| | The best bike tours in New England
Velo-camping in Quebec
In July, 2007, we spent 9 days on a bike camping
trip that took us along the Saguenay River, the
only fjord
on the North American Continent, all the way to Lac St-Jean,
the last outpost of "civilization" north of Quebec
City. Throughout the trip, we were able to follow the Route Verte, Quebec's 4000 km network of paved, crushed stone, and on-road bicycling routes.

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| Mike following cyclists on the stone dust trail |
Saturday, July 21:
Drive
to Portneuf Reserve
We drove from Ipswich to the RÉSERVE FAUNIQUE DE PORTNEUF in Rivière-à-Pierre ,
Quebec, about 50 miles west of Quebec City for the start of our
trip. After camping there overnight, we left the car
for the week and started our trip that would take us 520 miles through
Quebec City, along the south shore of the St. Lawrence, north along the
Saguenay River, then around Lac St-Jean, ending with a 3 hr. train ride
back to where we started and the drive home.
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| The ferry to Levis was filled with cyclists |
Sunday, July 22:
Riviere-a-Piere
to Beaumont, 65 miles
We packed up our tents and gear.
Deb and Michael both use rear panniers on their
bikes, while Gordon prefers his Bob Yak.
We set off on the Piste
Jacque-Cartier/Portneuf , a 68 km stone dust trail from Riviere-a-Piere to
Saint-Gabriel-de-Valcartier
near Val Belair. From Saint-Gabriel, we continued on the paved Corridor des Cheminots - 22km to
Quebec City. Near
the port area is connects to the Corridor du Littoral for about 9 km which took us to the ferry which crosses the St. Lawrence ferry from Quebec City to Levi.y from the port area to Levi. Reaching Levi, we continued an additional 9 miles along the Le Parcours des Anses",
Lévis' bicycle trail to Beaumont, our starting point. Tonight we camped at
Camping Beaumont--
an RV park along the river which had a small island for tent camping.

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| Looking north across the St. Lawrence toward the Charlevoix area |
Monday, July 23:
Beaumont to Riviere-Ouelle (75 miles) .
Heading northeast now along the south shore of the St. Lawrence River, we took the Route Verte's
on-road bike lanes called the Veloroute des Migrations, which detour through all the beautiful small towns that line the river.
We camped tonight at nicely-run Camping Riviere-Ouelle .
This side of the river is relatively flat with a few easy climbs over the bluffs.

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| The climbing begins after we cross again to the north side of the St. Lawrence |
Tuesday, July 24:
: Riviere-Quelle to Baie Ste-Catherine (65 miles).
We bikedike 38 miles from Riviere-Quelle
to Riviere-du-Loop and took the 1:45 ferry ,
a one hour crossing to St-Simeon on the north side of the St.
Lawrence in the Charlevoix mountainous area. Until now, our
ride had been relatively easy with gentle climbs and a steady
strong tailwind. Even loaded with gear, we had been able to
maintain a 20 mph speed for miles. That all changed as we
rode out ofSt-Simeon with a mile long 12% grade climb in 90+
degree heat that forced us to get off the bikes and
walk! After cooling off at the top, we continued for 22
miles of steep rolling hills on Rt. 138 to Baie-Ste-Catherine.
We statyed at Camping du Fjord, with our tents on a rise with a gorgeous view of the Saguenay-Tadoussac bay.

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| Our campground in Baie St-Catherine |
Wednesday, July 25:
Baie-Ste-Catherine
to Saint-Rose du Nord (60
miles)
After
breaking camp in Bay St-Catherine, we soon enjoyed a thrilling descent
to where the Saguenay River flows into the St. Lawrence. We took
a quick ferry
across the Saguenay to Tadoussac, still on Rt. 138 . A half
mile steep climb took us over the mountains that surround the city, and
we turned north on
Rt. 172 along a river that flowed between the mountains that border
the east side of the Saguenay Fjord. This was
our first taste of wilderness cycling, with 40 miles of endless
climbs with fantastic scenery. We reached the remote
and historic town of Sainte-Rose-du-Nord, and camped at Camping La Descente Des Femmes. The place had seen better days, but was a short walk from the town's beautiful harbor.

