Uh-oh, we do our favorite hill ride with some faster skinnier riders!

Newly rebuilt Chemin au Pied de la Montagne north of Rt 337


We brought a couple of buddies to our favorite hill-ride in St-Jean-de-Matha in northern Lanaudiere. Unfortunately they are skinner, faster, ride more, are better climbers and have lighter bikes than us. But the good thing is that our enthusiasm levels were equal. We love to ride our bikes.

These guys are Eastern Townships locals and had never been to Lanaudiere, which is not easy to get to from the townships at all. But they heard me talk about how much I like this region and specifically my favorite St-Jean-de-Matha hill ride circuit.

So we coordinated, met up at the Wallyworld at the Rive du Nord mall (exit 98 on Autoroute 40) and arrived in St-Jean-de-Matha, parking behind the city hall across the street from the church.

Here is what these guys liked about this ride:

• Quiet roads
• Good asphalt
• lots of hills
• Good scenery
• More quiet roads
• More good asphalt
• more good hills

After 85 km we had enough and called it a day. There was the possibility of another 10-25 km of riding on this very flexible circuit, but the day had been perfect and we arrived back at St-Jean-de-Matha and didn't need to ride the last two route variations.

Here is the bikely map of the ride. 85 km, 1000+ metres climbing with three good climbs and a few short climbs.


red=ride circuit. Blue=two options for a longer ride.

Option 1: Descent to St-Jean-de-Matha entrance to Parc Regional des Chutes
Option 2: Rang St-Gillaume loop to finish ride (note: involves riding on busy Rt 131)


If you like riding bikes, and you like riding hills, and you like riding back roads, then this is a ride you will like.