Leaving Quebec City, we more or less followed a bike path heading southwest that led all the way to Vermont. What a great use for a defunct railroad. Instead of just being unused, these old railways convert perfectly to bike and walking paths. They are graded for easy travel, connect small towns, are safe from traffic and generally run through forest and farmland. One of the biggest deterrents that keep people from getting exercise is a lack of places to safely do so. There are thousands of miles of unused tracks all over North America and they do not cost that much to convert. Pull up the tracks, lay down crushed gravel and the basics are covered.
Running into Tom just outside of Quebec on the bike path, the three of us were able to ride together for most of the afternoon. Just before we left that morning, we checked Environment Canada (a weather website that gives the most up to date Canadian reports) and saw the radar blowing in a rather large storm. A quick jump on warmshowers and we sent off an email to the one couple who offered their home in Plessisville. Not being able to check email throughout the day, we decided to turn into town for wifi while Tom continued on the bike path to make miles. Tom was very unsure of warmshowers not wanting to give it try. Maybe because he is traveling solo, I am not sure. Maybe Ryan and I are just lucky, but we have met the most wonderful people using this website service.
We rode into Plessisville and were looking at the posted map outside the information center in hopes of finding a free wifi zone. The sky was getting dark with ominous clouds overhead. Time to get moving or hopefully crossing our fingers had worked and the sole warmshowers couple had returned our email and we would have a place to stay dry for the night. As we were orienting ourselves, a guy rode up on his bicycle to ask if we needed help. We explained that we were looking for wifi and he offered us his home to check our email and a place to get out of the rain that was about to set in. Thank you kind stranger! We followed him the short distance to his home and rode up to a porch of children swarming an older lady that looked to be the grandma. Awesome. He introduced us to his wife and children and before long we were invited for dinner, showers and a place to stay as our warmshowers hope did not respond. Lucky for us as the storm spawned a few tornados close by! Oddly enough, Jerome and Marie-Helen actually knew these other couple from warmshowers, which of course got a huge laugh. Small, small world. They have three children, 7, 6 and 4. Yikes! Talk about a busy household, but the kids are very well behaved and Jerome and Marie-Helen seem to have a wonderful life together with their children.
Both Jerome and Marie-Helen spoke English very well, and for our lack of French, they translated the longer stories to grandma. We drank wine, ate rutabaga soup as an appetizer, steak, shrimp, salad and steamed veggies for dinner, and apple pie with ice cream and coffee for dessert. Absolutely fantastic company and such a wonderful evening. We feel so lucky to have met all of these people along our travels. Now to make sure we keep in touch and hopefully cross paths with them in the future. Mary-Helen had a sister in Sherbrooke, a town we planned to ride through the next day. Although our hopes were high, the wind in our face made for slow miles, not allowing us to ride the entire 80 miles. Instead we rode only 50 miles and threw our tent up along the bike path up on a short hill that held a picnic table. Good enough for us.
The bike path was absolutely wonderful as was the weather. The temperatures were just right, making great use of our smart wool arms and legs. We each have a set of pull on sleeves and leggings that are simply fantastic for riding, allowing for easy warmth and cooling without having to stop the bikes. We can push our sleeves down when climbing and pull them back up for the descents. These are highly recommended for anyone traveling by bike or foot. Merino wool clothing in general is a worthy fabric because 1. it smells MUCH better than any nylon after a day of riding 2. it keeps you dry and warm even when damp 3. well, it doesn't smell, which is huge enough to mention twice when one does not have access to laundry on a regular basis. We love our merino wool.
Leaving Sherbrooke, the bike path was a bit difficult to follow, taking us through the small but beautiful college campus. Stopping to ask a security guard, she pointed us on our way and before long we came across one the most spectacular stealth camp spots yet. A small pullout along the river was surrounded by trees with enough space to pitch our tent. We slept so soundly being hidden with the sounds of the slow river to lull us to sleep. Simply wonderful. An early rise led us to the town of North Hatley, an absolutely stunning town that sits at the top of Lake Massawippi. This town is chalked up to a desired future home, although I am not sure what we do for work as it seems more of a tourist destination.
Following the bike path, the small towns seem to switch between French and English speaking. Often stopping a local to ask directions or a breakfast joint, we are sometimes surprised by the non-accented English that comes from their mouths. The quality and portions significantly increase the further south we ride, at times getting away with a $10 breakfast for the two of us. Delicious and cheap, right up our alley.
The last town in Quebec was Sutton, a mountain town that thrived because of the skiing. Again, another great place to visit in the future as the surrounding mountains give beautiful views and access to trails for hikes, bikes or skiing. We stopped at a bustling cafe for our last breakfast in Quebec, spent every last of our Canadian money before riding back into the US. We have collected quite the range of worldwide money. I looked the other day and counted 7 different currencies (I did find another $10 Canadian bill) in my wallet. I guess we will change that to US one day. Looking through my wallet, I smiled thinking back to the bits of memories this money brought, feeling again those butterflies that filled my stomach as I tried to paid in all these different countries. Each dollar/cent looks and feels different, having to start over just like the language when changing countries. My face lights up as I write this and feelings of gratefulness and awe consume me. How are we so lucky? Thank you life for giving us the desire, strength and courage to just go for it. I wouldn't change these past 2 1/2 years for anything in the world.
