23 September - 3 days riding in 2

Trois-Rivières to Quebec (City) 139km (6346km total).

I made a quick tour through Trois-Rivieres and continued east on the 138. I had left at a good time with the hope of getting to Quebec if the weather and wind decided to co-operate like yesterday. Early on I made a quick stop to check out the hugely impressive Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-Du-Cap. I have been a bit disappointed that most of the information signs have only been in French. I have had to use my rudimentary high school French a few times but it doesn't stretch to complicated historical references.

Sanctuaire Notre-Dame-Du-Cap. 

It was another blustery and overcast day but I had pink lenses in my glasses and the wind still seemed to be in my favour! It really was a nice day riding beside the St Lawrence, it is going to get wider the further I go but it is already quite spectacular with the water being a mix of different blues and greens. The occasional tanker also passed slowly by. I stopped at a few picnic areas by the river although it was too cold to hang around long, I seemed to be constantly adjusting clothing, the venting zips in my jacket, rolling my sleeves up and down and changing between cycling and full fingered gloves a few times throughout the day. The skies were impressive too and I was sure I would get rained on as the day progressed.

St Lawrence or Fleuve Saint-Laurent (in French).

The small towns I passed through again often contained a large church whose spire/s you could see from quite a distance. There was also a lot of farming which didn't always smell good and apple orchards which smelt wonderfully sweet. I took a detour to see this old windmill by the river.

I stopped in Donnacona which had quite a few shops and services as Hwy 40 also passes close to town so I decided to head to Tim's for a late lunch. I was super hungry and still had a way to go and the chilli hit the spot. As I was inside the heavens opened so I sat a little longer and had a cup of tea. Finally the local skies cleared and I was on my way. My legs were starting to tire and as I got closer to the city I remembered how hilly it was! (I have been twice before but for incredibly brief overnight work stays). The 138 was staying close to the river but when there was a long descent into Cap-Rouge I knew I was going to be in for some suffering!! At 124km (270km for the last 2 days) the wet road turned 90degrees and went seemingly straight up, I didn't make it far before my legs and Achilles were screaming. For the first time on this entire trip I was walking a hill, but I was fine with it. As I struggled to push my bike and Bob up the sidewalk in my bike shoes I briefly thought back to the Rockies and how far I had come. 

Finally I made it to the youth hostel, originally a convent inside the old walled part of the city. Amazingly I had managed to escape the major storm showers despite riding on wet roads for the last couple of hours. I was pretty exhausted having covered 285km, pretty much 3 days riding in 2.

A rainbow manages to cut through the dark skies.