Eastern Townships 2013, Day 2: Ange-Gardien to Mont-Orford National Park

< back to day 1 > forward to day 3

The night in the tent was cold. We had left one side of the rain fly open for better ventilation, and to save some space and weight I had brought only my middle-of-the-summerßweight sleeping bag. The bright morning sun and a cup of coffee warmed me up quickly, though.

As it is usually the case on the first few days of a tour, it took us a while to get ready; but by 9:45 we were on the road again. Our tentative plan for the day was to make it to Mont Orford National Park, about 80 kilometers and a bunch of climbing. We knew that this might be a challenge; but since there were a number of other campgrounds along the route we went for it anyway.

The road from the campground was mostly empty on this beautiful Saturday morning, and after only a few kilometers we reached the Route Verte 1.

Our progress towards Granby was slightly delayed when another cyclist flagged us down to ask where he was. There was clearly some mismatch between the distance he said he wanted to go and his degree of familiarity with the route. We did our best to guide him on the right way but I'm not entirely sure if we didn't just confuse him more...

It was a bit longer into Granby than anticipated, and so we stopped for a quick Clif Bar somewhere on the trail. By the time we arrived at the lake near Granby's downtown it wasn't quite time for lunch yet, but we stopped at a grocery store in order to stock up. Most larger grocery stores in Quebec offer a decent selection of prepared foods, and we enjoyed our third breakfast on the shore of Lac-Boivin.

Fountain in Lac-Boivin in Granby

Third breakfast

Kiss the flatlands goodbye!

Bike traffic on the Route Verte had picked up a lot -- everyone, from hand cyclists, families with tag-alongs, or what looked like the local e-bike club, was enjoying the day on their rides. Whereas so far our ride had been dead flat, in Granby we would start seeing the mountains of the Eastern Townships. Our route also started climbing, but for now it was just the gentle grade of the Estriade, a rail trail.

But a climb is a climb and so we were happy when we reached a lovely bike rest area at the outskirts of Waterloo. Toilets, water, picnic tables, two folks from the local tourist info, and a restored caboose made for an excellent spot for having lunch.

Inside, there was a model railway and information about the Estriade and its history

Waterloo's significance for cycling lies in the fact that it's home to the headquarters of Raleigh Canada. Raleigh bikes are still being manufactured there today. Not for much longer, though, as Raleigh announced at the beginning of 2013 that production will be shut down by the end of the year.

The Estriade ends in Waterloo, and the Route Verte continues on the appropriately named Montagnarde. Right after getting out of town, we were on a rough gravel path along a pipeline corridor -- and the climbing got a lot tougher. The path ended soon and for the next hours we'd be riding on magnificent gravel roads. Riding on gravel roads is all the rage these days, and no matter if you buy into the hype or not: they make for some fine riding! We encountered very few cars and the road surface was smooth enough to not cause any discomfort.

Discomfort was only caused by the relentless up and down of the route. Steep climbs were followed by rapid descents, through a pastoral landscape of meadows, forests, and mountains.

Gravel,

gravel,

and gravel.

The road, called Chemin de la Diligence, leads straight west for many kilometers. Close to the village of Stukely, there suddenly were dozens of cars parked along the side of the road -- as it turns out there was a Country music festival going on.

Yee-haw!

Not exactly our kind of scene, and so we we continued. The direction of the road didn't change, but now it was paved again. This made the big hill out of Stukely that we had seen from the summit of the previous ascent a little less challenging. But both the biketopus and I started to feel the effects of the up and down on our legs. I announced every 10 meters of climbing that we completed to keep us motivated.

Someone needs to hook that up to a fatbike

Big hill out of Stukely

Almost there!

Fortunately, this was the last major climb of the day. After a very fast descent, we reached Lac d'Argent. There are two very nice looking campgrounds right on the lake and we pondered if we should maybe just stay there instead of continuing the remaining kilometers -- and an unknown amount of climbing -- to the National Park. At any rate, we would have to get groceries first, and so the biketopus took a break on a big rock while I rode into the town of Eastman.

Eastman had some very tempting looking restaurants with sunny porches, and was just generally bustling with weekenders. But I just got food and a cold sixpack and returned to the biketopus. After some deliberation, we decided to just continue to the park. The Route Verte guidebook had a warning of an above 10% climb on the way there, but whatever! The path from Eastman to the park is a gravel trail through quiet woods. And while there were a few steep climbs, we were very happy to have finally reached the park border and soon after the turn-off to the campground without any hills worthy of a warning sign.

