QC-MTL, Day 0: Train to Quebec

> forward to day 1
Our original plan, as presented on this blog earlier in the year, had been to do a week-long tour from Quebec City to Montreal, following the Route Verte 1 throught the Eastern Townships. We were all ready to do it when at the last minute it turned out that I had to be somewhere on Tuesday morning. That would have given us at most 6.5 days for the 500 km. It could have worked out but we decided that we didn't want to cut it close and rather ride on the Route Verte 5, following the St. Lawrence river. This route would only be about 350 km, leaving us a comfortable time window.

On Monday evening we packed up and, after dropping off some recalled books at the library, went to Montreal Central Station. The person at the baggage counter was very nice when taking our bikes and panniers and soon we would be en route to Quebec City. Our train was scheduled to arrive at 9 pm and we arrived pretty much on time. Our bikes were unloaded last and after putting back on the panniers we got going for the 12 km to the hotel.

Our bikes, neatly parked in the Via Rail baggage car

I had planned the route to hotel based on the Quebec City bike maps which resulted in a lovely first part of the ride. We followed the Sainte-Anne river on a winding smooth bike path. Unfortunately, the path does not follow the river all the way to our hotel and the second part of the ride wasn't all that great. The suggested route followed an arterial street that even on a Monday evening at 9:30 pm was still pretty busy. A bike lane did exist but it was narrow and every once in a while disappeared. Well, we eventually made it to Motel Bonaparte. This was by far the cheapest option for accommodation in Quebec and it was definitive a decent value for the money. At around 11 pm we fell asleep, full of anticipation of next day's riding.

> forward to day 1

Ride report: A hard 300

Picture from the start. Courtesy CVRM

I had just gotten back from a three week trip to Europe on Tuesday night. On Wednesday I checked the CVRM calendar and was a bit concerned about seeing a 300 km brevet on the schedule for the weekend. I would have preferred a shorter distance, but as there are only two other rides left for this season I decided to sign up anyway.

My sleep pattern was still messed up by the jetlag and I woke up at 4:17, 13 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I arrived at the start just a bit after sunrise and was surprised to see only five other riders there -- it later occurred to me that in addition to vacation season it was also the time of the Rocky Mountain 1200 which was attended by five of our members. My main goal for the day was to make it back in time to meet the biketopus for the fireworks at 10 pm, a secondary goal was to complete the ride in a similar time as my last attempt, 14 hours and 32 minutes. My French is still pretty bad, but it was good enough to understand that one of the riders, Marc, had the plan to complete the ride at "sept heure," which was clearly too ambitious for me. Nonetheless, I tried hanging on with the rest of the group to the first contrôle in Saint-Cesaire. The pace was high, with an average of about 30 km/h, but I was feeling okay.

This would quickly change after the first stop: Raymond had left a few minutes before us and Jean, leading the rest of us, seemed determined to catch up with him. Zooming along on the Route des Champs bike path at 38 km/h was way too much for me and after maybe 10 km I decided I had to ride at my own pace in order to survive the ride. Unfortunately, for the rest of day I would be in various states of pain. It started with a headache which became bad enough to force me stop at a supermarket in Bromont to buy a Pepsi. The Pepsi cured the headache but somehow during the stop I must have pinched a nerve in my hip joint. This was painful in itself and also affected my pedaling form which in turn caused my left knee to start hurting, too. Between the second and third contrôle I was feeling more and more crappy and had to stop and sit in the grass for a bit somewhere along Vallée Missisquoi. At the bottom of the climb up Scenic Drive, the major climb of the route, I reached a low and thought I would have to walk up the mountain. Pondering this prospect for a minute, however, brought back my stubbornness and I decided to not let the mountain defeat me. I was passed by a number of roadies on the way up, but in the end I made it to the top.