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| The harbor at St. Rose du Nord |
Thursday
July 26 SAINT-ROSE DU NORD
TO Lac Kenogami 70 miles
http://www.sepaq.com/ct/ken/en/hebergement.html
RESERVATION MADE
Leaving
St-Rose-du-Nord
meant a steep two mile climb back to the highway, followed by another
steep two miles before the first break. We continued climbs and
descents for about 30 miles, before finally reaching the miles-long
descent to the city of Chicoutimi that we had heard
about. After 70 miles in a virtual wilderness
interrupted primarily by the rush of logging trucks up and down
the hills, we had made it to the source of the
beautiful Saguenay River. This thickly populated
area continues on through Jonquiere, and we found ourselves primarily
on paved bike trails through the cities, and a very sweet abandoned
rail trail that crossed the mountain between
them. Tonight we camped at the Centre touristique du
Lac-Kénogami , a very nice wooded campground with no RV's to be found.

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| Deb on a tree-lined bike trail along Lac St-jean |
Friday,
July 27 Lac Kenogami to Sainte-Monique, near Point Taillon 80 Miles .
Today we reached Lac St-Jean, our ultimate destination. The
Veloroute des Bleuets has
been comleted around the entire lake, varying from paved rail
trails to on-road with shoulders, and a few stone dust and gravel
sections. The bike route crossed several
spillways that gave us great views of the lake and the rapids
below. One of the nicest sections of the ride was the stone
dust trail at Pointe Taillon, a wildlife sanctuary.
After reaching the end of that trail, we camped at the very nice Center Touristique Sainte-Monique. The
entire Lac St-jean area is very isolated from the rest of
Quebec, and few people speak any English at all. Be
prepared that wherever you choose to eat, frites (french
fries) come with the order. At some restaurants, there
were 20 choices of poutine, a regional favorite of french fries covered
with gravy and cheese. But in general the
waitresses were patient as we pointed at items on the menus and
tried to explain that we were mostly vegetarian. Don't
expect to get exactly what you order, and when you want the
check, you may have to go find the waitress.

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| Rapids in
St-Felicien |
Saturday,
July 28 Pointe Taillon to
St-Felicien , 75 miles.
The Route Verte 8 and Veloroute des Bluets leaves the lake for this
section, taking us through several towns at the edge of civilization as
we know it. After passing through Dolbeau-Mistassini, we
rode through a town celebrating its gourganes (lima beans),
which make a popular regional gray soup. Finally
turning south, we got a great tailwind which brought us
to St-Felicien, home of a world-famous zoo where the people
walk in cages instead of the animals. We stayed
at Camping Municipal
St-Felicien, close to some amazing rapids.

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| The train leaving
Riviere-a-Pierre |
Sunday
July 29 : Ste-Felicien to
Chambord, 35
miles, and train back to Riviere-A-Pierre.
We
broke camp early and again enjoyed an amazing tailwind, which got us 35
miles to Chambord with enough time left for "second breakfast". Just after noon we boarded the CanadaRail train "The Saguenay", and
rode a little over 3 hours from Chambord back to Riviere-A-Pierre,
passing through beautiful Portneuf and Laurentide mountain countryside
that is serviced only the train with no highways. A short
ride from town back to the Portneuf Reserve, packed the car still
there waiting for us, and we headed back home, reaching Ipswich
about 2:30 on Monday morning.
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| Riding in Jonquierre. |
We've
bike-camped in Quebec, Ottawa, and the Maritime Provinces
for 7 summers, and all felt that some parts of this tour were
the best yet. The villages along the south shore of the St.
Lawrence are quaint and inviting. The Saguenay section surprised
us with its rugged beauty so much that it took some of the
pain out of the long climbs. While we didn't feel that
the Veloroute des Bleuettes quite lived up its promoted image, it was
an easy 240 km with some wonderful views of Lac St-Jean. The ferries, the train, and the people of Quebec all added a depth
of experience that made this a great cycling journey.
Our routes are now available
on Disk!
All Bike New England routes
are now available on one disk with over 400 files. The disk includes
cue sheets and maps plus lodging information for all our current tours, as well
as 7 years of touring in the Berkshires, the Massachusetts North Shore, Cape
Cod, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, Quebec, Nova Scotia, the Adirondacks, and
Lake Champlain. To order the disk, please send a check or money order for $35
to Bike New England
, 17 Mill Rd., Ipswich MA 01938

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| Our 8 day cycling route |

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