A Montreal-Quebec City loop adventure begins: An easy 41 miles on day 1

This was the start of a 10-day bike trip on Quebec’s fabulous Route Verte, and the tailwind gods were with us all the way.

That made the flat 41 miles from the Montreal suburb of Boucherville to Sorel-Tracy pretty effortless even once it started heating up. I spent much of my time admiring homes of all kinds, especially those with big windows or backing onto the St. Lawrence River, and wondering what it’s like in the winter. I looked: lots of snow and crazy cold. So much for that fantasy.

We started our day at the Comfort Inn in Boucherville, across the river from Montreal. It probably started life as a different hotel, but it’s a known quantity and was easily accessible from the highway and had easy access to bike paths. Plus we could leave cars there while we biked for CAD 10 per day, less than the extended stay lot in Longueuil and without the hassle of asking for an extension. UPDATE: Found another possibility for those who’d like a longer day. See the day 10 report.

An easy 2 1/2 miles into our ride, after a bike path, a “corridor scolaire” through a walkable neighborhood of small, neat homes — from the 50s? 60s? 70s? — and we reach Route Verte 3.

This is a mix of trails and bike lanes. I’m amused that in one spot, the bike lanes are only from mid-April to mid-November. It’s snow storage the rest of the time. The Route Verte is signposted until we leave it in Sorel-Tracy. Wonderful!

Oh we are in French-speaking Canada for sure. It starts with the stop signs — a familiar red octagon but with the word arret in the middle. But really it’s French first everywhere. You need to ask to speak English. Which they then do.

We later find out that the French language police are banning service workers from greeting you with an all-purpose “Bonjour. Hi.” Workers are supposed to stick to just French.

Then the drivers. They obey the speed limit! 30 mph in towns, if not 20. And on the open road too! And they didn’t buzz us! What’s not to like here?

We took it slow, chilling for a bit at a park along the St. Lawrence, stopping for ice cream in another town, getting a quick history lesson about a 14-year-old girl who held off an attack by the Iroquois and is now immortalized in oversized bronze, musket in hand.

The new retiree is becoming a birder:

One reason we took it slow is that we knew there wouldn’t be much to do in Sorel-Tracy, a city that has seen better days. Income is 24% below the national average and there’s a shockingly low labor force participation rate, according to one website.

Many restaurants are closed on Mondays and even this festival happening over two weekends is quiet on Monday. If this is your stop (and options are few and far between), arrive as late as you dare.

We’ve split up for the night. Two are camping outside of town, and one is in the town’s only real hotel a bit away from downtown. We are in a musty gite, or bed and breakfast, off the main square and where the promised air conditioning turns out to just be a ceiling fan.

At least it’s quiet. And the mattress is firm.

Here’s our route.

What will day 2 bring? Read on…