Day 12 - LOOOOONG day into Quebec City!

miles today:108 total miles: 777
km today: 174 total km: 1252

Today was one of the longest days of the entire trip at 174 km. Yesterday, I think that I was dreading today because I really wasn’t into riding. I eventually got my head and legs sorted out after an hour or so and the rest of the day was fine, especially as it was a relatively short day. Luckily for me (us), this morning I woke up with a better attitude and (strangely) fresher legs despite the swarms of vicious mosquitos, a dozen or so seemed to be trapped in our tent with us. Mike did a stellar job at mosquito mass murder as the tent interior had multiple red splatters in the morning. The rainy weather over the night meant heavy clouds which prevented any chance of catching the Pleiades meteor shower. It continues all month, so I have hopes of still seeing some falling stars to wish upon.

With a long day ahead of us, Mike and I made fast work of breakfast and breaking camp, departing by 8:30 am with overcast, but dry, weather and a slight tailwind. We made good time for the first hour, averaging 27 km/hour with Mike amusing himself (and me) with his new bell.

At about an hour in, the tailwind picked up considerably and we could feel the inclement weather approaching, even before the ominous thunder started to roll. Having learned our lesson on prior trips, we stopped for cover at an underpass before the rain hit us. The radar indicated that a small but potentially heavy rainshower was approaching within the next 30 minutes or so. Having not yet done our morning stretches, we decided to multitask – waiting out the rain and stretching. I am sure that the drivers thought we were crazy.

We were nearly finished when looking backward in downward dog I spotted another biker headed toward us (well, towards the cover of the underpass). The biker turned out to be this very friendly Canadian named Pascal out on a fast 100 km loop. He rides regularly (5000 km/year) and recently biked the mountain stages of the Tour de France. Cool!

After about 40 minutes of waiting out the rain (it turned out the red spot of heavy rained veered a bit south, so it wasn’t too heavy), we said goodbye to Pascal who flew by us light and fast and pushed on. It wasn’t too long before Mike was back to his amusements.

The day stayed cloudy and with a tailwind, we continued to make good time, stopping for lunch at around 1:00 pm (just shy of halfway) when we saw this rest area next to the water. Since Mike had made kedgeree (for those sadly not (yet) in the know) last night for dinner, we had half a jar of Major Grey’s mango chutney in the trunk, so we made apple, brie and mango chutney sandwiches, which were delicious.



There was a little boutique and maritime musee. Mike came back from filling the water bottles confused about the depiction of a monkey’s fist knot as being a “noeud du bouline.” He took a picture to show me.

When I went over to take a look, I laughed because the knots, which had at some point been glued to their respective boards, had become unglued and mixed up. Studying the names, I found the bowline example and moved the two knots to their correct place making two French-speaking women laugh. I am not sure if they understood that I was correcting an error or messing up the exhibit. Anyway, Mike thought it a very “Miller Moment.” Although we used the bowline regularly (especially when we were climbing), the monkey’s fist is sort of a specialty knot that I need to look up instructions to tie. I remember working to tie it with my niece Kaiya when she did a knot presentation for school, after getting interested in knots during our FPDG trip to Isle Royale a few years ago. We also had a monkey’s fist knot-tying competition on our Grand Canyon trip as part of a Full Moon party, since the knot (when tied with white rope) looks a bit like a full moon. It is one of those things that must be done slowly and not rushed. Be the tortoise, not the hare, sort of knot.

We packed up and pedaled into the last half of the day. Although almost everyone we have come across speaks very good English (way better than my French), I have been trying to pull out French that is deeply buried under my (also poor) Japanese as we bike. Nothing very useful . . . framboise (raspberry), bluets (blueberries), chien (dog), a vendor (for sale), louer (for rent). Although lentement (slowly) is helpful because now I can say, “Parlez francais lentement, si vous plait.” Hilariously, Mike thought this place was selling corn syrup.

. . . .instead of sweet corn.

Crossing a bridge, we came across this happening . . .

. . . which of course, made me laugh as Lodi, WI has Susie the Duck Days which also involves rubber duck derby, which coincidentally was yesterday! We weren’t sure where the finish line was since the ducks seemed mainly to be going in circles, but I confirmed that “canard” = duck.

We pulled into our AirBnB and happily discovered that it has an amazingly deep two-person bathtub! What a treat after a long day in the saddle. After cleaning up, we walked (approximately 1/2 block) to a wood-fired pizza place for some great food, including a Lori Barnes’ favorite arancini (fried risotto balls stuffed with mozzarella, or in this case spinach and ricotta) and a beer.


Then we were off back “home” for a solid night’s rest before hitting the city of Quebec tomorrow!

With today, we are officially HALFWAY!!!

BIKE BETA: Although there are Warm Showers members in Quebec City, I just want to give a shout out for the AirBnB (and its superhosts Chantelle er Pierre) that we are staying at (LOFT URBAIN, located at 1075 3rd Avenue). Although a loft, it is suberb for bike tourists as there is a lockable solid gate in the back where one can safely secure a bike without having to carry it up any stairs (or use an elevator), plus there is a sizable terrace for drying out tents and gear, plus laundry (including detergent, unlike the last AirBnB) . . . and did I mention a DEEP two-person bathtub!!! It is near lots of restaurants, including La Signature which is immediately below (if you are super tired). Also, it is DIRECTLY across from a bike shop and apparently, there are several other shops and a tent repair shop within a few blocks as well. It isn’t in the famous Old Town, but it is only a 20-minute walk/bus to get there.