Day 16 - Back on the south side of the St. Lawrence

miles today: 71 total miles: 1,018
km today: 114 total km: 1,639

This journey has been a perfect balance of Mike-and-Chandra time and socializing with almost every Canadians we know, which sadly aren’t very many. Fortunately for us, they not only lined up along our route, but spaced themselves out nicely: London (day 2), Belleville (day 8), Quebec (day 13) and Tadoussac (day 15). This morning, we said farewell to the fourth and final social group. From now until home, Mike and I are on our own.

Thank you to the awesome extended Molson Family. Thank you for your generousity in sharing your cabin, your family, your town, your washing machine, your beers, and (this is VERY important) your chain degreaser with us. You have an open invitation to visit us in Madison.

After John provided us with the last of lots of great biking advice: Go up the main street to a more gentle climb out of town – by gentle, he meant it was only 11% grade. Although the hills today were not as long, steep, or numerous as yesterday, we still had a fair number of solid climbs as well as equally solid descents.

It was a beautiful morning and despite the climbs (and because of the descents), we made good time (~19 km/hr) to Les Escoumins, arriving around 11:00. This left us plenty of time to update the blog (we were running a day behind due to having too much fun with the Molsons) and for me to have a nice catch up chat with my sister Keiko.

Maybe it is because we are only 8 days away from our final destination . . . or because Jamie (my sister from another mother and the other mother of our shared dog S’more) sent us pictures of home yesterday . . .

. . . or catching up with Keiko about my niece Kaiya heading off to college at Gonzaga next week (which means we won’t see her until Thanksgiving or maybe even Christmas) . . . or that tomorrow is Mom and Dad Fienen’s anniversary . . . or that my cousins (The Jarosky 5) are on the verge of moving from Madison to Costa Rica, or that my parents are heading on a three-month international trip . . .

but for whatever reason, these loved ones are on my mind and in my heart today. And yet, simultaneously, Mike and I are in our tandem groove. Systems are optimized and we are appreciating the time together, whether we are crawling up a hill or descending down one, cooking dinner or cleaning up, making coffee or packing the trailer, talking or silent . . . there’s a quiet current of awareness and love for each other and for the natural world that surrounds and protects us on these adventures.

But a quick bit more about our day. We caught the ferry, the fifth and final one of the trip (we really are in the last stage).

It really is amazing how many cars they fit on a relatively small ferry. Although this one didn’t have full-sized semis like yesterdays, it still fit 35 cars and one tandem bike.

The ferry landed around 2pm back on the south side of the St. Lawrence. We biked 10 km on a scenic but busy road. It may have been the rest on the ferry or the fact that the road, while pretty was also one of the busiest and loudest stretches we have encountered. At any event, not far in, we saw a food truck and a community garden that looked like a great place for a (you guessed in, poutine) snack.

The poutine did the trick and we blasted out the remaining 30 km or so, eventually hitting the turn off to the Parc Nationale du Bic. We double-checked the Ride GPS details with google, and Mike thought there would be a big climb ahead before the descent to the water. It turned out to be only a BIG descent.

And then, we turned into the park and unto a densely-packed bike route separate from the road. After a day of riding the white line with heavy and loud traffic, the bliss of a green park bike path was bliss. Mike said we were “forest bathing” on a bike.

To be clear, we still had to climb and it was a bit muddy, but it was beautiful and smelled like pine and sea. Now that we are on the south side of the river, we are off of the Canadian Shield and are enjoying the northern remnants of the Appalachians (more on that tomorrow).

Tonight, we are staying at a Bienvenue Cyclist site, but this one is for cyclists only and is separate from the main campground next to the road. There are only three other bike-tourers here with us tonight so it is quiet and peaceful away from the road and large groups.

And now, after a belly full of Mike’s spicy tortellini and a glass of red wine, I am off to brush my teeth and snuggle into bed.

Tomorrow, we leave the mighty St. Lawrence and head for the Quebec/New Brunswick border.

BIKE BETA: There is no sign for the Parc Nationale du Bic from the main road. If you are coming from the West, there is a pretty epicly steep descent into Ste. Fabien sur Mer and eventually, following La Route Verte you enter the park and join a 10-ish km packed gravel path (La Portage). It’s kinda steep in spots but totally manageable. There is a Bienvenue Cycliste spot about 1.5 km before you reach the eastern interpetive center and a campground next to highway 132. The Bienvenue Cycliste site is gorgeous! No water - just a pit groover - but you can get water and a shower at the campground a short ride away. Great spot especially considering all the highway noise at the main campground.