Mont St. Hilaire to Trois-Rivières, 137km: A great day to be in the saddle

Last night a new cyclist joined the group. Her name was Mary and she did the Tour du Canada in 1988, which was the first year the tour took place. She wanted a vacation and so she decided that she wanted to cycle from Quebec to St. John’s, NFLD with our group.

That morning Louise and I set out with Mary. We cycled on Saint-Antoine sur Richelieu which was a lovely route. The road took us to a ferry which crossed the St. Lawrence River. A large chunk of the group met on the ferry; however, we all rapidly dispersed once the ferry was docked on the other side. 

As we were cycling on Route 138 storm clouds were building up and it was starting to rain. However, at that moment we came across a general store in what felt like the middle of nowhere. We parked our bikes and took refuge in the store just in time because it began to pour cats and dogs. I was so happy that general store was there otherwise I would have been soaked. The general store was a really neat place. The bottom level was full of old-fashion trinkets and the upper level was an interesting looking bar that held live shows. It was quite unique.

Shortly after the downpour the clouds broke up and the sun shined through for the remainder of the day. We met up with Clarke, Becky and Mike. When we reached Louisville I broke away from the group to have lunch with Mike as he was feeling a bit woozy. We spotted an A&W and stopped there for a burger. For the remainder of the ride I cycled with Mike. I had never solely ridden with Mike before and I quite enjoyed his company.

Overall, today ended up being a great day to be on the saddle as I missed the rain, the sun shined through and the wind had been in our back, which equated to perfect cycling conditions :)