#CycleTour2021 Day 6: Voie barrée – détour (ou non)

 Today ended up being slightly shorter than yesterday kilometre-wise, but it was oh-so-much harder, partly because it was hillier, but mostly because of a seemingly never ending series of detours, and because our route took us almost due south, between the lovely Rivière Saint-François and the noisy Autoroute 55. And gone also was the well-maintained bike path of the previous five days. Today, we were often on soft, ill-loved bike paths, tire-shredding gravel roads—or worse! (Including several hike-a-bike sections). On the other hand, it was distinctly not an arrow-straight rail trail; we rarely rode more than 100 metres in any one direction or on any given incline. [Insert left-right-up-down arrow key emojis]

But enough wingeing! It was a beautiful day, I was riding my bike with the love of my life, and I am sitting at a quiet picnic table beside the river with a beer beside me. Life could definitely be worse! We got a fairly late start this morning. Our first night in a tent was... OK. Earplugs saved the day (or, to be more accurate, the night), and we slept reasonably well, but I don’t think either of us would say we slept soundly. I am confident that tonight will be better. This campsite is on an island in the Rivière Saint-François, and even now, at rush hour, the traffic noise is not distracting. The 9:30 curfew will be in effect for another week, so I expect the evening to be much quieter. 

How to describe the ride today? Frustrating, perhaps. The Route Verte, which is usually very well marked is... less so in this area, for some reason. Maybe because it’s such a mishmash of hyper-local trails, right-of-ways on private property,  municipal bike paths, and whatever side streets and back roads can be used to link everything up. But easy to follow, it is not! Especially with all the various detours occasioned by springtime road repairs and the like. Frustrating also because this is SUCH beautiful country, and it it could be exceptionally beautiful riding, but it would appear that industrial and commercial interests hold sway here. A bike-path/route along the Rivière Saint-François seems like a no-brainer, but I don’t see any 3indication that it is in the cards.