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Bicycles |
It was time to attend 2 more geology conferences, but
unofficially it was time to go cycling again. The first conference
was in Singapore, an interlude en-route to Toronto via Shanghai. I
like Singapore, but it I chose not to unpack my bike and only be a
pedestrian on this visit. The simplest route to Toronto was via
Asia and traveling via Shanghai resulted in a mid afternoon
arrival time in Toronto. My conference destination was Quebec
City, some 800 Km away in seemingly scary French Canada, so I
would have to cross Toronto and I chose not to attempt this by
bicycle while suffering jet-lag. From the airport I caught the UP
express to the downtown VIA rail station and then a VIA rail train
to Belleville, a nothing town some 150 Km east from Toronto where
I found a motel and unfolded my bike ready to start cycling next
day.
It was difficult to navigate southwards next morning as I felt
like I was going the wrong way, due to my sudden change of
hemispheres, and I was glad to have a compass to help me navigate.
I found secondary roads to avoid excessive traffic and reached
Kingston in the afternoon where I was able to get a Virgin sim
card for my phone, but it was not so easy to find accommodation on
a saturday night. Next day I tried to find quiet roads eastwards
but became lost as the roads signs were confusing. Using google
Maps on my phone quickly solved the problem and i continued
eastwards along the St. Lawrence river. Next day I planned to stay
in Cornwall, but I arrived there early and the town was unpleasant
so I continued on although I would have to travel 180 Km overall
to reach Montreal. The roads were flat and the wind gentle and it
was a great day cycling, except that the traffic in Quebec was
unfriendly and several selfish motorists tried to force me to ride
on the occasional silly bicycle paths which only went to local
schools and were of no use to me. Next day was wet, so I stayed in
Montreal and rode only some local circuits and also planned how to
cross the river next day. Montreal is well known for traffic
congestion and confusion and I had wanted to avoid it, but now I
had to go downtown to cross the river on the only bridge available
to cyclists. Despite there being many bicycle paths, there were no
signs on them and I had trouble reaching downtown, even with
guidance from other cyclists. I was trying to find the northern
bridge, but without signs and with road closures for repairs I was
soon hopelessly confused and frustrated. I eventually found the
bridge entrance and lifted my bike across the road closure. But
soon it became clear that I was on some sort of freeway system
with no way to turn back, at least there was a shoulder to ride
on. I continued and reached the bridge where the shoulder ended
and the traffic was angry and honked me, but how did they expect
that to solve the problem? The bridge had lane control signals and
as i approached the signals above right lane, which I was in,
suddenly changed from open to closed. I think the security people
had seen me and closed the lane to get traffic out from behind me!
Across the bridge I eventually found a safe exit to escape the
freeway, half expecting to be met by a police car. I had actually
crossed the river on the main Interstate freeway bridge on which
bicycles are not permitted, not something I recommend! It still
took me another 3 hours to find my way across the sprawling
suburbs to some more pleasant quiet cycling roads.
That night while checking possible routes I noticed a town called Asbestos and the name alone was enough to make it my next destination. It had been an asbestos mine until recently and was closed only in about 2012, but I found an interesting hands-on mineral collection in the local library. The paranoia about asbestos back in Australia would not have permitted such a museum display! After another rainy day when I retreated to a local Gite (B&B), I decided not to try and cross the St. Lawrence river at Trois Rivieres as there seemed to be no bicycle access to the only bridge. Instead, I detoured further into the hills for a great ride to Thetford Mines, another asbestos mining town until very recently. After checking out the museum I continued eastwards enjoying a warm sunny day. I was now only 80 Km from Quebec an easy morning ride, but the bicycle crossing over the river was very narrow with 2 way bicycle and pedestrian traffic and someone had to stop each time to allow passing. There was a great bike path along the river into downtown Quebec, followed by an amazingly steep climb up the cliff through the historic city centre, which was jammed full of tourists. I soon found the conference centre, planning to register ready for tomorrow, but the conference had unexpectedly started on Sunday so I joined in immediately with no time to change out of my lycra cycling clothes. Many of the participants had seen me at previous conferences and so were not too surprised. That evening I met up with my kind cycling hosts in a suburb near the university, where I stayed during the conference.
