Le Route Verte

Day 21
June 3, 2018
Montreal to Chambly

Our friends, Steve and Ann, meet us in Montreal to ride out of the city and follow parts of the Route Verte on their tandem bike.  With the addition of their B.O.B. trailer they are like a train moving down the trail.  Sunday morning is sunny and cool - perfect cycling conditions - and we find ourselves on the trail with about 2000 other cyclists enjoying the morning.

The Biosphere is now a museum dedicated to environmental issues.  It was free entry week, so we took a quick look around.  Tom was here in 1967 when the structure was enclosed in an acrylic bubble but today only the steel skeleton remains.  

The weather today is perfect and the only challenge is finding our way among the maze of bike trails leading from the city.  The tandem is lacking in maneuverability, but Steve and Ann manage beautifully even crossing the Pont Jacques Cartier with its' tricky gates which made the path into an agility course.  We couldn't get a photo of those but there are five chicanes along the way and they were added to reduce speed in the bike lanes by narrowing the path.  The path is also used by pedestrians and runners.

A clear blue day, but the weather is about to change

Tonight we stay in Chambly with a warm showers host.  We will be his first ever guests and we will be camping in his yard.  Guillaume joined warm showers because his sister-in-law is riding across Canada and has been using the hospitality network and telling him how great it is.  www.warmshowers.org  Heavy rain is predicted to move in after midnight - the effect of tropical storm Alberto making its way all the way north to Canada.  

Day 22

June 4, 2018

Chambly to Granby

It poured rain all night and Alberto's winds found us too.  We stayed dry in our tent, though, and we will be packing up in the garage so our gear is all dry.  Gil generously offers to let us use his kitchen for breakfast, but eventually we have to ride out into the storm.  It is in the low 50's and raining steadily.  the headwinds are between 15 and 20 mph.  

It is a long hard ride in the rain so we will not be camping at Yamaska National Park as planned.  Instead we find a very cozy cyclist friendly bed and breakfast in Granby.  The route verte website has a bienvenue cyclistes! listing which guides travelers to accomodation catering to cyclists.  

The sun came out the next morning

This section of the Route Verte is beautifully paved and the tandem is king of the road.  Our raincoats are essential here.  For even a better image of how biking along the Route Verte is with a tandem, check out this video:

Day 23

Granby to Parc Mont Orford

June 5, 2018

The trail surface quickly changed from smooth pavement to a steep and rolling dirt path.  At times it seemed more suited to mountain biking than touring with 30 - 50 pounds of gear.  Our distance today is short, but the conditions made the travel slow and difficult.  Ann and Steve left us at mile 27 in the town of Eastman.  We continued on toward the park where there were some very steep grades (approaching 20% grade) on gravel or packed dirt.  We did a bit of walking.  ok, a lot.  

A pit stop with Ann and Steve.  We decided at this point to ride the roads rather than the ups and downs of the unpaved Route Verte.  Julia facetimes her Mom back in Ohio.  We eat more snacks.  

On our way into Mont Orford National Park

The park is beautiful and luckily has an indoor space we can use for cooking dinner.  It is raining again although it seems like the rain is localized over the mountain itself.

We think this is a ski lodge in winter.  We have it all to ourself.  It even has a microwave so we can heat up a very tasty meat pie for supper.  Our tent is drying nicely.  We hope the rain will stop once we get off the mountain tomorrow.