Day 66 - Trois Rivières, QC to Lac St. Augustin, QC

July 18 (Saturday)

Start Time: 5:00 am

Stop Time: 2:00 pm

KM Travelled: 117.4 km

Elevation: +625/ - 585 m

Special Stuff: Soft Serve Ice Cream, Chickens, Quebec (city)

I leave my hotel in Trois Rivières at 5:00 am. The woman hotel clerk is surprised to see me with my bike fully loaded and ready to go - no one else is around. I ask here if the downtown area is safe - she confirms that it is. Outside the hotel, I pause and consider if I've made the right choice to start off this early, but, too late now. I make three passes up and down the street trying to navigate my start direction (I'm feeling like a homing pigeon released from it's crate on a training toss - trying to figure out the way 'home'). I get it figured out and I'm off. I thoroughly enjoy navigating the quiet city streets in the twilight.

The suburbs of Trois Rivières feel surprisingly comfortable. There are cozy homes around a big industrial plant - the area smells like Quesnel and Prince George, so it is likely a pulp mill. There is a Royal Canadian Naval building and a grand church which feels mismatched with the humble community.

Further down the river, there are more beautiful estate homes. They are nice to see, but I'd never want to be responsible for keeping one of those giant places clean. I'm fond of cozy little homes. Someone once told me, 'the smaller the home, the closer the family' - I think there's some truth to this. I've seen a lot of homes along this ride and I've often wondered what they would look like if they reflected of love and joy that exist in the home. I have alot of time to think about stuff like this.

I come across a long stretch of road that has recently had some work done on it - the cracks are filled with tar. These 'tar snakes' are hazardous to bikers - the tar gets soft and mushy in the hot sun - and can destabilize a bike.. What I observe is that, the tar snakes have been covered with paper! It was so unusual that I had to stop to take a picture - including a picture of the paper coming loose and flying into the yards of road front property owners - who must be pretty ticked off this 'toilet paper' look on their lovely lawns!

My weekend early start gives me such a quiet ride through lots of cute little towns. I get a picture of some more metal roofs. One has a lovely coppery orange colour.

At 7:00 am, after having seen hardly any traffic, I come across a long bridge with a see-through metal grate bottom. (which I dare not look through). I'm not so good with heights, so the only thing I can do is look straight ahead, pedal and recite positive affirmations. Wouldn't you know it, after hours with hardly a vehicle in sight, I get not one, but TWO vehicles that want to pass me on the bridge. I stop and stand on wobbly legs until they pass. Once back on solid ground, I stop for a moment to celebrate.

There are more churches this morning. They are in every town - it is amazing. The congregations must be quite large to gather enough tithes for the building upkeep!

There's an interesting mural across the street from this church.

I've been riding along a road called "Chemin Du Roy" - there are lots of signs identifying the road. It's interesting to have a road named after a guy named Roy - I think to myself, "This Roy guy must be pretty important". About half way into my ride, I connect the dots and I realize "Chemin Du Roy" means "The King's Road"- as the man I met yesterday told me about. I was very slow to pick that up - you'd think the crown would have been a giveaway.

A highlight of my day are these chickens that are right on the side of the road running loose in a little town. These guys are awesome - and look how healthy!

At 11:00 I stop for a soft serve ice cream at a little restaurant on the side of the road. It is not open yet, but they sell me one anyways. Apparently, soft service ice cream is a Quebec thing.

It's a good thing I fuel up on ice cream because hills are back again - the first time in a long time. As I get close to the campground, I need to get off my bike to tackle a crazy hill that gets up to a 14% grade! When I get to the top of the hill, huffing, puffing and sweating, I hear voices behind me having a leisurely chit chat while on their bikes. I have to stop and to take a look at these incredible athletes. An elderly couple on ebikes pass by me with a quick "hello". I laugh and think - isn't it wonderful that they can bike around where ever they want - ebikes have transformed so many people's relationship with the outdoors!

I meet up with Brian at our campsite - and we make a quick trip into Quebec City (which is referred to here just as "Quebec"). It's a bit confusing. because when I say Quebec, I mean the province, not the city. I guess I'll just need to be clear.

There is a summer festival going on in downtown Quebec (city), so we just do a drive-through to have a 'look-see' and both agree that Quebec (city) is a place we would like to come back to visit.

At a local grocery store, we set out to buy a few items and notice so many duck options! Back in B.C. one would be hard pressed to find duck in the supermarket. Here, it comes in many different forms. Interesting.

As evening sets in, we experience an amazing thunderstorms that comes and goes early into the morning - the thunder rumbles for unusually long periods of time. Biking across Canada, I am very in-tune with the weather because it is such a critical element for my planning. Back at home, I can go for days without really being aware of the weather.

Tomorrow is a rest day.

Monday I have an appointment at the bike shop to get my chain switched out, and hopefully they can take a look at the clicking noise my bike makes when I pedal.