Day 50 - Trois-Rivieres to Quebec City QC - 140.9 kms
Day 50 - Progress to Quebec City QC - 5,149.6 kms
The St Maurice River meets the St Lawrence at Trois-Rivieres We were both sad to have to leave Trois-Rivieres as it seemed like it would be an awesome place to have a rest day... however, we also knew that at the end of today we would be starting our final rest day in Quebec City - which we also know will be a great place. We agreed that we would love to have a vacation in this area with our wives and travel from Ottawa to Montreal, Trois-Rivieres and Quebec City someday...
The "Chemin de Roy" takes us along the St Lawrence We left Trois-Rivieres around 10:30AM and our road continued on the "Chemin de Roy" also known as Highway 138, which is what we had ridden from Montreal to Trois-Rivieres. Once again, Quebec provided us with awesome roads that weren't too busy. There is a freeway between Montreal and Quebec City (the 40) which is where most of the vehicles ride, so the 138 is primarily motorbikes, motortrikes and convertibles, along with quite a few bicycles. We have noticed that Quebec would seem to be the world capital of front-end tricycles as these have outnumbered the motorcycles between Montreal and Quebec City. We have also noticed that the longer we cycle, and the more hills we climb, the more motorcycles (or tricycles) are looking appealing to us!
Cam also found an iPhone app to listen to the British Open Championship during this leg of the journey. With Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson both contending when we left the hotel, Cam was very disappointed to not be able to watch today, but ESPN radio did a good job describing the action (or as much action as you can get out of golf!).
Cam also found an iPhone app to listen to the British Open Championship during this leg of the journey. With Lee Westwood and Phil Mickelson both contending when we left the hotel, Cam was very disappointed to not be able to watch today, but ESPN radio did a good job describing the action (or as much action as you can get out of golf!).
An early lunch at the Rio Resto Around 1PM, and only 38 kms into our 140 kms day, we both agreed that we should stop for lunch on a nice patio in the town of Batiscan. This was unusual as we were just over 25% of the way through the trip and we generally like to have lunch once we are at least 50%. Conditions were good today with cooler weather (a high of 22 degrees) and lower humidity, however the wind was in our face, and we were both dragging a bit. We had a very good lunch and it helped to fuel us up. (It was also just as they started their lunch that Cam heard Phil Mickelson win his first British Open!!)
Google Gretta lead us up our steepest hill yet! The rest of the day was a bit of a struggle for both of us. We were definitely in need of a rest day, and looking forward to getting to Quebec City. The countryside all the way from Montreal to Quebec City was beautiful. It was curious to us that we found that the towns were very charming from Montreal to about 3/4 of the way to Quebec City. However, they began to get less interesting as we got further Northeast. We did move inland from the St Lawrence, which is probably the reason for this, but it stood out to both of us. As we approached Quebec City, our route became more difficult to navigate, and so we decided to use the Google Maps application, with its bicycle-routing feature (in beta form) to navigate for the first time on the trip. Cam used his headset, and Google Gretta gave him turn by turn directions from about 30 kms out to the centre of the city. The app worked like a charm prompting Cam to say "I'm in love with Google Maps" at one point! It was just after blurting this out that Gretta lead Ken and Cam up a hill that reached a 16% grade! Prior to this, the steepest hill was 9.5%! We were both in our lowest gear, standing to keep the bikes moving, but we both made it to the top of the hill where we had to take a bit of a rest break. Someone had warned us about the hills in Quebec, but so far we hadn't experienced them!
After reaching downtown at about 7PM, we took awhile to figure out where to stay, but Hotels.com lead us to some reasonably priced places within the walls of Old Quebec. We ended up in the Maison du General Hotel, which we are told is on the site of the house where General Montgomery, a US general, died in the 1600's. The hotel was built around 1800. We quickly cleaned up and headed further into Old Quebec to find a spot for dinner. As this is our last rest stop, we agreed to go a little more upscale and found an awesome patio and both had wonderful meals. We are looking forward to doing some more exploring tomorrow as it looks like there is much to see!
But for now....bon nuit!
But for now....bon nuit!
Ride Details:
- Distance: 140.9 kms
- Riding time: 6 hours, 21 minutes
- Average speed: 21.6 kms
- Wind: Northwest, light. Changed to Southwest light mid-afternoon
- Temperature: 22 degrees Celcius
Tomorrow's Destination: Rest Day!
For more ride details see Strava and for more of today's ride photos see our Photo Gallery.
- Distance: 140.9 kms
- Riding time: 6 hours, 21 minutes
- Average speed: 21.6 kms
- Wind: Northwest, light. Changed to Southwest light mid-afternoon
- Temperature: 22 degrees Celcius
Tomorrow's Destination: Rest Day!
For more ride details see Strava and for more of today's ride photos see our Photo Gallery.