Days 14 to 20: Montreal to Québec City

Day 14

Kilometer 1092

Montréal, QC

Milestones today: I reached 1000 kilometers, then a few minutes later, I crossed the border into Québec. I reached the westernmost point on the trip just before arriving in Montréal. (And yes, I'm keeping that accent there.) Perhaps most important of all: I went to Tim Hortons for the first time.

Day 17

Kilometer 1224

Louiseville, QC

After two days of exploring that beautiful city on foot and, by God, not sitting on that god-damned bicycle, I am now, once again, sitting on that god-damned bicycle. Eastward now (just in case my right side felt left out of the barrage of sun my left side was enjoying), I begin following the long St. Lawrence River to its mouth, many hundreds of miles from here.

This is big cows-and-cornfields country, with nary a patch of trees in sight, somewhat complicating my efforts to find a suitable place to camp (read: hide) for the night. Tonight gets the award for least comfortable spot yet: a cement block underneath a railroad bridge. Come at me, back pain.

Day 18

Kilometer 1311

Grand-Mère, QC

There are two things that Québec has substantially more of than the United States. The first is bicycles. And bicyclists riding those bicycles, and bike lanes and bike trails upon which they ride. Even the backwoodsiest of country roads somehow all seem to have some kind of bicycle-centered infrastructure, and when it comes to cities, Montréal has any US city I've been to beat by a mile.

The second thing is life-sized, and occasionally larger-than life, statues of the crucifixion of Jesus. He's in people's front yards; He's in prominent public places in small towns; He's everywhere you turn your head. Apparently, Conspicuous Catholicism is a central part of Québec's "national patrimony". (Yes, national: in everything I've seen, Québec refers to itself as a "nation." What the nine other provinces with which it supposedly shares a government have to say about that remains to be seen.)

I followed the river down to Trois Rivières, where the St. Maurice River meets the St. Lawrence (my math may be off, but I'm only counting deux rivières here), then up Maurice to the foot of the mountains. I stopped in Grand-Mère mostly for the name. Tomorrow, into La Mauricie National Park before I start for Québec City.

Day 19

Kilometer 1424

Grand-Mère, QC (again)

I have two words. The first is "Uff." The second is "Da."

Day 20

Kilometer 1587

Québec, QC

After a ride yesterday that, while beautiful, was a little, um, rough, I had some ground to make up. And I did. One hundred miles today, just about exactly. Most Canadian thing I saw in that time? It's a toss-up between the moose farm I passed in the morning and the massive pile of poutine I had for lunch (and dinner).