Bike trips + trains

We visited the Expovelo tonight and looked around at the different cyclotourism destinations. It is a good time to be a cyclist in Quebec.

In the future we want to take the train to do some bike rides. Ontario has the Toronto-Niagara BikeTrain. In Quebec we have... The VIA train to Riviere-aux-Pierres.

Huh?

Yes, we said the VIA train to Riviere-aux-Pierres. From there you ride to Quebec city on a flat rail-to-trail type bike path called the Véloroute Jacques Cartier/Portneuf. In Quebec you have a nice supper and take the VIA train back to Montreal. (This may require some overnight accommodations in one or both towns). The good news is that VIA is actively coordinating cyclotourism demand with their passenger rail services.

This is an excellent development.

Other places we'd like to see train rides to the bike ride include: St-Jerome for Petit Train de Nord and Riviere du Loup for the Petit Temis. These are two of Quebec's best bike trails. A train west to eastern Ontario is on our list: from anywhere in Ontario you would ride back to Montreal with a tail wind.

The combination of train travel to a bike tourism destination is a great addition to making Quebec an even excellent bike travel destination. Looking for a bike vacation paradise? Quebec is your answer.

In similar news, you can now do a cruise ship + bike day-rides down the St-Laurence river to the Iles de la Madeleine archipelago with the CTMA cruise line.