Day 8: Riviere Ouelle to Riviere du Loup

We weighed our options last night, and decided we'd try our luck with the Hwy 185 (the TransCanada) rather than the 189 to get to Edmuston area. We figured that although the TransCanada would definitely have more traffic than the secondary hwy, it would hopefully also have a paved shoulder, and the pavement itself is probably in better shape. As a result, we had a shorter day today - just 77 k from Riviere Ouelle to Riviere du Loup.

It was a stunningly beautiful morning. I took the shot below as we left the campground, looking across the St. Lawrence at the misty Laurentians. What a way to start the day.


Today was our fastest day in a while, and Sarah and I each had a couple of nice stretches at the front going around 30 km/h. The riding felt good.

We had lunch in Riviere du Loup, at Parc des Cascades, complete with waterfall. Mom and Dad found a tiny little place advertising smoked fish, and picked up some amazing smoked salmon for lunch. We ate it with cream cheese and green onion on rye bread. Sooo good!

With the end of today, we're over half way with our riding days, although we're not half way in terms of distance yet. We've also spent out last day on the Route Verte, which has made life so much easier. If you're ever cycling in Quebec, check out www.routeverte.com. The route is well-signed, and the map book that you can buy has been our constant companion throughout the province. My only complaint is that they spiral bound it so that you can't take out individual pages to bring with you as you ride (we just tore them out instead).

The campsite beside us is occupied by a different sort of "bike" tourers. They're actually pulling an ulta-mini tent trailer behind their Harley. Kind of cool, although I'd much rather be doing it our way.

Sarah won the world champion hat today for the triple accomplishments of figuring out wifi at the campground, reorganizing the van to get rid of the chaos, and managing to get the fire started. All very good things.

Liz