Suburban beginnings and wild endings

It has happened. We have done a sterling job up until now to avoid it, but today there was little choice. Stranded in the wilds of Canadian suburbia, we have eaten at Tim Hortons.

Tim Hortons is a Canadian instituion. When I was last in Ottawa, around 29 years ago, the poeple I was staying with took me to Tim Horton’s (there was an apostrophe in the name back then) for a treat. I recall Tim Horton’s being a donut shop. Today, after massive growth and acquisition by Burger King, the offerings have expanded  and include what passes as breakfast and lunch meals here – breakfast sandwiches, wraps, soups – as well as a collection of donuts and baked goods. People go to Tim Hortons for the coffee. This is evident by the numbers of branded carboard coffee cups that are strewn around like McDonalds debris in Richmond.

We stop at the local Tim Hortons for breakfast before hitting the road to Montebello. Once again today we abandon part of our carefully plotted route, preferring the paved (but somewhat busy) route 158 on the south side of the Rivière du Nord, to what looks like an unpaved surface on the road to the north of the river.

We make reasonably quick time, given the head wind that has been our constant companion for days. The air is hot and sultry, with thunderstorms looming. On days like this we like to get where we are going in case the weather turns.

The going is pretty easy. We take a quick break at a rest area in Lachute after about 20km. Like many towns we’ve passed through, Lachute has a very pleasant rest area on the outskirts of town. It’s peaceful, by the river, and has public toilets – something that we’ve found lacking in many places we’ve passed through.

From Lachute the navigation is easy: follow the road for 50km. We cross, and then leave Rivière du Nord behind us, and stop only for a cold drink a couple of times before we hit our new significant waterway: the Ottawa River, right where Rivière Rouge meets it.

Montebello is now only about an hour away. With glimpses of the Ottawa River on our left, we power into town, arriving earlier than planned, and earlier than our B&B is expecting. Today is one of the hottest days we’ve had. What to do? Oh yes … ice cream.

Montebello is a pretty tourist town – thankfully we have left suburbia far behind us. We find the local ice cream place, busy with people coming and going, and check out the wares.

Ice cream is huge in Quebec, and the ice creams are huge. I order petite soft serves. Just look at the size of a petite – there are two bigger sizes than this!

People like to try before buying here, and tastings are offered up readily for things like ice cream and beer. I’m annoyed when the people ahead of me taste what seems to be all of the flavours of the sorbets, discussing the merits of each. I”m impatient. I know exactly what I want. When I walk out of the shop with two massive ‘petite’ soft serves I find Neil chatting with the same couple. Our bikes are drawcards; many people stop to chat about who we are, what we are doing, how far we’ve ridden. I feel a little ashamed of my earlier impatience when the woman, after hearing we are heading to Ottawa, hands over her card “in case we need any help.” Canadian people are just so damn nice.

We check into our B&B which is conveniently located right near the ice cream shop. I had some trouble finding a place here, but I don’t know why, as the main street is lined with B&Bs and motels. I’ve lucked out with Aux Douceurs du Passant. It’s a two-story, wide-verhandahed place, with three coffee-theme-named rooms, a genial host, and a coffee machine that makes Neil’s eyes gleam in anticipation of breakfast. Our hosts – Johanne and Jacques – run this as a summer business and escape to the warmth in winter. They are old hands at hospitality, having previously run a cafe. Our bikes go out to the shed, and we scamper for the shower.

When we get back downstairs, the heavens have opened. The storm that threatened throughout the day has hit, and hit hard. Rain belts down. We step outside to wait on the verhanda and it is still hot – I would say 30 degrees, but as the rain pelts down and the wind, which has been in our faces all day, makes an abrupt change, the temperature drops; I reckon 10 degrees in a few minutes.

The worst of the storm passes and we skedaddle to take a look at the town. Johanne has given us some tips, and the first stop is Brasseurs de Montebello for a well-earned post-ride beer. Time, weather and hunger are not our friends, so we make a quick turn around the local attractions, take a quick riverside walk, and land in the local bistro for dinner.

But the weather is still brewing. By the time we finish dinner and get back to our B&B there are severe weather warnings, including a tornado warning! Say what? Does this kind of thing even happen in Canada?

I turn on the TV in our room, for I think the first time on this trip, to find out if we are going to be blown away to Kansas. The tornado warning is for a village only 8km away! Hopefully this little yellow weatherboard is anchored to ground.

Stats for today:

• Distance: 70.9km
• Climb: 142m
• Average speed: 18.8/h
• Average temperature: 34C
• Moving time: 3:46:14
• See our ride on Strava

The beer picture

At the end of a day’s ride, our tradition is to enjoy a beer, and to photograph it for posterity. Today’s beer picture was taken at the local craft brewery, Brasseurs de Montebello, which has an incredible range (all the taps but one are their own beers).

Along the way today: