Grand Départ: started out pretty; turned into a tough day along and near the St Lawrence Rivere

”Let’s go to Canada,” he said. “It’ll be flat.”

Would you believe that? He showed me a profile that looked nearly flat. He told me we would do as much climbing on the whole trip as we did in one day between Poland and Slovakia. I fell for it.

Our day doesn’t start well. Neil is bent in half with cramps – our fancy dancy restaurant “poisoned” him with an innocent looking amuse bouche. It turns out it was seal. Neil has issues with fish and seafood. We now have to add to that list any creature that swims in the sea or eats creatures that swim in the sea. (I hasten to add my mushrooms had no bad affects on me at all!)

As we ride out of Quebec City on a lovely, separated bike path, the day is a little hazy. It’s going to be a warm one.

The first part of the ride is easy-as. The cycling infrastructure remains awesome, with great paths, thoughtfully placed seats at the sides of the paths for people to stop and rest, and, at the end of the first part of the ride, near Sainte Foy, a lovely grassed reserve, with plenty of space for picnics.

We decide we know better than the carefully planned out route that is loaded into our Garmin devices, ignore the Route Verte sign that points us up a hill, and continue along the river, because it is nice, and surely the route goes that way.

Wrong. We have to backtrack, and go up the hill anyway. And this leads us into the second part of the ride. The hilly bit. We have a pesky wind in our faces, and now have to get up these pesky hills. They’re the short and sharp types of hills. They are types of hills I hate.

We stop to eat at a Cassez-Croûte – a snack bar. There’s not a lot on the menu palatable to me, so I cave in and order our first poutine. This is a dish of french fries, with squeaky white cheese and brown sauce/gravy on top. It tastes how it looks. Actually, a little better.

These pesky hills keep us busy for the next 40km or so. It’s hot. Only 31C, but it feels a lot hotter, and I get low on water. We think when we arrive in Neuville, and take a long detour through the town, that we will find a shop.

Wrong. Not a single shop in sight. I’m thirsty-as when we get back onto the main road, and worried that my last few drops of unpleasantly warm water won’t last the next 30km. I’m pleased to spot a roadside shop. It is the first of many farm stalls at the side of the road. They don’t have much in the way of drinks, but I beg a friendly young man to fill our our water bottles, which he does, with lovely cold water. We also down a cold bottle of local cola. Yum-oh. Just what a parched throat needs.

We slog our way to Dechambault and check into the lovely B&B du Village. Our host Sonya is there to greet us, show us where to stow the bikes and give us the choice of rooms. The room – Trois Rivieres – is great, with a little kitchenette, windows that look out onto the St Lawrence and which will catch the night breeze,  and we have access to a washing machine. Today’s salty clothes go straight in.

We are hungry-thirsty-both, and head out as quickly as possible to get a beer and dinner. The first place we go to is “Complet” (full up, no room for us) and we are not even able to have a drink on the terrace overlooking the St Lawrence. So we end up at Chez Moi, our restaurant saviours.

It was a tougher day than expected, but a drink and some food helped chase the weariness away. Deschambault is  pretty little town, worth a stop if you’re ever passing through

Stats for today:

• Distance: 77.4km
• Climb: 461m
• Average speed: 16.7km/h
• Average temperature: 31C (felt like 41)
• Moving time: 4:37:42
• 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 only restaurant in town that would take us in for dinner, Chez Moi. (Thank you Chez Moi, you saved our lives!)

Along the way today:

Not a lot along the way. Don’t get me wrong, it was a pretty ride. It’s just that when it is hot and the going is hard, the camera stays where it is in my bag while I push the pedals.