A soggy day 4 of our Route Verte adventure gets us to the heart of Old Quebec City

We hit the bad version of the bike trifecta today: rain, headwinds and heavier traffic, especially more trucks.

And the route no longer is pancake flat.

The weather forecast — 1.5 inches of rain — motivated us to get an early start. When did we last head out at 7:30 am?

24 miles in, it’s 10 am and we are hiding out in an open barn as the deluge hits. The rain pounds furiously on the roof, eases up for an instant and unleashes its furor again, like a child having a temper tantrum. Zeus (I’m channeling Percy Jackson) is clearly having a bad day.

The 3 miles in the rain early on now seem like the gods were just toying with us.

We hear thunder. We check the hourly forecast. We are here for another hour, if not longer, and will need to make a dash for the Quebec suburbs whenever the rain, or the intensity of the rain, lets up enough that we can ride.

As we wait, I wear those fleece-lined black arm warmers that someone else was smart enough to leave in his handlebar bag.

And to think a day ago we were complaining about the heat.

Thank you Ferme Racette for leaving the barn door open. And then for not kicking us out.

The campers arrive just as we’re thinking the rain might be letting up. They had stopped for breakfast when the first rain hit, then ended up biking through the worst of it. Were shocked.

I keep the arm warmers on as we brave the rain while the campers dry out a bit. We’re quickly hit with a different kind of reality: a climb with a 10% grade. And emergency repairs happening in the rain. We walk.

It stops raining by mile 30 or so, just in time for our second hill. Wait, we only made it about 6 miles further on the route? It felt longer. Or maybe it’s what happens when you have to tuck your Garmin in a pocket to protect it from the rain and have to keep your eyes peeled for turns.

We’re still following Route Verte 5, and it is well-signed. Still, some reassurance signs would be a nice addition. Especially on a day like today.

It’s a 42-mile day. Our route mostly once again uses the Chemin du Roy, which overlaps a lot with Route 138. It’s busier now that we are closer to Quebec, so less bike-friendly and less pleasant than previous days.

I spot a group of new homes on the bluff overlooking the St. Lawrence; the pitch is you can live in a quiet area with a river view just 30 minutes from Quebec. I understand why so many homes are perched on the bluffs; the river views we get from our bikes are gorgeous, even on a gray day.

I keep hoping for trails. That only happens close to Quebec, when we pick up the corridor litterol, or coastal path. It takes us down from the cliffs overlooking the St. Lawrence to the water, past the port and to the Old Town.

Then it’s another steep climb to our hotel in the heart of Vieux Quebec, the old city. Again, we walk.

Here’s our route.

Some art at the start and end of our day: