Saturday, June 12, 2010

Saturday's Gazette - 2 good quebec bike tourism articles


Tomifobia Nature Trail in the heart of the eastern townships

Saturday's Gazoo has two good articles on Quebec cycling tourism.

The first one is a week long tour via Route Verte(s) from Montreal to Quebec City along the St-Laurence, and then back to Montreal via the Eastern Townships.

Author David Yates and a group of guys hit the road, and in a wise move strategy-wise, had a support van to carry the luggage. Trip members rotated the driving, and as a result the bike riding was unencumbered by heavy panniers. The group stayed at b&b/hotels/motels along the way, many of then part of the "Bonjour Cyclists" accreditation, which ensures that cyclists special needs are catered to, like a secure place to store bikes at night, and hearty breakfast to fuel the legs for long days of riding. We've said it before and we'll say it again, successful riding is about eating enough food to keep the leg muscles going all day long. (and chamois cream, don't forget the chamois cream!).

The second article is in the travel section and explores the Tomifobia Nature Trail which is between Ayers Cliff and Stanstead in the Eastern Townships.

This trail really takes you away from civilization and keeps you immersed in nature along the scenic and winding Tomifobia river. We really like this trail for it's away-from-it-the-modern-world character. The article didn't mention it, but if you look closely, you will see a memorial marker to a train wreck that occurred in the trail's previous life as a rail line. Note that this is not a paved trail, so tiny racing tires are not the best choice here. We think the Tomifobia is one of Quebec's best beginner/intermediate cycling adventures.

So, you now have some inspiration for a multi-day Route Verte bicycle trip for your summer vacation, and a nice day-ride adventure on the Tomifobia Nature Trail if a one-day exploration is more your style.

The maps in this post identify the approximate location of the Tomifobia Nature trail. For a much better map, go here to the official website.


Ayers Cliff, 1 hr 40 minute drive from Montreal

2 Comments:

At 11:16 AM, Anonymous Michel Thibodeau said...

Hi there,
I don't know your email adress, so I'm leaving this here.
I don't know if you'll be able to answer this, but it seems to be a growing problem in my neighbourhood (Plateau by Laurier park), and underscores a disturbing trend:
Bikes that are locked to street signs are having letters posted on the bikes. The letters come from the condo associations, stating that if the bike isn't removed, the condo association will remove the bike using any means necessary.
There are now even signs on posts saying that folks can't lock their bikes there. These are privates sign posts, they're city posts (i.e. stop sign, bus sign, etc.). A couple years ago, I confronted a man taking a hammer to my gf's bike, who went on to tell me that the condo association had agreed to remove the bike, with no warning.
Seems to me that this is entirely illegal, but I don't know for sure.

Love your blog, btw.

 
At 6:24 PM, Blogger Cycle Fun Montreal said...

So put a sign on your bike saying do NOT touch!

Seriously, you should contact your local mtl city consellor and mayors office. Report these actions to your police also! And complain/protest to your condo committee. Any real estate entity usually likes things neat and tidy, unlike the real world, it only takes one anti-bike person on a condo committee, and things like this happen.

You will probably find that there is a law saying that you can't lock your bike to city property unless it is a bike stand, they make laws like this so you can have your rights abused "legally". If you need bike parking, complain to the city and condo commmittee.

 

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