July 17, 2017,  Day 57, Sorel to Gentilly, Quebec, 128km

Oh beauty! What a pretty little French-Canadien town this is! Look at the flowers and how nicely people keep their lawns! And these shoulders…..perfect! Wide, smooth, and really, not much traffic either.  Lots of squished frogs though, probably because we’re so close to that river we’re enjoying so much. Wow, I hope these conditions continue all along this route because this is awesome!!!

Those were just a few of the thoughts running through my head as we started our ride today. We had at least 100km on our radars and today that seemed daunting. I had awoken with a stuffy head, like I was coming down with a cold and I also had a bit of a headache.

It had rained during the night and we thought we’d once again, have to pack up a soggy tent. To our surprise, it wasn’t too bad and, as the sun was already out, it dried completely in the time it took us to have breakfast and pack everything else up.

Off we went, me a little slower than usual. I just wasn’t up to snuff. I wanted to get it over with. But these conditions were so great, it made the ride much easier.                                                        What’s that sign over there? Oh, it’s a cul-de-sac. Must be for one of those side roads. Oh, now we’re on an island……well, it must reconnect to the 132 on the other side. Maybe we should ask that man over there……

What! We’d gone 9 miles off track! Miles! That’s even worse than 9km!!! Oh no!!! My poor aching head!

There was nothing to do but backtrack, so we got to see that lovely little village all over again from a different perspective. On we rode, this time on the right route. The shoulders were still mostly good, even on the long detours we had to take. Sometimes when there’s road construction and cars are rerouted, they will allow bikes to go through. This time there was no choice. The bridge was out, so we had to take the long trek around too. Crap! And I still didn’t feel good.

“Charlie, I need to stop for coffee.” The next  place was about 20km away. There was a Tims and I headed straight for it. Amazing the recuperative properties of a large coffee, and a bit of rest. We also ate something; sandwichs we  made ourselves in the parking lot and a $1.39 carrot nut muffin.  I felt so much better! Ready to take on the world, or at least this little part of it! We did 38 more kilometres through more villages and on some bike paths. We’ve heard it say that Quebec is the reward for getting through Ontario. It’s true. There are several things we’ve noted that are particular to Quebec. One is that everything is in French. Even information that non-French speaking people should know is only written in French.  Like don’t drink this water ’cause if you do your insides will be outside for the next 3 days. Or, don’t jump in this canal ’cause there’s an octopus waiting for you. Well, maybe not that last one but, you get my drift. Another thing is that there are many, many motorcycles and most are the 3 wheeled type. Some have 1 wheel in front, 2 wheels behind, but most have 2 front wheels and 1 back one. They often go by in “flocks” or “hordes”. There are also a lot of 2 wheeled  motorcycles and I wonder if they’re a little smug and think of the 3 wheelers like this: “When you grow up maybe you’ll be able to ride a 2 wheeler like me.” Another thing is that the French Canadiens seem to love their Joe Loueys!!! They are selling like….like…..hot cakes!!!  

One of the info centres we stopped at had air pumps for bike tires. When Charlie filled his there was a problem with his front tire. We rode as fast as we could to get to a bike shop in Gentilly before it closed and when we got there, the bike mechanic was not there. Charlie filled his tire and we went to a corner restaurant for a bite.  . When we finished, the tire was limp and floppy. There was no way we could ride out to the campground as it was getting dark. Fortunately there was a motel less  than 1km away. The clerk told me there were two prices. One for a small room and more for a larger room. I said we’d take the small room as all we wanted to so was shower and sleep. The clerk kept trying to upsell me and finally I said “Look, you have a choice. You can either lease me the smaller less expensive room or you could give  me the more expensive room that you’re not going to tent out tonight anyway, for the less expensive price.

He gave us the bigger room and then he, Steve, drove Charlie back to the bike shop. The mechanic was there and he solved Charlie’s bike problem by  enlarging the hole on the tire rim where the valve goes through.  After it was pumped up and ready to roll, Steve drove Charlie back to the motel where I was already clean, happy and reading in bed.