At the third contrôle in Sutton I stopped for 50 minutes which, in combination with two Advils and lots of V8 and apple cider, made me feel a bit better. Between Sutton and the next contrôle the ride was fairly enjoyable -- nice scenery, almost no wind, and not too much pain. Once I reached Saint-Cesaire, with only about 60 km left, I knew that I would make it. From St.-Cesaire the route followed Route 112 all the way to the end which is easy and fairly nice to ride on. Lots of cars but the shoulder is wide and has good pavement. Back in Longueil I missed the turn onto Lapinière. but at 9:12 I reached the final contrôle. And after getting lost in Brossard while trying to find my way to the Saint-Lambert locks I arrived just in time at the Parc de la Cité du Havre right on time for the fireworks.

Brevet card

The other riders did indeed almost reach their goal of finishing at 7 o'clock which is very impressive. Had it not be for the pain my ride would probably have been really great, as the weather was pretty much perfect: warm but not too hot and very little wind for most of the day.I was surprised that the brevet only took me about 45 minutes longer than in my previous attempt, where there had been little pain and I had received a lot of help from the other riders. My moving average was much lower, 24.6 vs. 27.4 km/h, but I spent half an hour less at the stops. This pretty impressively shows that a fast brevet is not so much the result of riding fast but of having efficient stops.

Almost like a Brooks? Part Two: Review of Velo Orange Model 1 Saddle

Edit July 2014: Please also read part three of my review.

A couple of months ago, I posted my first impressions of the Velo Orange Model 1 and Model 3 saddles. In the meantime, I have ridden the Model 1 for over 2500 km now on rides ranging from my 5km commute to 10 hour, 160 km days on a tour from Montreal to Toronto. The Model 3 hasn't seen that kind of mileage yet and therefore I will only give an extensive perspective on the Model 1 for now.

Break-in period

Asymmetrical break-in

The break-in period of a saddle can vary widely, and the Model 1 was definitely on the lower end. Similarly to my Brooks Swift, the saddle started showing signs of breaking in right after my first 120 km ride: The leather got a little softer and you could see little dents forming where my sit bones contact the saddle. These dents have gotten bigger over time and now one can clearly see the characteristic asymmetry that's due to my scoliosis. There hasn't been any flaring of the saddle's sides and I don't expect that to happen any time soon. One thing that differentiates the Model 1 as well as the Swift from my B17 Imperial is the ridge that is beginning to form on the centerline of the saddle. I only noticed it after reading accounts of people reshaping their saddles -- with weird methods like soaking it in water! -- because of this ridge. Because of the cut-out no ridge can form on the B17 Imperial, but I must say the ridges do not bother me at all. We'll see if that's going to change should they get more prominent.

Leather quality

In her review of the Gyes-produced saddles, the author of Lovely Bike described the material of the saddles as "cardboardy." This particular term doesn't resonate with me as a good description of the material, but compared to Brooks saddles there is a noticeable difference. Both my (now broken) B17 and the Brooks Swift have completely smooth surfaces, whereas the VO's leather has a fine pattern. In addition,  Functionally, this does not make a difference: all three saddles allow to easily slide around on them. Aesthetically I have a preference for the Brooks look -- but aesthetics are low on my list of criteria for choosing a saddle. The thickness of the leather is about the same as on my Brooks saddles: between 4.5 and 5.5mm (this is difficult to measure, though, and the thickness varies on different parts of the saddle).The sides of the saddle are chamfered, just like with the narrower Brooks models.

Slightly crinkly leather near the sit bone dents

Rails

One reason for buying the VO saddle was that I hoped its rails would be less prone to breaking than that of my B17. Brooks rails have a diameter of about 6.8mm (I'm assuming that's 17/64 inches), whereas the VO has 7mm rails. A difference of 0.2 mm (or 3%) does not sound like much and I have no idea how much of an difference it makes for longevity. The rails are chrome plated which some have claimed is not only environmentally problematic but also not good for strenght. I don't have the expertise to evaluate these claims.
Another aspect of Brooks saddles frequently criticized is the limited range for adjusting the saddles fore-aft position. My Swift offers about 70mm of adjustment, compared to 80mm on the VO.