Most national parks in Quebec have introduced new cyclist-only campsites this year, similar to the hiker-biker sites in US National and State Parks on the West Coast. This means that cyclists have priority, no reservation is required, and they're a little cheaper than the other campsites. Other than one other cyclists who was going the opposite direction, from Sherbrooke to Montreal, we had the nice space all to ourselves.The normal campground, in contrast, was fully booked.

Bienvenue Cyclistes!

Whereas at the previous campground at least cold showers had been free, at the park all kinds of showering cost $1 for 4 minutes. Not exactly unreasonable, but grouchy me was unwilling to pay and instead hopped on his bike to ride to the nearby Lake Stukely. This turned out to be a great decision. The lake is absolutely beautiful, and this was emphasized even more by the sun just about to set. I floated around in the clean, warm water for a while before washing my hair over a sink and then pedaling back to our campsite. This was clearly the best campground on our trip.

Lac Stukely in the morning

As I realized only after returning home, unfortunately my GPS had crashed at some point during the ride, and therefore the track below is missing the last third of the ride.


> forward to day 3

Eastern Townships 2013, Day 1: Montreal to Ange-Gardien

Over the course of the year, the Biketopus and I had loosely talked about doing a long bike tour this summer. The Biketopus will start a busy new job next year and so we wanted to take the opportunity to be on the road for more than just a few days. We discussed various options -- taking the bikes on our France work/vacation trip, touring in my native Germany, or maybe going out to the US West Coast. In the end, we decided to stay close to home: start in Montreal and go east for about two weeks, taking the Route Verte 1 to Quebec City, continuing along the Saint Lawrence, and then cutting across the Gaspesie peninsula. Unfortunately, we had a family emergency just before the planned start of the tour and therefore had to modify our plans. The trip was trimmed down to one week and about 600km of riding in a loop from Montreal.



I planned the route using my local knowledge of the region, gained on my long solo rides and brevets, the Route Verte guidebook, and the Strava global heatmap. I knew that 600km in one week would be pushing it, especially if you keep in mind that as a rule of thumb you have to add about 10% distance in order to get a realistic estimate. But since the last part of the ride would be in well-known territory I knew that I could always come up with a shortcut if necessary.

Preparation for the ride was a bit hectic. As per usual, Wolfgang, my trusty Surly Cross-Check, would be carrying most of the gear, and as I had recently switched out the fork to a disc-brake compatible one, I had to install a new front rack, a Tubus Tara. Other than that and switching one of Wolfgang's badly worn tires, both our bikes were in pretty good shape. The night before our departure, we finished packing all our gear, and on Friday morning it was time to load up. Wolfgang was burdened with two Ortlieb Front Rollers, my recently acquired Back Roller Pluses, the REI Half Dome Plus tent, and a little army surplus handlebar bag. All together, bike and gear weighed in at about 39kg, if our luggage scale is to be trusted. Madge, the Biketopus's Fuji Touring, had one rear pannier and the classic Thermarest on the rack.

All the preparation paid off, and on Friday morning, at 9:30 we left home -- even half an hour earlier than planned! Originally, the first stage of the ride would have led us almost to Granby, but since one of the campgrounds there was full and the other one didn't have potable water(?!), we aimed for a campground near Ange-Gardien.

At the request of the Biketopus, we left the island of Montreal via the Champlain Bridge Ice Control Structure (Estacade) and were then planning to get to the South Shore at the Saint-Lambert locks. Unfortunately, a big ship was just about to enter the locks, which would have meant at least a 30 minute delay. Instead, we decided to detour via the Jacques Cartier Bridge, adding a few kilometers and, more importantly, the first steep climb of our trip. Pushing Wolfgang up that incline was a sharp reminder that I was no longer riding my 11-34 MTB cassette like on the last tour, but merely a 13-26. Oh well, too late.

Cockpit panda of Wolfgang and me

On the South Shore, we took our first little break on the Route Verte 1, which we would follow for the next 30km into Chambly -- a familiar route to both of us.