Running into Tom just outside of Quebec on the bike path, the three of us were able to ride together for most of the afternoon. Just before we left that morning, we checked Environment Canada (a weather website that gives the most up to date Canadian reports) and saw the radar blowing in a rather large storm. A quick jump on warmshowers and we sent off an email to the one couple who offered their home in Plessisville. Not being able to check email throughout the day, we decided to turn into town for wifi while Tom continued on the bike path to make miles. Tom was very unsure of warmshowers not wanting to give it try. Maybe because he is traveling solo, I am not sure. Maybe Ryan and I are just lucky, but we have met the most wonderful people using this website service.
We rode into Plessisville and were looking at the posted map outside the information center in hopes of finding a free wifi zone. The sky was getting dark with ominous clouds overhead. Time to get moving or hopefully crossing our fingers had worked and the sole warmshowers couple had returned our email and we would have a place to stay dry for the night. As we were orienting ourselves, a guy rode up on his bicycle to ask if we needed help. We explained that we were looking for wifi and he offered us his home to check our email and a place to get out of the rain that was about to set in. Thank you kind stranger! We followed him the short distance to his home and rode up to a porch of children swarming an older lady that looked to be the grandma. Awesome. He introduced us to his wife and children and before long we were invited for dinner, showers and a place to stay as our warmshowers hope did not respond. Lucky for us as the storm spawned a few tornados close by! Oddly enough, Jerome and Marie-Helen actually knew these other couple from warmshowers, which of course got a huge laugh. Small, small world. They have three children, 7, 6 and 4. Yikes! Talk about a busy household, but the kids are very well behaved and Jerome and Marie-Helen seem to have a wonderful life together with their children.
Both Jerome and Marie-Helen spoke English very well, and for our lack of French, they translated the longer stories to grandma. We drank wine, ate rutabaga soup as an appetizer, steak, shrimp, salad and steamed veggies for dinner, and apple pie with ice cream and coffee for dessert. Absolutely fantastic company and such a wonderful evening. We feel so lucky to have met all of these people along our travels. Now to make sure we keep in touch and hopefully cross paths with them in the future. Mary-Helen had a sister in Sherbrooke, a town we planned to ride through the next day. Although our hopes were high, the wind in our face made for slow miles, not allowing us to ride the entire 80 miles. Instead we rode only 50 miles and threw our tent up along the bike path up on a short hill that held a picnic table. Good enough for us.
The bike path was absolutely wonderful as was the weather. The temperatures were just right, making great use of our smart wool arms and legs. We each have a set of pull on sleeves and leggings that are simply fantastic for riding, allowing for easy warmth and cooling without having to stop the bikes. We can push our sleeves down when climbing and pull them back up for the descents. These are highly recommended for anyone traveling by bike or foot. Merino wool clothing in general is a worthy fabric because 1. it smells MUCH better than any nylon after a day of riding 2. it keeps you dry and warm even when damp 3. well, it doesn't smell, which is huge enough to mention twice when one does not have access to laundry on a regular basis. We love our merino wool.
Leaving Sherbrooke, the bike path was a bit difficult to follow, taking us through the small but beautiful college campus. Stopping to ask a security guard, she pointed us on our way and before long we came across one the most spectacular stealth camp spots yet. A small pullout along the river was surrounded by trees with enough space to pitch our tent. We slept so soundly being hidden with the sounds of the slow river to lull us to sleep. Simply wonderful. An early rise led us to the town of North Hatley, an absolutely stunning town that sits at the top of Lake Massawippi. This town is chalked up to a desired future home, although I am not sure what we do for work as it seems more of a tourist destination.
Following the bike path, the small towns seem to switch between French and English speaking. Often stopping a local to ask directions or a breakfast joint, we are sometimes surprised by the non-accented English that comes from their mouths. The quality and portions significantly increase the further south we ride, at times getting away with a $10 breakfast for the two of us. Delicious and cheap, right up our alley.
The last town in Quebec was Sutton, a mountain town that thrived because of the skiing. Again, another great place to visit in the future as the surrounding mountains give beautiful views and access to trails for hikes, bikes or skiing. We stopped at a bustling cafe for our last breakfast in Quebec, spent every last of our Canadian money before riding back into the US. We have collected quite the range of worldwide money. I looked the other day and counted 7 different currencies (I did find another $10 Canadian bill) in my wallet. I guess we will change that to US one day. Looking through my wallet, I smiled thinking back to the bits of memories this money brought, feeling again those butterflies that filled my stomach as I tried to paid in all these different countries. Each dollar/cent looks and feels different, having to start over just like the language when changing countries. My face lights up as I write this and feelings of gratefulness and awe consume me. How are we so lucky? Thank you life for giving us the desire, strength and courage to just go for it. I wouldn't change these past 2 1/2 years for anything in the world.
You are more than welcome to stay with us in Vermont again. Sorry that things are winding down.
ReplyDeleteBarbara and Wally
Thank you so much! We ended up riding on the western part of the state all the way into MA. It was a beautiful ride. Vermont is one of our favorite spots for a bike. We would have loved to visit you two again had we made it that way. It's definitely sad to be winding down, but we knew this day would come eventually. Bitter sweet. Hope you two are doing really well!
Delete