Lots of room for adjustment

Rivets

The looks of the Model 1's rivets are right in between my B17 and the Swift: The B17 sported the small diameter (8.75mm) nickel-plated steel rivets and the Swift has the nice, big hammered copper rivets with 13mm diameter. The Model 1 rivets have a diameter of 12mm, are hammered and made from stainless steel (according to a webshop selling other Gyes saddles).

Comfort

Comfort for most is probably the most important factor in choosing a saddle. At the same time it is the most difficult one to describe and also highly dependent on the rider. Personally, I am very satisfied with the comfort of the Model 1: On my tour from Montreal to Toronto I rode it on several consecutive 150km days without any issues. In commuter mode, I have noticed that the saddle is a bit more sensitive to the choice of underwear: with the B17 Imperial this was not an issue and I could easily do 60km rides in street clothes. With the Model 1, on the other hand, it sometimes happens that my clothes have a seam in the wrong spot, causing discomfort on longer rides around town. I suspect that this is mostly due to the narrower shape of the saddle, and that I would have similar issues with the Brooks Swift if I ever rode on it in everyday clothes.

Conclusion

My ultimate verdict will very much depend on how long the VO saddle will make it. If it'll last longer than my B17 I would fully recommend the saddle, if it lasts the same amount of time I'd say: go for the Model 1 unless aesthetics are high on your agenda. VO appears to have regular 60 dollar sales of the saddle and at that price Brooks doesn't seem like a great deal.

Edit July 2014: Please also read part three of my review.

Ride report: CVRM 300km Brevet

After really enjoying my 200km brevet with the CVRM in early June and finishing with lots of time to spare I decided to give the 300 a try last Saturday. My main goal was to finish and since it was Nicole's birthday the next day the secondary goal was to get home before midnight.

At the start

I got up at 4:35, slurped down my oatmeal, and left the house at 5:15, well in time for the 6 o'clock start. With 9 riders (one more would catch up with us later) we got going right on time, heading for Chambly. I started out riding with Clement and one rider whose name I forgot but soon decided to catch up with the riders slightly ahead of us, Serge and Raymond. This turned out to be a good decision and I would stay with them for quite some time. The first controle was a gas station in Saint-Césaire after about 55km, and during our quick stop the whole group regrouped again.

Route Verte near Granby

We continued east towards Granby where Raymond (who Serge described to me as "the human GPS") took us on a detour on the Route Verte 1. This was slightly longer but much more scenic and quiet than the original route. Ten kilometers past Granby we changed our general direction, now heading south. This should be the beginning of the hilly part of our ride which continued for the next 100km. Initially, I was doing fine on the rollling hills, yet our pace was fast and the closer we got to the second controle in Lac Brome the more tired I felt.

Second controle in Lac Brome

Awesome scenery

Rest, V8, a coke, and two Clif Bars got me back into shape, however, and we continued. The dark clouds and showers that we had observed all throughout the ride now finally reached us, and for about 20 km we rode through heavy rain. Since it was still very warm and I was wearing my wool jersey I didn't bother putting on any extra clothes. Riding in the rain without fenders is something I haven't done in years but I wasn't as bad as expected, and eventually the sun came out again. In a little village near the Vermont border (Mansonville?) we stopped at a gas station for a final refuel before the big climb of the ride. Jean and Olivier passed us there while Martin decided to stop, too, and continue with us. The route was still very scenic, following a river between the sizable hills of the Eastern Townships. After about 160 km it was then time to leave the valley and tackle the climb on Scenic Drive. The climb, while being the biggest on the ride, is not all that bad with less than 200m of elevation change and a doable gradient. Nonetheless, I quickly fell behind Serge and Raymond, and Martin also slowly disappeared ahead. On top of the hill I took a quick stop to get out my camera and then it was all downhill. Martin fortunately waited at the next intersection which I otherwise probably would have missed. The descent was smooth, steep, and awesome, and I got up to over 70 km/h. For the following ten kilometers to the third controle I decided to take it easy, enjoy the scenery and take some pictures.

