The route verte is not unlike much of the cycling I did last summer in Europe. Extremely well signed and maintained bicycle highways. Sure, there are some sections that are roads, but the majority of today was on paved and/or smooth crushed stone cycleways. I saw bike charging stations, rest stops with picnic tables and stuff, and, unsurprisingly, people using all the infrastructure to ride bikes. Duh!
Also unsurprisingly, the food is getting better.
There was drizzle in the morning as I packed up and left, and the threat of rain for much of the day, but it never amounted to anything. I’ve been pretty lucky with the weather, minus the hurricane storm of course. It’s been overcast and a little on the cool side, which is perfect cycling weather. Still, the next 2 of 3 days have no rain whatsoever predicted which will be nice.
Speaking of rain, Brian was right about the area I’m in being pretty hard hit by rain. Many of the bike paths in the park were closed on my way in, washed out bridges and such. A few 3 or 4 year olds watched in awe as I pushed my bike down and then up 6 feet where a road was gone. The closures added an extra hour at the end of the day and stole the time I had intended to use for swimming for the first time. Ah well, soon.
Another thing I hadn’t done yet was have ice cream. Well, non packaged ice cream. The last town I passed through before the park was Waterloo. About an hour before I arrived, I looked up whether it had an ice cream shop. It had one and the first review said “if you want to spend $30 on a few cones…”. I did in fact want to spend money on quality ice cream. And it was worth it.
I also went next door to a fancy pants market and got some artisan gnocchi, live culture pesto and a really good tall can of 0% blonde ale. Also very good.
And that’s my day. Tomorrow I’ll get through Montreal on my way to Oka to get a ferry to a rail trail that’ll take me to Ottawa.
Yep, I was right, no GoPro for you. That 15 seconds on a flat trail was all I needed to see. It will be in my dreams tonight. Finally some Chad worthy food photos. I was also worried about you eating enough. I feel better now that I know you had some good meals. Sleep well, get a swim in tomorrow morning. Love you, Ma
You seemed to be moving in that video. Flat or downhill?
Maybe slightly downhill
Ahhhh what beautiful country you are moving through! And the food sounds great. So happy for you having this trip. The weather is overall on your side it seems. Looking forward to tomorrow’s post.
Chaddo- Sounds like day 7 was an all around great day. Cycle weather, better food, ice cream, a beautiful camp spot. And is that a corn dog in the photo? But I don’t know about live culture pesto. Enjoy the rest of the trip and stay safe. Love you, Pop.
I do love batter wrapped hot dogs, yup
I’m unsure how I feel about waffle sausages. I’m going to need a review from you.
Looks like great riding!
Imagine a corn dog with slightly different coating. Worked for me! The riding is fantastic.
Are you going to take the “Insanity Ferry” at Oka? (It’s a barge, towed by a work boat, and gets about 90 degrees from the route due to the current. Fun!)
I sure am. I wish it was the old ferry, that looks fun
Never mind – the old ferries are no more. But here’s a short video of one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5CbPoov_XA
All the hotdogs on sticks!