Vacation in Charlevoix

I just returned from visiting the Charlevoix (north east of Quebec City) and there I found... some of the best cycling in Quebec.

We stayed in St-Joseph de la Rive and this village is located on the river's edge, on the road to the ferry to Isle aux Coudres.

Isle aux Coudres is very scenic little island -- a ride all around the island is about 25 km. It offers spectacular views of the rugged and mountainous Charlevoix coastline, a great "economuseum" guided tour of two historic flour mills. One of windmill powered and the other one is powered by a waterwheel. The waterwheel mill is in current operation. The windmill looked fully equipped as a flour mill, but is not yet operational. We had a great guided tour and the water-powered mill was operated for about 15 minutes and was spectacular.


This authentically restored windmill-powered flour mill sites next to a fully operational water-powered flour mill. History doesn't get any more real than this.


Water-powered mill in action, making some buckwheat flour.

Back on shore we visited the exceptional Musée Maritime de St-Joseph de la Rive, This museum surprised me many times. It built wood schooners, up to 1959. By that time they were powered by diesel engines, and were used to haul pulp wood.


The Jean Yvan - a St-Laurence schooner as the Musée Maritine de St-Joseph de la Rive.



On the road - riding the circuit used for the Grand Prix de Charlevoix bike race. An excellent route through these beautiful hills.

The last and greatest thing was a chance to ride the circuit for the road race part of the Grand Prix de la Charlevoix. This was a ride with plenty of climbs, plenty of great descents, and plenty of beautiful scenic views of both mountains and seas. The slowest time time in the race was, well, faster than my ride time, but in my defence, I stopped to take pictures!


The discovery that the Charlevoix is an asteroid-impact crater

This part of the Charlevoix, just east of Baie St-Paul, is called Les Eboulements, and it's geology is unique because 350 million years ago a 2 km-wide asteroid impacted the planet earth right on this spot! In fact the bike circuit I did rides all the way around Mont Eboulement, which was the epicentre of the collision. Coincidently, I parked my bike for a break on some roadside rocks, and found I was at the exact spot where the fact this was an asteroid impact was discovered.


We stayed in the motel part of Auberge de la Rive in St-Joseph de la Rive. They had fine dining and a pool. The bakery was two steps away, an artisanal paper-making factory was across the street, and the Musée Maritime was next door. Taking the Ferry for a free ride over and back from Isle aux Coudres was a great time.


The new fountain in Quebec city in front of the National Assembly

We stopped in Quebec City to see the new fountain in front of the provincial parliament buildings. It was very popular and very impressive. It was a gift to the city for next year's 400th anniversary of Quebec City.

This was a a great trip. Highly recommended.

Cycle Fun Montreal's Bikely ride maps

CFM apologizes for the awful and hideous cut'n'paste format thing going on here!

Route	Contributor	Last Updated	Where	Distance	Tags
Lennoxville hill ride #1	tiger2007	Jan 16th	Canada > Quebec > Sherbrooke	11.4km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Steep, High traffic, Unsafe, Rural, Scenic
Home of Bishop's University and start of a great climb. A narrow risky unsafe road. The center of the eastern townships.
Philipsburg QC Vermont Champlain Islands ride	tiger2007	Dec 28th	Canada > Quebec > Montreal	139.9km	Recreational, Onroad, Smooth, Intermediate, Low traffic, High traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
Starting in Canada, cross US border and ride south through scenic islands, come back north along Vermont lake shore
Mont Megantic summit toll road	tiger2007	Dec 27th	Canada > Quebec > Sherbrooke	5.6km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Steep, Difficult, Low traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
550 m climb (1800 ft) climb Located in Parc Mont Megantic, and is the highest paved road in Quebec.
Quebec's Eastern Townships ride - Sutton/Owl's Head loop	tiger2007	Dec 24th	Canada > Quebec > Montreal	98.9km	Recreational, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Intermediate, Difficult, Low traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
Bolton Pass, Knowlton, Mt Echo road, Sutton, Mississiquoi valley, Mansonville, Owls Head, Lac Memphremagog, Austin, Bolton
Circuit of the 2007 Grand Prix de Charlevoix race	tiger2007	Dec 11th	Canada > Quebec > Quebec	82.6km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Intermediate, Difficult, Low traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
A great ride through some of eastern North America's best scenery and cycling roads. And hills. This is also a giant asteroid-hits-the-earth-165 million-years-ago CRATER.
Charlevoix Quebec - Baie-Saint-Paul to St-Joseph-de-la-Rive and back	tiger2007	Dec 11th	Canada > Quebec > Quebec	37.7km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Intermediate, Difficult, Low traffic, High traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
A great ride in Quebec's Charlevoix mountains. THis ride follows the top of the coast to the next village, where it plunges down to sea level and then climbs back up to the top with a section of 20% hill. Some of the hills here are featured in the Velo Mag article on Charlevoix hill climbs. Three of these are on this ride (two as climbs and one as a descent). Cap aux Corbeau, Les Eboulements, and Cote de Misere. Check out the FREE ferry ride option to Isle aux Coudres
Cote des Eboulements ou Grande Cote, Charlevoix, Quebec, Canada	tiger2007	Nov 30th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	5.3km	Recreational, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Difficult, Rural, Scenic
Starting in St-Joseph-de-la-rive, go uphill to the Rt 362 on newly rebuilt road. The steep part is an 18% climb. Near Baie-St-Paul, This climb is featured in the Automne 2007 Velo Mag magazine feature on amazing Charlevoix road bike climbs.
Cote de Petite-Riviere, Charlevoix, Quebec	tiger2007	Nov 30th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	10.4km	Training, Onroad, Steep, Difficult, Rural, Scenic
Starting in Petite-Riviere-Saint-Francois, go uphill to the Rt 138. Located near Baie-St-Paul, This climb is featured in the Automne 2007 Velo Mag magazine feature on amazing Charlevoix road bike hill climbs. This is in one of Quebec's most beautiful regions.
Cote a Godin ou Misere, Charlevoix, Quebec	tiger2007	Nov 30th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	2.6km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Steep, Difficult, Rural, Scenic
Starting in St-Joseph-de-la-rive, go uphill to the Rt 362 on Cote a Godin, or Cote Misere (Misery Hill) with a 20% climb. Near Baie-St-Paul, This climb is featured in the Automne 2007 Velo Mag magazine feature on amazing Charlevoix road bike climbs.
Saint-Alexis-des-Monts to hotel Lac Sacacomie, Quebec	tiger2007	Nov 12th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	14.3km	Recreational, Training, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Difficult, Low traffic, Rough, Rural, Scenic
Saint-Alexis-des-Saints to hotel Lac Sacacomie, Quebec
Westmount-Clarke and Aberdeen	tiger2007	Nov 12th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	1.6km	Training, Onroad, Steep, Difficult, Urban, Scenic
Clarke is the killer wall of Westmount, aberdeen and above is sweet switchbacks.
Northern Lanaudiere Hill ride	tiger2007	Nov 6th	Canada > Quebec > Joliette	90km	Recreational, Onroad, Smooth, Steep, Intermediate, Difficult, Low traffic, Safe, Rural, Scenic
start in St-Jean-de-Matha, ride counter-clockwise. Villages are Ste-Emilie-de-l'Energie and Ste-Beatrix. There are some occasional convenience stores (dep's). You pass over the gorge of the regional park along the waterfalls of the L'Assomption river. Some good climbs. New pavement in most previously-bad pavement sections. 1000 metres of climbing. Good descents. The pair of big hills are the roads to-and from St-Emilie. Amazing scenic lookout at top of first giant hill.