I made it up Scenic Drive

Getting ready for the downhill on Scenic Drive

Woo-Hoo

Controle in Sutton. Yes, that big bottle of V8 is mine

The picturesque town of Sutton was buzzing with St. Jean-Baptiste/Canada Day celebrations. The controle was at a supermarket on the outskirts of town, and the rest was very welcome. I devoured a bunch of crackers, a liter of V8, and a cup of coffee. Freshly nourished our group of 6 riders got going again, now headed north and into the wind. Serge had stop after about 5km for what I think was a mechanical, and Raymond and Olivier stopped with him while Martin, Jean, and me continued on. For the next 50 km I should learn why Jean is nicknamed "La Machine": despite the headwind he pretty much pulled me and Martin along all the way at a very good clip. I felt somewhat bad for not being able to contribute much but I was in no shape charge ahead. At km 225 we had another stop at a little dep with the now usual crackers, coke, V8. Somewhere between there and Farnham Olivier and Raymond caught back up to us and for the rest of ride we'd stay together.

Quick stop in Stanbridge East

Quiet country roads

Unplanned stop at a railway crossing

Tired legs at the second-to-last controle

Getting ready for the last leg of the ride

The second-to-last controle was again in Saint-Cesaire and from there we took the direct route back to Montreal on the Route 112. This is a busy four-lane highway but it has a wide paved shoulder and we made good time. The wind had mostly died down and I felt very good, allowing me to do some work for the others. We had a quick stop to fix a flat on Martin's bike but other than that the final stretch to Saint Lambert was uneventful. Following Raymond's suggestion we followed a different route into town which had much less traffic but unfortunately many more bumps.

Through the suburbs

Yay, 300km

Into the sunset

After 14 hours and 26 minutes with a moving average of 27.5 km/h we arrived at the final controle. I still had some way to go, and at the end of the day I had clocked in 335 km. During the ride, Jean and others kept suggesting that now I should do the 400 -- and I must say that probably I would have been able to do another 65km. Unfortunately, the CVRM's last 400k of the season is this coming weekend and I'll be in Europe. Oh well. I'll definitely be back for the remaining 300 and 200 km brevets in July, August, and September.

Cartier Bridge on the way home from the ride's start/finish

A big merci goes to all the riders who rode with me last Saturday, and especially to our great president Jean, for their advice, encouragement, stories, and paceline work. Without them I probably still would have made it but it would have taken much longer and been much less enjoyable.

Ride report: CVRM 200km Brevet

After the tough but successful 147km Populaire in late April, I was determined to do at least one 200km brevet this season. I missed the first opportunity in May but last weekend there was another one scheduled.

Great summer morning riding

Rolling hills

 As per usual, I didn't get much sleep the night before and at 4:47--13 minutes before my alarm was going to go off--I got out of bed. Despite my attempts to prepare as much as possible the night before, my slow morning self still had to do a couple of things and I only got going at around ten past 6. My ride to the start leads across Île-Sainte-Helene and I was lucky to still get through, as there were already barricades and plenty of security people in preparation for the Formula One Grand Prix weekend.

Rando-panda cockpit shot

After the obligatory group picture, we got going a few minutes after 7. Overall there were, I believe, 9 or 10 riders and I started out with the lead group of 4 others. As I tend to stop at traffic lights and only ride through stop signs carefully, I fell behind the group a couple of times but always caught back up when they got stuck at a traffic light. Like on the populaire, the route led south but on a slightly different route due to construction. By the time we had gotten out of the suburbs, one of the four riders had gotten ahead and quickly disappeared in the distance. The speed of the other three was just a bit too high for my taste and I stayed a bit behind all the way to the first control at a gas station in St. Cyprien, after 41km. From there to the second control I stayed with the three others.

