Mystic(Bedford)/Frelighsburgh/Joy Hill rapidly becoming a fav ride

The Bertrand road bike finally got its collision repair completed and we wanted to celebrate its release from the bike hospital with something special.

The Mystic-Frelighsburg-Joy Hill ride came to mind, it's been on our ride list for the past few years and we really like most of the ride. The section south of Bedford needs some paving (and there is a short unpaved section here) but otherwise it is a great ride. And then there is Joy Hill, one of Quebec's famous hills for the cycling set.

The bike performed great, and with the new fork it tracks straight and steady and solid, even at downhill speeds.  Happily no parts came loose post-repair, unlike some other bikes we had repaired recently.  (old story: when we bought the Bertrand back in '88 every bearing on the bike came loose after the first 30 minutes of riding).

Today's ride is a loop with an out-and-back section up Joy Hill and over to Abercorn, it gives it a funny shaped ride but is a good distance at about 100 km. To avoid the (somewhat killer) climb back from Abercorn, you can just go to the Richford border crossing for your turnaround point (and avoid the descent to/climb back from Abercorn).  This sounds funny, but the view from the Richford border crossing (stay in canada eh) of Jay Peak and the nearby mountains is genuinely awesome.

Here's some ride pics.

Strange silo

Joy Hill is captioned in case you were lost or from another planet or something

Looking down Joy Hill, it is really a joy to ride - up or down!

little country house in Abercorn, for the 1% crowd

Quality views abound in the Eastern Townships

Once you climb Joy Hill you have nice views of Pinnacle

looking up during... naptime!

authentic... ancient maple tree in naptime cemetery

Several ancient anglo cemeteries on this ride. This one on top of Joy Hill we used for hot summer day mandatory mid ride siesta

Bertrand with new fork, crank, front wheel and and handle bar tape

mystic-abercorn eastern townships quebecShare your bike routes @ Bikely.com

You can skip the descent/climb to/from Abercorn, just go to Richford border crossing for great view of Jay Peak mountains then turn around and head home.