Time for a second breakfast

Wolfgang and Madge

The weather was glorious: a little humid, but clear blue skies, pleasant temperatures and nice tailwind.

After getting out of the suburbs, the nice riding begins

We got into the pretty town of Chambly just in time for lunch. Usually I ride through Chambly only on the weekends, when it is full of cyclists and other tourists; today, however, the many cafés and restaurants weren't very busy. We ate at Marius, which was maybe a little overpriced, but offered a terrace with a great view of Lac Chambly.

Before we got going again, I had to re-tighten Madge's handlebars. Unfortunately, somewhere in the process of packing up again, I left behind both my bike gloves and the padlock for our bikes -- something I realized only many kilometers further along.

After passing the first set of locks on the Chambly Canal, we left the Route Verte, crossed the Richelieu River and got onto the Route des Champs. This involves some confusing zig-zagging in the towns of Richelieu and Marieville, but also a newly paved stretch of road with wide bike lanes. The first half of the Route des Champs is on well-maintained gravel. As the name of the route implies, it leads mostly through fields and isn't particularly exciting.

Gravel portion of the Route des Champs

A happy Biketopus

In Saint-Cesaire, we stopped to get dinner ingredients and a new padlock. I made some fun of the biketopus of managing to spend 40 dollars at the supermarket, but I guess that's what happens if you go grocery shopping while hungry. To get to the campground, we had to leave the Route des Champs just after Saint-Cesaire, first on a nice country road, then for a short stretch on a busy highway with a narrow shoulder, and then again on a nice country road out of the village of Ange-Gardien.

The final stretch of the ride dragged on a little longer than expected and we re-checked Google Maps to make sure we were on the right track. Indeed, we were, and after the next turn Camping Mon Repos appeared. We were happy to see that their sign included a cyclist:

The campground itself was probably the largest one I've ever been to (not that that means much), and on first sight its primary audience were clearly not cyclists but seasonal campers with RVs and trailers. 

Three pools!

Not bike campers...

To get to our campsite, we had to ride over a kilometer to the outer edge of the campground. Once we got, there, however, we were pleasantly surprised: a huge grassy spot with fire pits and picnic tables, surrounded by trees. There was enough space for at least eight tents, but we had it all to ourselves!

Somewhat less pleasant was the fact that one had to pay for hot water in the showers. Not so much a problem for me, as I always shower cold anyway, but the Biketopus instead chose to just go for a swim in one of the three pools. After a big dinner and a couple of beers, we crawled into our sleeping bags and dozed off.




> continue to day 2

Tour de France 2013, Part 1: Marseille

As part of our summer work-vacation trip with the biketopus, I had a chance to see the 100th edition of the Tour de France. We managed to tweak our schedule so that I was able to see four stages, one in Marseille and three in and around Gap in the French High Alps. Lots of pictures were taken, and here is the first installment of photo essays.

Marseille was the finish of the fifth stage of the Tour. After three stages on Corsica and the team time trial in Nice, this stage was a mostly flat 228km from Cagnes-sur-Mer to the Marseille beaches.

Having never been to the Tour in person, I didn't have a good idea of what to expect -- how many people are going to be there? How close to the action can you get? What's the best place to be at? -- and therefore just made up things on the go. I knew that on such a flat stage there most likely would be a mass sprint at the finish and so I decided to head out to the finish area. Wanting to get a good spot, I headed out there on my Le Velo bike share bike several before the projected arrival.


The roads were already closed to car traffic, and as I assumed they'd be closed for cyclists, too, I dropped off my bike and continued on foot along the Avenue du Prado.

While walking along the wide street and past the 2 km mark a bunch of cyclists passed me on the closed-off section of the road -- I now regretted having dropped off my bike instead of also riding on the same road that the pro riders would soon be on.

Soon after, the first team buses appeared.

It was quite funny to watch...
 
