After a relaxing day off on Saturday, we awoke this morning to drizzle and rain, which was forecast to end by mid-morning. So we had a lazy morning and packed our panniers one last time. The rain ultimately ended at around 10:30, and we were on the road by 11.
Today's route from Granby to Longueuil was one I know well, having ridden it numerous times over the years, and many times last year in particular. So I knew full well that it would be a long ride for Sonia, but I also felt confident that after her show of strength in the hills on Thursday and Friday, this relatively flat ride was eminently feasible for her, even with some forecast headwinds.
Once again, Aeolus was smiling on us, and, aside from a few stretches where the path tacked closer to the wind, we mostly had at worst a fairly hefty crosswind and for long, glorious stretches, a slight tailwind. The weather was still cool and overcast when we made our first stop for lunch and final tea ceremony of the tour in Saint-Césaire. Then it was on again into the heart of Québec's Montérégie region, passing Rougemont on the right and Mont Saint-Grégoire on the left. By now, the clouds were beginning to clear, and as we passed through Marieville and Richelieu, the sun was shining in earnest.
We took another good break at Fort de Chambly park, where the Richelieu River tumbles over the Chambly Rapids into Chambly Basin. I've seen it many times, but it's still an impressive sight. Despite the coolish and windy weather, the park was full of families and young people enjoying the spring weather, and the sense of collective optimism that this wretched pandemic might finally be coming to an end was palpable.
Over the course of the final 25 kilometres from Chambly to Longueuil, we played leapfrog with a group of six or eight 20-something cycle tourists, and it was a delight to see them and their enthusiasm. We finally rolled down our street around 4:30, clocking in at 75 kilometres—Sonia's longest ride ever, and my longest ever tour day. We are tired but happy to be home. I'll put my thoughts about the tour overall in a separate post in a few days, once I've had some time to digest it all, but I can say that this was a very good tour. Not quite as magical as our European tours, but by far the most enjoyable one we've done in North America.
2 comments:
You two must be tired, but as physically fit as ever, what a workout as well as tour.
Thanks for the blogging. It brought me along so well, even to the point that I could hear your voices along the way.
Rus
Well done, both of you! You're inspirations! And welcome home.
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