Wheels Are Rollin’, Finally!
Tuesday September 15th - Friday September 18th
Ok, we have put over 3000 miles on the camper and we just, finally, got the trikes down
from the racks, cleaned the chains, cleaned the seats, and got them ready to ride! It’s pretty
sad that it took us this long to get our butts in those seats, but we’ve been we’ve been busy
(the subject of a subsequent post!) and I’ve been injured, which was the subject of the last
post!
After spending a few hard earned days recuperating from my fall and catching up on sleep at my brother’s beautiful house (called "Basecamp") and loving his company, we were finally ready!
We set out on a four day ride on a trail called Le Petit Train du Nord, a famous rails to
trails track that stretches 200 km north of Montreal. It’s fantastic! Wendi poured
over the maps and figured out a route for us, starting at the north end and riding south.
Wendi took the camper each morning to the end of our day’s ride and caught the public bus back to our starting spot where I was waiting with the trikes (and enjoying a French cafe). Then we rode together for the day.
Day 1: Arrived in Mont Laurier and had our first cafe experience in French. The food tastes so much better in that language. The first night we camped just outside of town on the winter site of a snow tubing hill! We are learning to find quiet places to camp for free - definitely have had our successes and failures in that department. This was a success!!
Day 2: We started the next morning and pedaled about 38 km to Lac Saguay. We had some route finding difficulties at the start since part of the trail was closed. So had to haul our bikes by hand through some sandy off road places including the utilities department. Good thing we started warm because it rained lightly on us for much of the day. The ride was wonderful and we had the trail to ourselves! Truly no one else crazy enough to bike in the rain. Great views of lakes and forests starting to change into fall colors. We finished the day at a chip truck and ordered a very large poutine to share which we ate ravenously as we dried out in the camper. For those new to Canadian culture, poutine involves fries covered with brown gravy and cheese curds. It is as comfort food as it sounds!!! We slept that night at a small parking area along the trail and enjoyed another quiet free night!!
Day 3: Once again, Wendi headed out to deliver the camper to the end of the day’s ride and had a lovely conversation with limited French with a fellow bus passenger who repeatedly welcomed her to Canada as an American with the caveat that Trump is like a very bad chicken who ploops, ploops, ploops everywhere. We agree!! Today, we rode 34 km without rain through an increasingly gorgeous countryside. Such a joy to sit back on the trikes and ride through the forest and lakes without cars. We landed at a great campsite in a town called Riviere-Rouge along the river with the same name. We had front row seats to a beautiful sunset over the river.
Day 4: Decided we needed a rest day to enjoy the sun, take showers after being on the road for over a month, and do some food shopping. Found a great cafe along the river right next to the campsite and enjoyed sangria and tacos for lunch!! Felt like world travelers surrounded by such wonderful people and navigating the world in French.
Day 5: Decided to do an out and back ride today from our campsite to a very cute town call Labelle - 40 km total. Had a wonderful lunch at another French cafe - the sandwiches here are next level. As we near Mont Tremblant, we are definitely seeing more riders and more beautiful houses along the lakes.
Day 6: Unfortunately it is time to head out. We stopped for lunch in Mont Tremblant which is a ski area in Quebec that draws quite a crowd from all the nearby cities. Nothing like our slopes out west but a big destination here. Found a great patisserie and boulangerie. Loving the food!!! We are heading back to Ontario to take care of some exciting business that we will write about in an upcoming post when the details are ironed out. So that is the cliff hanger for our series - can’t wait to share some news!! We definitely plan to come back again and finish the second 100 kms of the trail when we have more time.
The lake, the sunset, the forest, all look so familiar. Wonderful and lively adventure…and now I’m hungry too!
Beautiful pics and amusing commentary as usual! Bated breath until the next episode.
Love hearing about your adventures - the food, the scenery, the people. I'm thinking you two should write a book! Can't wait for your next post!
Food tastes so much better in that language, hahaha, love it.
Can’t wait for the next episode! The trikes - and the views - look amazing and I’m so glad the French cuisine is exceeding expectations 😋😋