One of several vineyards and cider mills on Covey Hill Rd

Covey Hill in the distance

The route took us pretty much straight south towards the US border, parallel to the A15. The weather was lovely, the roads were scenic and quiet, and I was very much enjoying myself. At the "last exit before the border" we then turned west towards Covey Hill which I had just climbed a three weeks ago. Before getting on the actual Covey Hill Rd, there was a horrible but fortunately short stretch of very rough gravel road. After that the initially gentle and rolling climb to Covey Hill began. Me and one other rider of the group had an easier time with the climbing and after a while we each went off on our own before regrouping at the top of the hill. The last bit of Covey Hill felt pretty mean again, but I arrived on top first. The rest of my group arrived after a few minutes, almost at the same time as those riders who so far had been behind us. From here to the second controle it was all downhill which, despite the poor road conditions, was very enjoyable.

Gunnar on top of Covey Hill

View down Covey Hill's western flank

Controle 2 was a nice change to the usual gas station/depanneur stops: Saint-Antoine-Abbé is a tiny village but it features a lovely bakery, Boulangerie Chartrand. Of course, they didn't have anything vegan but that was alright. I refueled with an espresso, a can of V8, and a homemade lemonade. With a group of nine riders arriving and the usual customer traffic the rest stop took fairly long but the folks I had been riding with previously were also eager to get on the road again.

Their pastries looked awesome

The next part of the ride would lead us back east, and the roads we were riding were awesome. The espresso (my first caffeine of the day) worked wonders and at some point I decided to ride ahead at my own speed. After a while, another rider from my previous group caught up with me and we rode together until the next rest stop. For most of the time we shared the work and were going at a very good clip. Only for the last 20 km before the controle, my partner was starting to bonk a bit and I pulled for the rest of the way. This didn't slow us down too much but it definitely drained my energy reserves; and we were both very happy once we got to the gas station controle. I had just started drinking my bottle of Pepsi when the 5 riders of the bigger group and after another couple of minutes our two riding buddies arrived, too.

On one stretch of road there were dozens of telephone poles with stuffed animals nailed to them. Very weird.

With only 40 km to go I didn't feel like hanging around for too long and thus headed out by myself ahead of the others. As I was now riding mostly into the wind I kind of expected to be caught by the others but that didn't happen. My speed was still decent and at 3:47 pm I reached the final controle. I would have gotten there at least ten minutes earlier but my bike computer and the cue sheet didn't quite match and I therefore rode past the controle and had to turn around.

On the way back from the ride finish. Masses of people at the Grand Prix

To conclude: this was a great ride, both in terms of performance and of experience. I was fast (moving average of 27.8 km/h), the route great, the weather awesome, and never during the ride did I feel particularly crappy. Next stop: 300km.

Ride report: Montreal - Ottawa

My old club, the FLCC, has the tradition of a Memorial Day getaway where everybody stays at a not-too-close-but-also-not-too-distant location on Friday, and then we have 2.5 days of riding from that destination. This year the destination was once again Ottawa, and this was a perfect opportunity for me and the accomplice to join the FLCCers and have a chance to meet and ride with old friends. By train, Ottawa is about 2 hours from Montreal, but I decided to do the route by bike. At a distance of 215km that seemed far but definitely doable.

There are two main route options, both following the Ottawa river (which flows into the St. Lawrence near Montreal): you can follow the Route Verte 1 on the Quebec side of the river or you can ride on the southern, Ontario side. I've had pretty good experiences with riding on the various Route Vertes, but after some online research I figured out that this particular stretch isn't all that great: it mostly runs on the shoulder of the 344/148 highways which are apparently busy, including a lot of trucks. The Ontario side, in contrast, was supposed to be very rural and quiet, presumably due to the existence of the more direct A40/417 expressway. 

I planned my route mostly based on Brian Hedney's suggestion, but chose to stay completely on the southern shore of the river instead of riding from Oka to Hawkesbury on the Route Verte. That decision was mostly due to timing: since I was leaving in the very early morning hours I couldn't be sure if the Hudson-Oka ferry would already be running by the time I'd get there, and in addition the ferry crossing itself would cost me some time. So if you ride at a more normal time of day and aren't in a rush, the northern option makes sense, too.