... how carefully they navigated through "la flamme rouge", the marker for the final kilometer. On the very first stage of the Tour in Corsica, a team bus had crashed into the finish line, causing all kinds of complications.
When I arrived at the final straightaway it was still pretty empty. I walked as far as I could, but access was restricted at the final 200 meter marker. I walked back a little bit and secured myself a nice front row spot at about 220 meters from the finish. Now the waiting began, as the riders wouldn't be arriving for another two hours.
Fortunately, the Tour organizers try hard to keep spectators entertained, and that's what "La Caravane Publicitaire" is for. It's basically a big parade of all the main sponsors, giving away free crap.
The quality of the floats ranged from "well done and funny"...
...to "rather strange."
What was at least as much fun as watching the caravane itself, was watching how excited people would get over a free bottle of water, polyester hats, or a pack of candy.
After the caravane had come through, two groups of young riders came racing through. First the really young ones...
... then the somewhat older ones sprinting it out.
The long waiting had taken its toll and I felt increasingly roasted under the Mediterranean sun, but finally the riders arrived! As expected, it was a mass sprint and as such it was over very quickly.
Going all out on the last 200 meters. At this point, Gert Steegmans was in front, but he was only doing the work for his team mate Mark Cavendish right behind him, who would eventually win this stage. If you zoom in on the picture you can see the big crash unfolding in the background.
The mass crash looked pretty bad at first, but it seems that nobody got hurt too badly -- which is kind of surprising, given how fast the riders must have been.
Scrapes and bruises, however, were plentiful. Ouch!

The next part of my Tour reports will follow soon.

Plan your bike rides with aggregated Strava data

Edit 2013-08-17: Please read the update at the end of the post.
Edit 2014-05-31: As this post appears to be getting a lot of search engine traffic, I'd like to point out that the functionality I'm describing here is now available much more comfortably as part of Strava itself. I guess I was not to only person intrigued by the concept.

Most people would not think of Strava as a planning tool. Sure, it's a great performance and training tracker and provides lots of opportunities to compete with fellow cyclists and yourself, but its use for route planning is less obvious.

The basic problem is this: You want to plan a ride in area that you don't know well. There are many roads, but how can you tell apart the heavily trafficked, narrow highway from the lovely scenic back road? There already are a number of tool that can help, but they all have some shortcomings. For the amount of traffic on a given road, one can look up traffic count data from state or local departments of transportation (e.g. New York State). Depending on your location, this works reasonably well for major roads, but the small back roads that are often the nicest to ride on often lack count data. Google Street View can give you a good general impression of a road -- how wide is it, does it have a shoulder, are there big potholes? -- but it can be tedious to check longer stretches of a road. OpenStreetMap allows everyone to add useful information to their geographic database, like the existence of shoulders, the smoothness of the road, or its speed limit; but so far a lot of those features are not displayed on the map and the data especially in North America is very incomplete.

Probably a nice road for cycling -- unless the road is only this empty on early Sunday mornings ... (Screenshot from Google Street View)

So wouldn't it be great if you could just ask a fellow cyclist what she thinks of the road in question? Or, as different cyclists have different preferences, if you could ask a hundred cyclists? Or a thousand? Well, why not just do that: Hundreds of thousands of athletes log their bike rides on the Strava website, and fortunately Strava provides an API that allows other applications to access that data. The folks at raceshape.com offer a number of different analysis tools, but for our purposes the "global heatmap" is the one that's most useful.

What the heatmap does is to basically accumulate all the GPS data from Strava and overlay it on a map, with the color of the tracks representing the number of times a road has been ridden on. If you look at Montreal, for example, you can very clearly see some of the most popular cycling routes: the Estacade across the St. Lawrence, the Lachine Canal bike path, or the various ways to climb and descend Mont Royal.

Screenshot from raceshape.com

 Just like the approaches described above, there are limitations to the global heatmap for ride planning as well: Less populated areas often don't have sufficient data to be displayed on the map. In addition, it's important to keep in mind that Strava is mostly used by road cyclists, evidenced by the fact that for example the very popular bike path along the Chambly Canal doesn't even appear on the map -- presumably because it has a gravel surface.

Some traces of activity on the two highways along the Richelieu River, but nothing on the bike path (Screenshot from raceshape.com)

That being said, my own experience with using the map for route planning has been very positive. It has allowed me to discover some great cycling roads -- and avoid some of the not-so-awesome ones.

Update: As Andy and Brian have pointed out in the comments, the data used for the global heatmap is more limited than I thought: Instead of representing all or even a large portion of Strava ride data, it is only a small subset of those Strava users who explicitly have allowed the raceshape website to access their data. And at the moment there isn't even a link on the raceshape homepage to do that. If you would like to have your data included and get your own personal heatmap, use this link.