Defi Cyclosportif du Quebec - Charlevoix 2008

The 2008 Cyclosportif du Quebec - Charlevoix information is now available.

This region is one of the great scenic destinations in Quebec. It's where the mountains meet the sea, 'nuff said.

The route is a bit different than last year. The beauty and hills of the Charlevoix region retain their timeless attraction. If you have never visited, go there this summer. If this circuit is too difficult, try Ile aux Coudres: it is relatively flat, has several attractions, free ferry ride, and great scenery, and it is under 30 km. Even our noncyclist friends liked this ride. Hint: visit the lookout tower on the west side of the island. Tip: leave your car in St-Joseph de la Rive and take the ferry on bike, you will avoid long var lineups to get on the ferry: bikes board first and during busy times car's sometimes have to wait for the next ferry. This little ride and tourism experience was one of our best of 2007. Don't miss the maritime museum in St-Joseph de la rive. Also, try both hills in this village from sea level up to the top of the hill: you'll earn supper. The easy one is 18%!!

Here is the link to the (pdf) event brochure (french).

Here is the link to the 2008 route map on Bikely.

Here is the link to the 2007 route on Bikely.

Here's the link to the Club cycliste de Charlevoix.

We don't go for the big crowds thing, but we will visit during summer vacation in July and try this new route. We are... excited.

Some of the CFM gang visited the Charlevoix last summer and rode the 2007 cyclosportif route and we loved it a lot! All, except that 18% hill in Ste-Irenée, but it was only a few metres of walking... in an otherwise amazing ride.

Best rides of 2007

With over 3000 km of road riding done in 2007, it was a very good year indeed. I visited many new places, and did a number of exceptionally good rides, and of course, I only touched 0.01% of vermont, paradise for bikes.

here are some of the best rides, for one reason or another.

Ormstown- St-Chrysostome - Covey hill - Powerscourt - Trout river - Ridge road - Dewittville 130km - The complete chateauguay valley ride. A beauty. Good views of all sorts of things. Good roads. Many different eco systems. Tailwind for last 30 kms.(link)

Ormstown - Lyon Mountain USA century ride (160 km/100 miles). Ormstown-franklin-usa border-Lyon mtn village - Lyon Mtn loop-lyon Mtn village-Canadian border-Franklin - Ormstown. Lyon mountain is visible from Mt royal, it's the closest adirondack mountain to the southwest. Excellent climb on second half of riding around lyon mountain. gentle downhills home (mostly!).(link)

Frelighsburg-Joy Hill - Richford/ VT - Montgomery (bot the easy way)-Phillispburg. Two words: Joy Hill! Climb on backroad between Richford and Montgomery is exceptional. Great view of Pinacle. Veromont guide book included this cross border ride, and said it was best in book, it sure was. Thanks sid! Frelighsburg was cyclist central!(link)

Jay Peak loop from Sutton (chemin scenic both directions). The Famous five-hill Jay ride, one of the great rides of the east. Back side of jay is big climb! Front side is steep hill, descent to Mongomery is wow (with dogs!), all hills are fun and hard. Crossing border at East Richford always special. Food stop before front-side jay climb a long-standing tradition. Winter training pays off here!(link and link and link)