Route map for the western segment
After 4 days at the conference it was time to continue cycling and the plan was to go east to Nova Scotia. To avoid going through Trump's USA I would first go north along the east shore of the gulf of St Lawrence. My hosts had a cottage in Metise and invited me to stay there en route so I decided to take an even more northerly route. After a late start it was time to attack the nasty bridge crossing over the river again. After crossing the bridge, I checked my compass and it was no longer on my handlebars! I remembered hearing a tinkle sound when hitting the bumps on the bridge crossing and realised that my compass was now somewhere in the river. I would have to complete my tour without a compass. I had to travel some 10 Km through the suburbs and noticed that there were signs for the "route Verte" bicycle route. I followed these in places, but sometimes the route just vanished, to reappear some distance later and there were also confusing detours so I gave up and used the roads. There was a strong tailwind so I was riding fast and having fun and by mid afternoon I found a fromagerie (cheese factory and sales) with cookies for a snack. As I drank my coffee a local cyclist arrived and I tried to speak to him, admitting I could not speak french. He immediately walked off, perhaps he did not speak english, but he was unprepared to try and be friendly. He was an exception, most people were pleasant even though I could not speak much french. At a small town I got help from the tourist office to find accommodation before continuing onwards next day. It was pleasant cycling with almost no hills, but the road was inland from the coast so it was not very scenic. By late afternoon there were rain showers causing me concern and I found a small motel for the night. Next morning the sun returned and it was great cycling to Rimouski where there were cycleways along the very pleasant seashore for some 10 Km. Just north of town I noticed a submarine in a dry dock and I remembered seeing a TV documentary about relocating this submarine to a tourist dock. I spent a while looking at it and walking around. The entry fee to go into the submarine was a bit excessive, but there were numerous large interesting rocks they had used to make a breakwater and I spent some time examining the many different rocks. By mid afternoon I had reached the cottage in Metise and relaxed on the coastal deck in the sunshine as the tide eased into the bay. It was a very pleasant stop and well worth the detour to visit Metise and Rimouski.
Sunday morning was sunny as I set off south-eastwards towards
the Atlantic coast at Campbellton. The route crossed the end of
the Appalachian mountains so it was hilly, but not difficult, and
mostly uphill to reach Amqui. From there it was a wonderful ride
adjacent to the Matapedia river and mostly downhill to
Campbellton, but there were almost no services. Late in the day I
needed a rest and stopped at the sole cantina i had seen all day.
It was real busy but everyone was patient and a little curious
about the lone cyclist. After a great cycling day of 195 Km I
found a hostel in Campbellton where the time had advanced an hour
and I was even later than i thought. I followed the coastline to
Bathurst next day in the vain hope of finding some nice fresh
fish. Instead I found a smelter complex, looking rather tired. It
had smelted ore from the nearby mines but was now being closed.
Next day I again followed the coast to Miramichi, which was a
pleasant cycling day but rather long (almost 200 Km) and I did not
find a motel until 7pm. I circled west of Miramichi because of
bridge closures and continued through the forests, at first on a
busy main road until I found a turnoff to a more pleasant
secondary road and arrived in Shediac to meet my friend Jim late
in the afternoon. It was time for a cycling break and I spent a
few days being a tourist with Jim and learned about the acadians
who descended from early french immigrants and now inhabit much of
New Brunswick. Unlike some of the Quebec french, the acadian
french frequently also speak english and I enjoyed the mix
of cultures.
Route map for the eastern segment
But I am not good at being a tourist and after a few days I felt
the need to get cycling again. I emailed a colleague at Acadia
university in Wolfville to arrange a meeting but he replied that
he was in Australia at a conference! However, he would return in 4
days, so I set off on a cool, windy and damp day towards Nova
Scotia. Because of the unpleasant weather I contemplated stopping,
but as the drizzle cleared up my mood improved and I found
pleasant coastal scenery which made up for the grey sky. I found a
delightful B&B in Wallace and next day I traveled south on
roads which were marked as the cycling Blue route, but as usual,
there was no indication where this route would take me. There was
quite a climb to cross and a strong headwind all the way to Truro,
where I had to deal with heavy traffic on narrow roads. Truro is a
complicated town to navigate and not a place I like, but it was a
necessary overnight stopover. I decided to try and see the tidal
bore on the nearby Shubenacadie river and a website stated it
would be at 1pm, so I rode a long detour in the morning and
reached the viewing site at the bridge at midday, apparently just
a few minutes after the bore had passed through. It seems you
cannot trust the tourist advice on the internet! I continued west
towards Windsor on route 236. I had ridden this route before and
was aware that it was hilly and lacked services and it was no
different this time. It was just a necessary transit rather than
an interesting cycle route. Next day was wet, but I only had to
travel 40 Km to reach Wolfville so I stopped and sheltered
whenever it rained. Wolfville is a very lively university town and
I found accommodation and shelter from more rain in the extensive
commercial area several Km further west. There are many
interesting local roads in this farming area and I amused myself
cycling in the local hills the following day until Cliff returned
from Australia. Next day we took a local bus service to reach
Digby. The 3 buses we used had front mounted bicycle racks to
carry my bike, which was very convenient.
