Day 56 – Extra Miles - Again! (Quebec City QC – Riviere Ouelle, QC)

Bike paths!!!

Quebec City is an amazing area for cyclists – a great network of dedicated bike paths connecting all the major sightseeing areas.

Les Chutes de Montmorency

After a quick breakfast at the cafeteria of the Universite de Laval, where we were staying on our rest day, Serge, P-A and I decided that we would take a sightseeing tour at the start of the day to see the Montmorency Falls. This added 20 miles to the planned 86 miles for the day, but was well worth the extra effort, including a 10 mile ride into a strong head wind back to the ferry. The falls are 50% higher than Niagara Falls, but without all the kitschy development.

Stairs, Anyone?

At the falls we opted to climb the network of stairs to get to the top, rather than shell out the $12 for the cable car. Our legs were in great shape so we made it to the top quickly and without breaking a sweat.

Not for those who are afraid of heights!

The Suspension Bridge spanning the top of the falls allowed us to look straight down the 250’ drop!

Quebec City

We crossed the river by ferry to Levis at noon, some 3 hours after passing it on the way to the falls. On the river we had some pretty spectacular views of the city – it is as close to Europe as you can get in North America and without all the jet lag.

The Saint Lawrence River

Once on the south shore we headed east down river with a nice tailwind. We stopped at a "Casse Croute" for lunch with some great views alongside the river.

After a great, but long ride, with tailwinds, we pulled into camp at around 5:30. This was my nineteenth 100+ mile riding day since the start of the tour.

Thankfully tomorrow’s route is only a short 71 miles, but who knows how that will turn out as its is “Not Yet!”

To put things in perspective for my riding friends in New Jersey, we are now due north of Maine, and still have 1,000 miles of riding left (probably much more with all the side trips we are doing).

To date I have logged almost 7,000 miles of riding for the year (6,965 to be exact), and over 4,800 miles since arriving in Vancouver.

I am not sure what the network access will be like over the next few days, but will try to keep everyone current. 

Cheers, it is 9:30 and I am off to a well earned sleep - the nights are getting cooler as we get closer to the Atlantic, and closer to September - thankfully we appear to have avoided the summer heat wave.