Phillipsburg - Lake Champlain islands – St-Albans bay - Phillipsburg. Park lakeside at Philipsburg, take highway to US border - now you’re on Interstate! Go west, to Islands, and turn south. Follow islands until back on solid land (diversions possible on some islands), on mainland, turn left and head north, passing St-Albans bay. Relax on Philipsburg dock in late day sun with beer. Happiness.(link)

St-Hermenegilde – St-Malo - East Hereford ride. A wild ride, because of some colorful routefinding, heavy rain and massive lightning, awesome scenery, great 10 metre tall lookout tower at St-malo (already at 600 metres elevation!), tres vrai rustique back road, the great Hall river valley, a good ride with interesting route, exciting conditions and bad rear wheel. I Plan to try again in good weather!(link and link)

Northern Lanaudiere final version - quiet roads, good pavement, a dozen hills, 16% climbs, long descents, great scenery, fresh raspberries, villages, a stunning ride, my favorite ride in Quebec. Many repeat visits worked out this final, exceptional, version. This version mainly avoids busy roads. St-Jean de Matha, Ste-Emilie de l'Energie and Ste-Beatrix. First visit here was because of Petits Escapades guidebook. Because it looked hilly! Arrive late and enjoy late day sun and sunset lighting, amazing. Don't forget Chemin Ste-Guillaume at end.(link and link and link and link)

Tremblant-Riviere Rouge. Leaving the village of Tremblant is always a good idea, head from tourist office west and turn near Riviere rouge and ride north to village with strange bridge, with dock in middle and great wood sculpture. Cross here and ride south along rouge river, and country side, ride back north along river. Great hills, scenery, and covered bridge and with optional crazy hill at end. This is touches the Pays en Haut area. Optional extension to make Arundel southern turning point. Check the strange train at Arundel post office.(link and link)

Chemin Cyclist St-Donat. Officially named chemin Nordet, this recently all-new highway opened up a road for the first time between St-Donat and Lac Superieur (near Tremblant northside. It is starting to age, but still an amazing (Vermont-like) ride, with two major climbs with sort of a plateau in between. It is just starting to be developed, but for years was empty of icky real estate exploitation. Great wide paved shoulders. Big descents. Extremely popular with cycling clubs and groups of cyclists of all types. Ride from St-Donat to Lac Superieur, lap the lake, have a snack, and ride back.(link)

St-Donat to Chertsey and back. The Rt 125 is the autoroute that wasn't. Double-lane divided highway through very scenic hills. Very good autumn colors ride. A bit busy sometimes. For added flavour, ride the 347 Notre-Dame-de-Merci to St-Come for a trip on the "sineuse 347!"(link)

Ottawa river ride. Hudson-Hawksbury, cross river, east to Oka- a ride on the Oka-Hudson Ferry- and a few km back to Hudson. A good ride, with some great parts. That headwind is a good tailwind when returning east. First part after crossing river follows dirt road which is Route Verte. This avoids busy crappy highway (sorry roadies!). Hudson-oak ferry is amazing. Especially at sunset .(link)

West Quebec flats - Pointe aux cascades-Les Cedres ferry (bike ferry!) st-Timothé - Grande Ile – Hydro Quebec dams - Rigaud (almost) and back. A real scenic tour through west quebec, farm land, little and big rivers. Interesting to cross the St-Laurence at Valleyfield across hydro dams (excellent!). Unusual for me to do a flats ride, and I felt it, normally with hill rides the descents are the recuperation mode, but flats are pedaling all the time - ooooh!(link)

Charlevoix – the circuit of the Grand Prix de Charlevoix road race. I was dreaming for two years to do this ride. This summer I got my chance. From Baie St-Paul, follow the circuit of the grand prix de charlevoix, past st-Hilaron, to Les Eboulements, big descent to Ste-Irenee (18% hill back up), back via st-Hilaron again, and to petit (invisible) village of St-Ours, where the race finishes (and paved roads!), continue with left turn on chemin ste-Catherine to reach the Rt 362 and descend to St-Joseph de la Rive (our motel/auberge)on one of the biggest hills of quebec. Hit over 80 km'h twice on this ride, and didn't speed on last hill. This is number one return ride for next summer. Highlight was lunch rock that held plaque for discovery of crater de charevoix, 165 million years ago a 2 km asteroid hit earth planet, ici! Descents are good, better then good. Bette than great, out of this world!(link)

Sutton -Owls head ride with Bolton pass/Knowlton. A bad weather start, day got better and better. started with big headwinf heading east hrough bolton pass, through knowlton on echo road, up and down, sutton things got better, a million cyclists there, chemin scenic and along mississiquio river valley to mansonville is amazing, short side trip to Mansonville covered bridge brought world class view of Sutton jay range, best view in southern quebec? Then over past owls head, down to the water for a dip of the toe on lac memphremagog, then north and back to east bolton and car. This was a repeat attempt, a week befoe I had forgotten bike lock key (yes I lock my bike inside the car) and had to return home without riding! This madeup for it. An amazing ride.(link)

Ormstown-Powerscourt - the short chateauguay valley ride. The chateauguay river can be rideen in distances as short at 10-20 km and up to 100+ km rides, depending on where you start and where you cross the river and head back. A good reference ride is Ormstown-Huntingdon-Athelstan-Powerscourt (covered bridge). This takes you right to the US border, but avoids big roads (avoid the Rt 138!!! Quet roads, twisty along river, straignt if you come back voam, say tullochgorum rod. An excellent area for road cycling. Maybe they will one day buuold a bike path along the old train tracks>??? It's starte din Ste-martine, now finish it!!!(link)