My alarm went off at 3 am, after only a few hours of sleep. The night beforeI had prepared everything as much as possible, which is uncommon for me. This helped with being ready go just a little after 3:30, despite my usual morning slowness. It was still pitch dark (well, it doesn't get all that dark in a big city) and I headed off on the usual route towards the western tip of the island. The Lachine Canal bike path was completely empty, and so were the residential roads on the West Island. This made riding a real joy and I zoomed along at a good clip. I reached the spiral staircase to the bridge over to Ile Perrot at pretty much exactly 5 o'clock. It was already pretty light at that point and the highway adjacent to the bike path was getting busier.

Following the Route Verte across Ile Perrot, I then reached the mainland in Vaudreuil-Dorion. After getting off the bridge there is a short stretch where you either have to salmon on the busy highway's shoulder or ride on the sidewalk. Two horrible options, but at this time of day it was alright. I left the Route Verte at the intersection with Route 340, turning northwest towards Oka. During the day this is also somewhat annoying to ride on for a few kilometers until you get to Chemin de l'Anse. I made a quick stop to take a picture of the beautiful sunrise, only to realize that my camera didn't have a memory card. Drat -- another ride report without pictures!

From here on, the ride was really beautiful for many kilometers. The quiet highway follows the Ottawa River through the town of Hudson and into Rigaud. Around Rigaud it was slightly more busy due to the nearby A40 but highway 342 has good shoulders and quickly got more quiet again after getting away from the highway on-ramps. Route 342 ends where it meets with the A40 again and for a short stretch I followed a service road parallel to the expressway. It might be possible to take a different route here, staying north of the highway and going through Voyageur Provincial Park, but I couldn't determine if that road was open to public and what its condition would be.

The service road itself was pretty bad: a gravel road which only recently had gotten re-graveled, making the riding with my 25mm tires very unpleasant. Fortunately, this was only for a few kilometers. Crossing the highway once again, I rode on Front Road/Rue Principale which follows the river into Hawkesbury. It was time for a breakfast stop, and I stopped at the Tim Horton's for a coffee and bagel. It was very noticeable that I had entered a very bilingual region of Ontario, with people effortlessly switching from one language to the other in their interactions. My odometer displayed 105km already -- almost half of the total distance.

The route, now following Hedney's suggestion, kept going along the river at close distance for most of the time and the riding was beautiful. At about 140km there is a very short stretch on the busy CR 17, but after only 500m you turn onto a quiet country road again (presumably this is the old highway 17). The wind which up to this point had been barely noticeable started picking up now, making good on the weather forecast's prediction of a 30 km/h headwind from west to southwest. Also the road conditions which had been fabulous so far started getting worse. Despite Ontario's reputation for much better roads than their Quebec neighbors, some of the roads I was riding on very pothole-ridden. Nothing too horrible but my wrists and lower back did not appreciate it.

In Rockland I made my second stop, this time at a gas station, with salty pretzels, a big coke, and refill for my Gatorade bottles. I estimated that I had about 40 kilometers still to go and I still felt surprisingly well. The road out of Rockland leads you onto CR 17 again, but the unpleasant conditions with heavy traffic and a very narrow only lasted for a few kilometers. Old Montreal Road was quiet and its surface was okay. At Trim Road I turned right and at the intersection with N Service Rd I had reached familiar territory: this had been the turn-around point on my Monday morning ride on the previous year's Ottawa weekend.

From here it was smoooth sailing on the pretty Ottawa River Parkway all the way into downtown and to the jail hostel. After 9 hours and 15 minutes I had reached my destination, yielding a total average of 23 km/h and a moving average of 26.6 km/h. I still can't quite comprehend how I ended up being so fast, especially since I didn't feel all that destroyed at the end of the ride.I can highly recommend this route, either for a one-day ride or for a multi-day tour with camping along the way (I don't remember seeing many hotels or B&Bs along the way).

Ride report: Covey Hill 185km (with cue sheet)

The important thing first: I forgot my camera at home, and this will therefore be text-only. Which is a real pity because the ride went through some really lovely countryside.

