So far we have ridden two days to see a big rock, 400 kms to see a big dam, and 2 hours to see a big lake.....we like big things and we can not lie.....
Before heading out to Quebec City we decided we would ride around Lac St-Jean as far as Roberval. The weather forecast showed rain in the afternoon with possibility of thunderstorm in both Quebec City and around the lake so we had nothing to lose.
First though was breakfast and a birthday celebration for Larry. Thy walked up to a local shop and managed to find a birthday cake at 7:30 in the morning! Love her determination and thoughtful gift. We celebrated at breakfast with a chocolate cake and a dining room full of people singing happy birthday in both French and English. Great way to start the day!
Getting out of some of these smaller centres is not always easy because signage is so small. Not having a real problem with the language issue as much as we are trying to find the signage to provide us with proper direction or at least confirm direction we are going in.
We rode through some lovely farming areas which surprised us. We did not expect for this area to be as flat as it was given that we rode into this area through the mountains and we would be leaving through them as well. We eventually came upon Lac St-Jean in Chambord. It appeared and you immediately got the impression that it was a large lake. As we rode the next 15 kms to Roberval along the lake, there was a distinct impression that this lake may even be larger than originally thought. A stop on a wharf for lunch, gave us a view of the lake that was equally as surprising....looking at the far shore of this lake would be akin to standing on the shores of Alma and looking towards Nova Scotia.....you can tell there is land there but you can’t really see anything except a blue/gray outline in the distance.
We ate our lunch, which we had picked up in Saguenay before we left, sitting there in the sun until the first drop fell. It looked like we may ride out of it so we cleaned up our stuff, packed it up, got our gear on quickly, jumped on the bikes and headed out for the 175 to take us to Quebec City....just after Chambord, down came a little rain which we did ride out of, however the next cloud formation looked a little more ominous, so we pulled over and suited up in our rain gear. We were expecting it on our ride to Quebec anyway so it was easier to pull it on at a gas station then it was to do so on the side of the road in the middle of the storm.
We rode out and with every twist and turn we had a new weather forecast....looked like we may dodge it or looked like we may get it....as with every twist and turn, you eventually get a bit of both. We turned one corner and the rain started, then came pouring down. We rode through this heavy rain for about 20 minutes which all in all is pretty lucky. We managed to dry a little by the time we got to the gas station (first one in many miles) but you could still see the dark ominous clouds in our mirrors. No better place to find it.
Before we gassed up we took a little bum break with some coffee and a little snack of course. I wrote out the directions for everyone to our hotel since we would be riding into Quebec City around 4:30 pm on a Friday night. We weren’t sure what the traffic conditions would be. About 30 minutes later a young couple on bikes came in just as we were preparing to go get gassed up and hit the road. They, unfortunately got stuck in the rain for about an hour and a half. They were completely soaked.
As we were getting gassed up we could see that dark sky and it did seem to get closer..as we finished gassing up, two great big booms of thunder confirmed we best be on our way and quickly...so quickly we did.
Our next day is full of exploring Quebec City and a break from the saddle...This is the first visit to Quebec City for Thy and Jerry. Lucky for them they have 4 great tour guides.
No comments:
Post a Comment