Prevost (shawbridge-Rawdon-Chertsey-Ste-margeritte An epic ride, with a mising bridge at Chertsey (backtrack city!) Finished after dark (only once this year!). Back roads, steep hills, epic for al lthe wrong reasons, this was a central laurentians ride, and wasn't my favorite for it's quality, but for the adversity I overcame! Much bad asphalt. many steep hills. Everything but bears and wolves. (link and link)

Parc de la mauricie. - Another race ride circuit that I did on a quiet day. After the Defi Velo Mag announced this ride, I went the next week to ride it (I missed the popular ride). 120 km round trip "park entrance to other park entrance and back again." Unbelievable number of hills. It was a late June hot day, with some butt-biting flys! This would be a ride to do in autumn colors season. Very quiet roads (I was there week day) and I have to say 120 km of perfect asphalt. Perfect asphalt. perfect asphalt. My riding time would put me right in the middle of the pack for the defi velo mag ride, which ain't too bad for a 47 year old on a 20 year old racing bike. Excellent post-ride deck behind visitor centre on the mauricie river.(link)

Isle aux Coudres from St-Joseph-de-la-Rive. A quiet family ride, much better than anticipated. Free ferry ride always a bonus, big hill leaving ferry, windy beach lunch at western tip of island, lookout tower worth the $1.00 admission price (totally!) and views of Ste-Joseph de la Rive/Les Eboulements hill is awesome (18% hill) Largely a flat ride, with minor hills on north side of island. Free ferry ride back again for supper. A excellent day for a slower ride (after the grand prix de charlevoix ride I needed a break!).(link)

Ste-Emilie de L'Energie to St-Michel des Saints. One of my final explorations in northern lanaudiere. Ride north from Ste-Emilie, past St-Zenon and to St-Michel des Saints. Middle part around st-Zenon very nice and hilly: paved shoulder, road follows river. Great return ride with descents. Tried to head west to Tremblant park entrance, but flatted. (new tire!) A worthwhile ride. St-Zenon area is good hiking too.(link)

Riding Partners. I’d like to take a moment and thank a few of my riding partners (victims!) particularly Pierre, who has introduced me to so manuy greatrides in Vermont, Mike, Jim, Shelley, maxi, Don, I'd like to also thank anyone who read any of these rides and tried them on their own, I know that there are plenty of people reading the blog, and I get feedbackl sometimes about how great the rides are, so I know it isn't just me who things they are great.

Ste-Anicet - Dundee This ride, in the extreme southwest corner of quebec, is a thin wedge shape bordered by the USA border and the st-Laurence river. The terrain is left over from the last glacier, so there are up and downs, not too long or frequent, but don't be surprised by the fact it's not a flats ride. Starting at riverside st-Anicet, it rides south and west to the US border, then zigs and zags east past some history and even an iroquois settlement, Les Droliers, which isn't a multimedia disneyfied experience in any way. Peaceful roads, farms and forests, and a beach and dock for after-ride relaxation (stretching surely?), this ride exceeded my expectations in every way.(link)

Verchere to St something de Richielieu. Initially a crappy ride, this ride got hugely better when I left the Rt 132 and went cross country to the villaghe of St Roch de richieleu. This village had lots of old, really old, homes, a cable-ferry across the river, a little dock for a riverside lunch. The ride back to verchere was exceptional (ok, for flats...) because it passed many ancient houses, from the pre-conquest era. The town of Vecherres is named aftet the quebec heroine Madeliene de Vercheres, a teenage woman who closed the fort gates and fooled the marauding indians that the fort was full of soldiers and they'd better not attack. It also had a nice riverside park. on the st-laurence. The only downside was that my usual road bike was out of action and I had to ride my urbanified original mtn bike. Oh, and the fact it was a flats ride. I prefer hills!(link)

Beauharnois Canal - South of Valleyfield is the huge Beauharnois canal, where electricity for montreal comes from. Along the sides of the canal on both sides is a bike pah,, The only downside, the only safe river crossing is at beauharnois, not the two valleyfield briges. Aside from that, it's a big riverside bike path, and is away from cars. The valleyfield area is quite rich in bike paths, with rides along the canal, the old abandoned canal soulanges has a bike path, and there are some options on valleyfield island too. It is a good family ride here, bring picnic supplies because there are no deps on the south side, the north side has services, if you enter the town of Valleyfield. Did you know that more material was removed to build this canal than the panama canal? That's what they say.(link)

Well, that's it, many memorable rides, most of them top quality, all of them a great way to spend a sunday afternoon. Note that my usual "crack of noon" departure time isn't recommended!

See you next year.

Quebec Cycling Holiday Ideas

Quebec is a big place and a good cycling vacation in Quebec will visit quite a big geographic area.

Cycle Fun Montreal has been thinking about what we'd do if we decided to invite you for a week-long cycling vacation in Quebec. Answer: too many choices!

