re packing 50 to 60 pounds on a bicycle in a crowded and hilly area it’s hard to get around. It was a short visit of just a couple of hours, most of which was spent at an expensive bistro for lunch with the rest pushing our bikes up hills. But it was sure nice to sit out in the sunshine and watch the people admiring the ancient buildings. It’s a beautiful place, no doubt about it.

After that, we needed to get to the other side of the St. Lawrence to set up camp. Some had recommended taking the ferry across. In retrospect, we wish we had taken them up on their advice. We got ourselves into a freeway situation before realizing there was actually a pedestrian/cycling sidewalk on the other side of the Pont du Quebec. We managed to get a break in traffic long enough to scoot across to get on it.

The sidewalk, though, was scary too. It was narrow, the walls weren’t that high and you didn’t dare look down for fear of losing your balance. The drop down was extremely precipitous. Think the Ironworkers Memorial Bridge before it’s recent rehab only much higher and even narrower sidewalks. Not for the faint of heart, but the locals seemed to not mind using it because there were more cyclists on it than I’ve ever seen use any of the Greater Vancouver bridges.

On July 1, we headed for pretty city of Montmagny and its extremely busy municipal campground where we were treated to a 15-minute Canada Day fireworks display. It’s so far east in the time zone, and south for that matter, the show started at 9:30 p.m. when it was already dark. In B.C., it’s tough to start it at 10 p.m., because there’s still too much light only 10 days after the summer solstice.

Kilometre count

Day 61: Trois Riviére to Saint-Augustin-de-Demaures 122 km; Total: 5,467 km

Day 62: Saint-Augustin to Lévis 46 km; Total: 5,513 km

Day 63: Lévis to Montmagny 69 km; Total: 5,582 km

Day 64: Montmagny to Riviere du Loup 137 wind-aided km; Total: 5,719 km

Day 65: Riviere du Loup to Rimouski 105 km; Total: 5,824 km