The triangle between the St. Lawrence, the US border and the A15 is very flat. Covey Hill is the one exception to that rule, and it's a pretty popular destination amongst cyclist. I had read some lovely-sounding ride reports on Montreal Cycle Fun, but up until now I didn't have enough confidence in my abilities to make it there all the way from Montreal, meaning at least 180km of riding.

Yesterday, I finally gave it a try. After some searching on GPSies I initially planned to follow this route by the Club Cycliste Cycle Pop. After looking at the route more closely, however, I realized that there were long stretches where the route needlessed followed busy provinicial highways and I decided to create my own route.


From our apartment on the Lachine Canal, I followed the Route Verte across the Pont Champlain Estacade and then went upstream to the St. Catherine Locks on the Seaway. If you haven't been there before, this stretch is a real cycle super-highway: It's a service road on the dike separating the St. Lawrence river and the Seaway, continuing for about 20 kilometers between Parc Jean Drapeau and the St. Catherine locks. Due to dense vegetation on both sides it's actually a somewhat boring ride in summer and fall -- I guess just like driving on a real highway. Once you're back on the mainland, the route goes more or less straight south, first on cycle tracks and then on quiet country roads. The area south of the Montreal suburbs is primarily farmland and thus not too exciting. After following one of the many versions of "Rue Principale" for many kilometers I turned left on 1er Rang which turns into a gravel road through a forest. In the middle of the forest, I unexpectedly crossed a paved rail trail, the Sentier du Paysan which runs northwest from Lake Champlain towards Beauharnois. My route continued south on Chemin White, however, and soon I reached the junction with Route 219. This road is slightly more busy but still nice to ride on. In Hemmingford, a charming little town, I made my first stop, and I noticed that I now was in a clearly bilingual part of Quebec. Right before getting to the US border, I turned west on Covey Hill Road. It takes a while to get to the actual hill, but the road is a very scenic country road over rolling hills and lined with romantic overgrown stone walls. Covey Hill itself is only 350 meters high but the approach from the east is pretty steep. I used to be a decent climber while still living in hilly Upstate New York, but after a year in Montreal (and in the searing heat) it was tough to get up there with my 34-27 gear.

I was mildly disappointed when getting to the top, as I had expected nice vistas of Vermont's Green Mountain and of Mont Royal. Well, not so much, at least at this time of year, as the trees block the view in all directions. The western approach to the hill is much more gradual and it was very enjoyable to coast down the road to the intersection with Route 209. Ideally one would turn north one road earlier, but Montée Covey Hill has an impassable bridge, thereby requiring a detour.

Once again, despite being a provincial road, 209 had very little traffic, and soon I turned on more quiet country roads through a nature preserve. After not too long you reach the Chateauguay River which I followed on its western side (on the other side is busy Route 138). At this point I had run out of water and the sun and heat were relentless. In general, I don't mind riding in the heat, but in mid-May my body wasn't quite in summer mode yet. Unfortunately, my exhaustion detracted a bit from the great riding along the river. Finally, I arrived in Sainte-Martine and after some confusion stopped at a supermarket. I was feeling pretty crappy at that point, but a 1.5l bottle of water, a can of V8, and a Clif Bar mostly got me back into shape. The most direct way back to Montreal from Ste.-Martine would be on Route 138 but that is definitely not advisable. Instead, I turned southeast again on Route 205 into the little village of St.-Urbain-Premier and then headed left onto Montée de la Grande-Ligne/Route 207 (another very popular road name around here). Another nice and quiet road, even though it probably had the worst pavement, which my hands and lower back did not appreciate. Route 207 leads right into Sainte-Catherine and on a cycle track I got back to the locks.

After less than 10 hours and 185km (this must be a bit off, as the planned route was 188 and I had at least one detour) I arrived back home. I was probably still dehydrated, but after a cold shower and a cold beer I quickly recovered. Overall this is a highly recommended ride, and since there are several campgrounds along the route one could also do it as a two-day trip.

For your convenience, I'm providing a cue sheet for the ride.

Start at the end of the Pont Champlain Ice Control Structure on the St. Lawrence dike.