Montreal has several possibilities (it's a compact city easy to bike in):

• Lachine Canal/Sentier des Berges canal-and-riverside bike path loop, go out to very end of canal to parc levesque for huge outdoor sculpture art-park
• Olmstead road to top of Mont Royal - excellence includes deep forest road, beaver lake, The Mont Royal Chalet lookout over downtown, and Maison Smith, and don't forget the summit and of course the giant cross. Descend via Mont Royal cemetery for added scenic amazement
• The bikeable urban mecca of Plateau Mont Royal (Mont Royal, St-Denis, Parc Lafontaine, Rue St Hubert (south of Mont Royal), avenue du Parc, St-Viateur, Bernard and of course the legendary St-Laurent boulevard.
• To the public markets of Atwater or Jean Talon
• To Old Montreal and the Old (Vieux) Port and the island park of Parc Drapeau and Pont Jacques Cartier bridge for best view of the city

West / southwest of Montreal

• Pointe aux Cascades bike path -Anchor Museum/ Cedres Ferry/ St-Timothee - Lac St-Louis
• Chateauguay Valley: Road ride from Ormstown to Powerscourt (oldest covered bridge in Quebec) along the Chateauguay River

North of Montreal

• Petit Train du Nord (200 km trail, south 90 km is rockdust, northern 110 km is paved)
• Out favorite sections are:
• Val-David-to-or-from anywhere south like Ste-Adele, Prevost, or St-Jerome (south direction is downhill from Val David). Val David has 1001 pots exhibition/gallery in summer.
• Tremblant to Labelle (P'tit train du Nord museum in Labelle)
• The northern paved 110 km starting in Labelle. Pavement, your friend pavement...

East of Montreal/ Eastern Townships

• Chambly Canal (for added adventure, do it from Montreal)
• L'Estriade: Granby to Waterloo
• Les Grande Fourches (Sherbrooke/Rock Forest/North Hatley/Lennoxville)
• Tomifobia Nature Trail - Ayers CLiff to Stanstead - scenic, away from civilization, deep rural
• Road ride Sutton area - Sutton-Mansonville-Knowlton-Sutton

East of Montreal - between Montreal and Quebec City (north of river)

• Chemin du Roy (say Lanoraie to St-Barthelemy)
• Cycle Fun Montreal's Lanaudiere hill rides (a hill-climbing scenic paradise)
• Parc de la Mauricie - end to end loop - hardcore hills and few services, you earn it

Quebec City

• Loop Quebec City-Ferry-Levis-Pont du Quebec (bridge)-and back by brand new riverside bike path Route du Champlain
• local south shore ride: Levis to villages up to 50 east and back.
• Just take the ferry Quebec City to Levis for amazing scenic experience

East of Quebec City - North of River - Charlevoix

• Ile aux Coudres, easy scenic ride, leave car in St-Joseph de la Rive for easy ferry access
• Charlevoix hills - for the hardcore cyclists this is heaven

East of Quebec City - South of River - Cote de Sud, Bas St-Laurent, Les Basques

• Take the Route Verte anywhere to anywhere going east - you will usually have a big tailwind. And spectacular scenery. And tides. And pretty villages.
• Petit Temis 130 km trail from Riviere du Loup, south to Cabano, Degelis, and Edmonston, in the province of New Brunswick. A good shorter version is 100 km Degelis to Riviere du Loup.

Well that's a start... I know I missed a few, especially the flatter-land rides, but with 4000+ km of riding, this list offers you a good taste of Quebec.

If you want a Quebec cycling vacation a good place to start is Velo Quebec for bicycling info and Bonjour Quebec for other tourism info. There are excellent free cycling guides from every region of quebec. Translation: life just keeps getting better if you're a cyclist in Quebec!

Looking for some great rides?

We did over 3000 km of open-road riding (and another 3000 km in the city) in 2007. It was a very good year to be a cyclist in Montreal.

I mapped many of them on Bikely, a wonderful map service for cyclists: it tells you how much climbing there is in the route! Click here to see the Bikely maps that we have created for many of the rides in this list. You'll be glad you did...

Last year the Cycle Fun Montreal gang visited many new ride destinations, and of course rode many of our old favorites (can you say Jay Peak loop?) back in the warm weather season of 2007.

Looking at the list below we can only reach one conclusion: we really rode a lot of exceptionally good bike rides in 2007! There is one person in our group who figures out our ride itineraries and we all owe him a big beer on a hot day.

(drum roll...)

Cycle Fun Montreal presents:

Our best rides of 2007 - now with links to the original post and route maps!

Ormstown- St-Chrysostome - Covey hill - Powerscourt - Trout river - Ridge road - Dewittville 130km - The complete chateauguay valley ride. A beauty. Good views of all sorts of things. Good roads. Many different eco systems. Usually a tailwind for the last 30 kms.(link)

Ormstown - Lyon Mountain USA century ride (160 km/100 miles). Ormstown-franklin-usa border-Lyon mtn village - Lyon Mtn loop-lyon Mtn village-Canadian border-Franklin - Ormstown. Lyon mountain is visible from Mt royal, it's the closest adirondack mountain to the southwest. Excellent climb on second half of riding around lyon mountain. gentle downhills home (mostly!).(link)

Frelighsburg-Joy Hill - Richford/ VT - Montgomery (bot the easy way)-Phillipsburg. Two words: Joy Hill! Climb on backroad between Richford and Montgomery is exceptional. Great view of Pinacle. Veromont guide book included this cross border ride, and said it was best in book, it sure was. Thanks sid! Frelighsburg was cyclist central!(link)

Jay Peak loop from Sutton (chemin scenic both directions). The Famous five-hill Jay ride, one of the great rides of the east. Back side of jay is big climb! Front side is steep hill, descent to Mongomery is wow (with dogs!), all hills are fun and hard. Crossing border at East Richford always special. Food stop before front-side jay climb a long-standing tradition. Winter training pays off here!(link and link and link)