I now had only about 2 weeks to return to Toronto so I had to use
some public transport, the first being a ferry across the Bay of
Fundy to Saint John, a pleasant 2 hour journey but sadly bicycles
are not free on this ferry, although not too expensive. Crossing
Saint John is a nightmare, as I knew from a previous cycle trip
here, and once again I became lost when I followed bicycle routes
which did not explain where they are heading. After ignoring
various road closures (it was sunday) and getting confused at
freeway intersections I eventually reached the north-eastern
suburbs for a late lunch stop. There were few accommodation
options on my north-easterly route and I either had to do a long
ride to Sussex or a very short ride only. It was 2:30pm when I
left and the sun was shining and the cycling was great so I
decided on the long trip to Sussex. The route was hilly and hard
to navigate on the backroads but it was pleasant cycling and it
was 7pm when I eventually reached Sussex to search for
accommodation. I found an Inn but the parking area was full, which
concerned me. I spoke to some motor-cyclists as I stopped and they
told me there was a hot air balloon festival here. This is my
worst nightmare when touring as I never make accommodation
bookings ahead. But I was in luck, a room was available. The
restaurant was real busy, but I did not care as it had been a
great day cycling. There is a national park on the coast
south-east from Sussex so I detoured to pass through it. The road
was quite hilly and persistently uphill until almost at the coast
so I was glad to reach Alma for a rest. The national park entrance
is not normally free, but it was in 2017 as part of the Canadian
150 year celebrations. After a night stop along the coast I
reached Moncton next day and returned to meet Jim in Shediac.
I took the train from Moncton to Montreal next night and had to
pay extra for the bicycle, check-in baggage is not free on VIA
rail. Now I was back in the downtown centre of Montreal, the
traffic nightmare I did not need. But there was another cyclist on
the train and he lived here, so he guided me through a maze of
bicycle routes and narrow alleys to cross both islands to the
northern mainland. I simply wanted to be out of the suburbs but it
was quite a long way to escape the heavy traffic and reach Lachute
for the night. It was a great sunny scenic ride along the Ottawa
river to Ottawa earlier than expected next day and I decided to
continue rather than stay in Ottawa. I had to avoid the main
freeway to Toronto and simply kept riding westwards. But the road
ended unexpectedly and as I stopped to consult my maps a
local motorist offered guidance. I decided to head to Arnprior,
but the only direct route was on the freeway, which I used for 20
Km. There was a wide shoulder and I felt safe but the noise from
the constant stream of traffic was unpleasant and I was glad to
eventually find an alternative route. It was a great 200 Km day. I
was now in the "highlands" region with many lakes and I planned a
low traffic route to Toronto, but it was saturday and everyone had
planned their weekend using the same roads so there was continual
traffic to deal with. There were great scenic lakeside roads to
enjoy in the sunshine, but few towns. Eventually I located a
B&B for the night in a settlement too small to even be called
a village. After 2 long riding days I enjoyed a less strenuous
ride to Haliburton next day, a surprisingly cute town, even though
most of the restaurants were closed on sundays. I thought I was
now within easy reach of Toronto, but I had misjudged the extent
of the broad farmland plains and the heavy traffic and it was a
long and sometimes stressful ride to reach Newmarket, a sprawling
monster of a town with angry motorists who hated sharing the roads
with my bicycle as I crossed the city centre to find a motel. From
here the traffic was bound to be heavy, but google maps showed a
bicycle route! This was merely a low traffic road which had a
narrow shoulder, but wider than other roads, and I reached the
Toronto suburban area without incident. My route avoided the need
to cross the city centre but I still had to travel some 15 Km
to reach the airport and I had to fight with the traffic and
play leapfrog with the city buses. My plan to stay at a motel on
the airport perimeter was a problem as most hotels were full, but
the 5th hotel I tried had a room for me to recover and contemplate
my journey before my departure next day back to Darwin via
Shanghai and Singapore.
It had been a pleasant bicycle tour, although much of the cycling
was on flat riverside or coastal roads and I normally like cycling
in the mountains. There were many cycle routes, particularly in
Quebec, but they are difficult to follow without maps because
there are no destination signs. And I do not recommend cycling in
Toronto or Montreal, there are far more pleasant country roads to
explore.