I had a wonderful sleep last night, relishing the AC and the comfortable bed. When I awoke at 5 AM to get ready for the day, I found that as predicted, the humidity had finally subsided to humane levels. I had a nice breakfast before saying goodbye to MP's mom who had also gotten up early, and headed out. MP and I had arranged to meet at a restaurant about 25 KM from her house for a second breakfast once she was off work, so I made my way through Valleyfield and out the bottem end of the island over more bridges. It was pleasantly cooler than the last few mornings, and I made way across town effortlessly, arriving at 'Teracce du Lac' at the EXACT same moment as MP. I definitely planned it that way. We enjoyed a nice diner style breakfast before it was time to say my farewells and be on my way. A big Merci to the Chasse family for their kindess. I could really get used to having second breakfast; just call me Perrigan Took.
After some deliberation last night, I decided to stay on the south side of the St. Lawrence River, bypassing a difficult ride through Montreal traffic, but possibly missing out on Quebec City if I dont ferry across for the evening once I reach Levis. I was looking for the fastest route to NB, so in my haste I forgot to avoid the major highways as I plotted a route straight to Drummondville for the day. Not long after parting with MP, I found myself on one such major highway, but thought nothing of it because Ive been on many major highways before, including a few weeks spent on the Trans Canada. After about 30 minutes I noticed one of those construction pickup trucks with the big flashing arrow on the back driving down the shoulder behind me. I thought he was just tending to the construction signs in the area, so I kept going. But he kept following me. After a while of him following me, I nervously stopped to check my GPS for my exit, hoping he would pass. He then pulled over in front of me, gesturing. Then all of a sudden a police car pulled over behind me. I once again became pretty nervous; confident that I was in some sort of trouble. The officer talked to the service worker first, but soon came to see me. I embarassed myself right off the bat by not realizing at first that he was speaking heavily accented english, not french anymore. He informed me that it is illegal to bike on the highway anywhere in North America, and seemed annoyed when I tried to justify with the fact that I took the Trans Canada for a large part of my trip with no problems. Turns out he was a cyclist too, and had done a 10 month tour of North America when he was my age. After the initial lecture, he actually chatted a little bit about cycling, and helped me figure out what roads I could take. He had the service worker drive me to the closest secondary road, and even let me off without ticketing me; quite possibly because he was familiar with my predicament from his own experiences. He was rather nice overall, just terse about me being on the highway.
Taking secondary routes required me to replan my route to Levis, following the banks of the St. Lawrence River rather than heading directly there. This adds about 50 KM, but the new route has already proved to be much prettier and quieter than the highway could ever hope to be. First, I skirted the outer limits of Montreal, following smaller tributary rivers northward towards the St. Lawrence River through pretty little towns. Many sections of the road were canopied by trees, as I passed by cottages and small docks littered along the shore of the river. It was a very peaceful area. These riverside areas alternated with open farm areas, where no shade was to be found for long stretches; I always anticipated my return to the riverside. I passed through many scenic towns; merely collections of houses and a few businesses beneath the lovely tree cover of countless huge maple trees. These towns also had many riverside park areas, one of which I sojurned in while I ate lunch.
The morning had been cool and overcast, but after lunch the cloud cover vanished, and it became quite hot once more; though not dangerously humid like before. As I continued to bike, I began to labour under the heat, and the next few hours became an exhausting endeavor as I became more and more dazed by the sun. By 3 PM, I had decided I had enough, and begun looking for a campground. They are very sparse in this area though, and it was many more KM until my phone found one, 6 KM off the highway. Around 5 PM, I finally rolled into camp, shakey and exhausted.
This camp is in a well shaded area, just away from another scenic river. This one actually kinda reminds me of sections of the Saint John river back home. The camp is actually pretty crowded and lively; this is definitely the busiest camp Ive been to yet.
I travelled around 190- 200 KM today all said and done, and tomorrow promises to be another very long day if I want to make it to Levis.
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