Phillipsburg - Lake Champlain islands – St-Albans bay - Phillipsburg. Park lakeside at Philipsburg, take highway to US border - now you’re on Interstate! Go west, to Islands, and turn south. Follow islands until back on solid land (diversions possible on some islands), on mainland, turn left and head north, passing St-Albans bay. Relax on Philipsburg dock in late day sun with beer. Happiness.(link)

St-Hermenegilde – St-Malo - East Hereford ride. A wild ride, because of some colorful routefinding, heavy rain and massive lightning, awesome scenery, great 10 metre tall lookout tower at St-malo (already at 600 metres elevation!), tres vrai rustique back road, the great Hall river valley, a good ride with interesting route, exciting conditions and bad rear wheel. I Plan to try again in good weather!(link and link)

Northern Lanaudiere final version - quiet roads, good pavement, a dozen hills, 16% climbs, long descents, great scenery, fresh raspberries, villages, a stunning ride and my favorite ride in Quebec. Many repeat visits worked out this final, exceptionally cruel, I mean hilly, version. This version mainly avoids busy roads. St-Jean de Matha, Ste-Emilie de l'Energie and Ste-Beatrix. First visit here was because of Petits Escapades guidebook. Because it looked hilly! Arrive late and enjoy late day sun and sunset lighting, amazing. Don't forget Chemin Ste-Guillaume at end.(link and link and link and link)

Tremblant-Riviere Rouge. Leaving the village of Tremblant is always a good idea, head from tourist office west and turn near Riviere rouge and ride north to village with strange bridge, with dock in middle and great wood sculpture. Cross here and ride south along rouge river, and country side, ride back north along river. Great hills, scenery, and covered bridge and with optional crazy hill at end. This is touches the Pays en Haut area. Optional extension to make Arundel southern turning point. Check the strange train at Arundel post office.(link and link)

Chemin Cyclist St-Donat. Officially named chemin Nordet, this recently all-new highway opened up a road for the first time between St-Donat and Lac Superieur (near Tremblant northside. It is starting to age, but still an amazing (Vermont-like) ride, with two major climbs with sort of a plateau in between. It is just starting to be developed, but for years was empty of icky real estate exploitation. Great wide paved shoulders. Big descents. Extremely popular with cycling clubs and groups of cyclists of all types. Ride from St-Donat to Lac Superieur, lap the lake, have a snack, and ride back.(link)

St-Donat to Chertsey and back. The Rt 125 is the autoroute that wasn't. Double-lane divided highway through very scenic hills. Very good autumn colors ride. A bit busy sometimes. For added flavour, ride the 347 Notre-Dame-de-Merci to St-Come for a trip on the "sineuse 347!"(link)

Ottawa river ride. Hudson-Hawksbury, cross river, east to Oka- a ride on the Oka-Hudson Ferry- and a few km back to Hudson. A good ride, with some great parts. That headwind is a good tailwind when returning east. First part after crossing river follows dirt road which is Route Verte. This avoids busy crappy highway (sorry roadies!). Hudson-oak ferry is amazing. Especially at sunset .(link)

West Quebec flats - Pointe aux cascades-Les Cedres ferry (bike ferry!) st-Timothé - Grande Ile – Hydro Quebec dams - Rigaud (almost) and back. A real scenic tour through west quebec, farm land, little and big rivers. Interesting to cross the St-Laurence at Valleyfield across hydro dams (excellent!). Unusual for me to do a flats ride, and I felt it, normally with hill rides the descents are the recuperation mode, but flats are pedaling all the time - ooooh!(link)

Charlevoix – the circuit of the Grand Prix de Charlevoix road race. I was dreaming for two years to do this ride. This summer I got my chance. From Baie St-Paul, follow the circuit of the grand prix de charlevoix, past st-Hilaron, to Les Eboulements, big descent to Ste-Irenee (18% hill back up), back via st-Hilaron again, and to petit (invisible) village of St-Ours, where the race finishes (and paved roads!), continue with left turn on chemin ste-Catherine to reach the Rt 362 and descend to St-Joseph de la Rive (our motel/auberge)on one of the biggest hills of quebec. Hit over 80 km'h twice on this ride, and didn't speed on last hill. This is number one return ride for next summer. Highlight was lunch rock that held plaque for discovery of crater de charevoix, 165 million years ago a 2 km asteroid hit earth planet, ici! Descents are good, better then good. Bette than great, out of this world!(link)

Sutton-Owls Head-Missisquoi valley ride A bad weather start, the day got better and better. started with big headwinf heading east hrough bolton pass, through knowlton on echo road, up and down, sutton things got better, a million cyclists there, chemin scenic and along mississiquio river valley to mansonville is amazing, short side trip to Mansonville covered bridge brought world class view of Sutton jay range, best view in southern quebec? Then over past owls head, down to the water for a dip of the toe on lac memphremagog, then north and back to east bolton and car. This was a repeat attempt, a week befoe I had forgotten bike lock key (yes I lock my bike inside the car) and had to return home without riding! This madeup for it. An amazing ride.(link)

Ormstown-Powerscourt - the short chateauguay valley ride. The chateauguay river can be rideen in distances as short at 10-20 km and up to 100+ km rides, depending on where you start and where you cross the river and head back. A good reference ride is Ormstown-Huntingdon-Athelstan-Powerscourt (covered bridge). This takes you right to the US border, but avoids big roads (avoid the Rt 138!!! Quet roads, twisty along river, straignt if you come back voam, say tullochgorum rod. An excellent area for road cycling. Maybe they will one day buuold a bike path along the old train tracks>??? It's starte din Ste-martine, now finish it!!!(link)

Prevost (shawbridge-Rawdon-Chertsey-Ste-margeritte An epic ride, with a mising bridge at Chertsey (backtrack city!) Finished after dark (only once this year!). Back roads, steep hills, epic for al lthe wrong reasons, this was a central laurentians ride, and wasn't my favorite for it's quality, but for the adversity I overcame! Much bad asphalt. many steep hills. Everything but bears and wolves. (link and link)

Parc de la mauricie. - Another race ride circuit that I did on a quiet day. After the Defi Velo Mag announced this ride, I went the next week to ride it (I missed the popular ride). 120 km round trip "park entrance to other park entrance and back again." Unbelievable number of hills. It was a late June hot day, with some butt-biting flys! This would be a ride to do in autumn colors season. Very quiet roads (I was there week day) and I have to say 120 km of perfect asphalt. Perfect asphalt. perfect asphalt. My riding time would put me right in the middle of the pack for the defi velo mag ride, which ain't too bad for a 47 year old on a 20 year old racing bike. Excellent post-ride deck behind visitor centre on the mauricie river.(link)

Isle aux Coudres from St-Joseph-de-la-Rive. A quiet family ride, much better than anticipated. Free ferry ride always a bonus, big hill leaving ferry, windy beach lunch at western tip of island, lookout tower worth the $1.00 admission price (totally!) and views of Ste-Joseph de la Rive/Les Eboulements hill is awesome (18% hill) Largely a flat ride, with minor hills on north side of island. Free ferry ride back again for supper. A excellent day for a slower ride (after the grand prix de charlevoix ride I needed a break!).(link)

Ste-Emilie de L'Energie to St-Michel des Saints. One of my final explorations in northern lanaudiere. Ride north from Ste-Emilie, past St-Zenon and to St-Michel des Saints. Middle part around st-Zenon very nice and hilly: paved shoulder, road follows river. Great return ride with descents. Tried to head west to Tremblant park entrance, but flatted. (new tire!) A worthwhile ride. St-Zenon area is good hiking too.(link)

Riding Partners. I’d like to take a moment and thank a few of my riding partners (victims!) particularly Pierre, who has introduced me to so manuy greatrides in Vermont, Mike, Jim, Shelley, maxi, Don, I'd like to also thank anyone who read any of these rides and tried them on their own, I know that there are plenty of people reading the blog, and I get feedbackl sometimes about how great the rides are, so I know it isn't just me who things they are great.

Ste-Anicet - Dundee This ride, in the extreme southwest corner of quebec, is a thin wedge shape bordered by the USA border and the st-Laurence river. The terrain is left over from the last glacier, so there are up and downs, not too long or frequent, but don't be surprised by the fact it's not a flats ride. Starting at riverside st-Anicet, it rides south and west to the US border, then zigs and zags east past some history and even an iroquois settlement, Les Droliers, which isn't a multimedia disneyfied experience in any way. Peaceful roads, farms and forests, and a beach and dock for after-ride relaxation (stretching surely?), this ride exceeded my expectations in every way.(link)

Verchere to St something de Richielieu. Initially a crappy ride, this ride got hugely better when I left the Rt 132 and went cross country to the villaghe of St Roch de richieleu. This village had lots of old, really old, homes, a cable-ferry across the river, a little dock for a riverside lunch. The ride back to verchere was exceptional (ok, for flats...) because it passed many ancient houses, from the pre-conquest era. The town of Vecherres is named aftet the quebec heroine Madeliene de Vercheres, a teenage woman who closed the fort gates and fooled the marauding indians that the fort was full of soldiers and they'd better not attack. It also had a nice riverside park. on the st-laurence. The only downside was that my usual road bike was out of action and I had to ride my urbanified original mtn bike. Oh, and the fact it was a flats ride. I prefer hills!(link)

Beauharnois Canal - South of Valleyfield is the huge Beauharnois canal, where electricity for montreal comes from. Along the sides of the canal on both sides is a bike pah,, The only downside, the only safe river crossing is at beauharnois, not the two valleyfield briges. Aside from that, it's a big riverside bike path, and is away from cars. The valleyfield area is quite rich in bike paths, with rides along the canal, the old abandoned canal soulanges has a bike path, and there are some options on valleyfield island too. It is a good family ride here, bring picnic supplies because there are no deps on the south side, the north side has services, if you enter the town of Valleyfield. Did you know that more material was removed to build this canal than the panama canal? That's what they say.(link)

Well, that's it, many memorable rides, most of them top quality, all of them a great way to spend a sunday afternoon. Note that my usual "crack of noon" departure time isn't recommended!

See you in the spring!

Lac Megantic - loop ride around the lake

In our quest to ride Quebec's best roads' present stage, we are riding rides that start three hours or less from Montreal. Lac Megantic is just under this cutoff (just!) and yesterday this long awaited ride finally was ridden!

Parking, bike path access, and post-ride picnic were all at lakeside Parc de l'O.T.J.

Downtown Lac Megantic is still undergoing major reconstruction after 2013 disaster

Musi-Café reopens for first show, before new building even has walls!

May 13 - snow's not all gone, but almost all gone!

Gear Envy, big gear envy. The Bertrand feels very inadequate at this moment

Anglican church does not have steeple envy

Lots of nice roads and nice paved shoulders too

Scenery was frequently excellent!

We got up early and were on the road at 7:17 am - almost a new record for us! First stop was gas at L'Ange Gardien's cheap-gas-mecca on the Eastern Townships Autoroute, second stop was a few miles further at the Tourism Eastern Townships at the Granby exit-for maps and bike maps. (Very convenient, very useful, a mandatory stop!)

Then we drove and drove some more until we arrived in the Town of Lac Megantic. We had known of this ride around Lac Megantic for many, many years, and we finally made it, with perfect weather conditions too.

We parked at the Parc de la O.T.J. which is right on the lake and bike path. To our surprise there was a major media scrum in and outside: many camera's, satellite trucks and multiple TV networks. This was either about the re-opening of the destroyed in last summers catastrophe Musi-Café, the arrest of three MMA employees for the disaster, or something completely different. We looked at media reports this morning and did not see any camera shots or interviews from this location. 

This impressive media presence wasn't about us or this excellent and popular bike ride.

All we know that this was a great location to start and end the ride. Lake, beach, change rooms and toilets, benches and picnic tables, free parking, closeness to food stores, closeness to bike path, but what, oh what does OTJ mean? 

Then we headed off around the lake in a counter-clockwise direction, as advised the "Le Québec dans 30 Boucles" bike ride guide to Vélo-Mag magazine readers' favorite road bike rides. We like this guidebook a lot, even if some of the rides have variations that we prefer slightly compared to the guidebook's chosen route. 

The Park de l'O.T.J. is bike-path connected to the main bike path in town that takes you out of town (we started heading west). The paved path changed to a rock-dust trail that was in good shape and solid for our 700x25 tires. Some deer were closely watching us and a partridge did its best to intercept our trajectory, but we continued with no other obstacles. We went through the campground and the quiet road instead of the Rt 263 to Marston, big hills and crappy road, but quiet. In Marston we joined the Rt 263 for some more good climbs.

We stopped for snacks in Piopolis, then we continued south to the turnoff on to Rt 161 back north to the town of Lac Megantic. There is a new rest stop at the corner here with great views.  We briefly considered a little out-and-back south the Woburn, but that no-shoulder road quickly made that an undesired option. The road had generally been equipped with decent and (mostly) clean paved shoulders and we didn't feel like a no-shoulder/ride-the-white-line was an enhancement to today's ride. Good news for the future: It looked like a rebuilt road with paved shoulders will soon replace the present death-highway segment to Woburn.

North to Lac Megantic has one major highlight: a roadside lookout tower!  We love lookout towers (Hello Saint-Malo near Coaticook and Ile aux Coudres in the Charlevoix).

Excellent lookout tower on Rt 161 S of Lac Megantic

A short while later we were entering the town of Lac Megantic and riding along the edge of the rebuilt (in progress) downtown (rebuilt after the major disaster there last summer).  We noticed that the Musi-Café was hosting it's first show since the night of the disaster, before even the walls have been put on the building-that's the spirit!

We got back to the parc and the calm and warm mid-may weather was perfect for a lake-side picnic so we went up to the Marché Lavallé (4298, rue Laval) and got some picnic foods and had a pretty good late lunch/early supper picnic.

 Phase 2 - Parc Mont Megantic-Secteur Franceville

The ride around Lac Megantic is only 60 km, so that's a short ride for such a long drive. We mixed up the fun with a hike in provincial park Parc Mont Megantic to visit the new Franceville sector, a completely new side to this excellent national park.

We arrived here at 6 pm after our leisurely post-ride picnic but that left plenty of time for a nice hike up to a scenic lookout halfway up the mountain.

The parc entrance was gated but we paid the fee at the check-in box and proceeded to visit this all-new side of Parc Mont Megantic. First impression: this is not a low-budget development. Second impression: will be be eaten by bears? Well it turns out not, but boy it was quiet in the post-apocalyptic sense.  

Americans may wonder why info in english is on a smaller sign. C'est normale.

Franceville entrance can't be missed!

 The Franceville secteur entrance is on a dirt road that defines "in the middle of nowhere" although there is a new multifunctional bike path from the village of Scotstown right to the Park entrance. (We were surprised, and pleased)

New welcome centre (Accueil) in Parc Mont Megantic Franceville sector

Our hike started from main road because early season park open but gate locked situation

We will say that both the bike ride around the lake and the trails in the Parc Mont Megantic's Franceville's sector were very well marked.

Trail along this stream (ruisseau) was a beauty

Trail up the mountain seems well-built and well-maintained

From our destination's lookout we could see Mont Orford

At this point we turned around, hiked back to the cars (always watching out for any bears or other carnivores following us, of which there were precisely zero, as usual) before darkness arrived, which was a success for a change.

To conclude, this was an excellent day for a bike ride and a hike and an exploration of a new area. Imagine, if you can, how nice this would be in summer! Also, fall colours around here are pretty spectacular.

Here is the link for the map for the ride.

Here is the link for town of Lac Megantic. There is tourist info and maps here.

Here is the link for the Quebec provincial park Parc national du Mont Megantic (the town is beside the lake while the mountain/provincial park are about 50 km away from each other). This is a favorite Quebec park of ours.

Lac MeganticLac Megantic