A pair of Thorns in West Québec

[John Saxby]

Eight days of rivers, lakes and hills

A heads-up so that you can now all exhale:

Ron Séguin and I have just completed our eight-day tour of West Québec. Between July 2 and 9, we covered some 600 kms among rivers, lakes, and hills, on rail trails and public roads.  Ron's Raven, Nozomi, and Freddie, my Mercury, performed flawlessly (as expected), and neither of us had any illness or collywobbles. The people we met were courteous and helpful, Ron managed the bugs with no fuss or bother, and we ate well. (Mais bien sûr, m'sieu -- c'est le Québec!)

Stories and photos will follow, but pls see below a couple of example of landscapes and food. 

[Danneaux]

John...Ron!

I'm delighted to hear of your safe return after what sounds to be a very enjoyable tour together.

Just as pleased to look forward to your respective text and photos!

All the best, Dan.

[in4]

Sounds like a great trip John. Glad you’re back on the Mercury enjoying some sunshine. That’s a serious banana shake, well deserved. C’est magnifique. 😊

[RonS]

Thanks for getting the ball rolling, John.  Since my return from the adventure I've been busy with getting my mother in law (95!) settled into her new seniors home. This involves a lot of assembly of IKEA furniture. It's almost done, then I'll be able to relax with a cuppa and share some photos and story.

In the meantime, on the cuisine du Québec theme, these photos may explain why I didn't lose a gram on our 600km circuit. And Freddie and Nozomi relaxing in front of a dépanneur (convenience store)

Stay tuned.....

[Andre Jute]

Anybody know who these two cyclists are? I love them! They have righteous priorities: Where's the next proper caff? And: Is there a good view for an inspiring photograph along the way?

Thanks, guys. Looking forward to more from this tour.

[in4]

Might be my eyes but the saddle on the black Thorn must surely have been sold by Jesuitcycling.ouch.mercy.

[John Saxby]

The setting for all this was the edge of the Canadian/Laurentian Shield:  lakes'n'rivers. And hills & gravel too: steep/short repetitive rollers 🙁. They will appear, in due course, 'cos they bedevilled a couple of our days.

But I prefer to remember land-and-waterscapes like the two below.

[PH]

Looks like a great trip, you certainly seem to have eaten well!  And seen a bit of landscape.

[RonS]

 John spent a lot of time on Komoot and OmsAnd, and the result was a 600 km circle tour spent mostly on pleasant secondary/tertiary  roads and converted rail trails. During the relatively small amount of time we spent on primary highways the traffic was generally courteous and well behaved. There is a surprising amount of roadway in rural Québec that has not been visited by the Google Street view car. As a result, there were a few surprise gravel road segments to add variety to the trip.

[RonS]

 John's research also led to some pleasant camping sites. We camped every night except one, when we decided for the sake of safety to choose indoor lodging due to the thunderstorms surrounding us. We also wild camped one night when the planned commercial site turned out to be closed. Note in the pic that I’m not sharing a spot with Darth Vader, but a bug headnet clad John. The mosquito coils soon rectified that problem.

[RonS]

Might be my eyes but the saddle on the black Thorn must surely have been sold by Jesuitcycling.ouch.mercy.

Haha. The saddle is actually quite comfortable. What appears to be in the photo a missing piece of saddle top with exposed foam is just my sun bleached riding glove sitting on top.
The saddle is, however, a "classic". It is an Avocet Touring, originally on my 1983 Cannondale ST500! (That I still have. Another retirement project?)
The years have, however, taken their toll.  The synthetic top began breaking down, and on this trip a small section of the nose wore through, so, may I present, the latest acquisition for Nozomi!

[in4]

An appointment with my optician is now booked 😂

[John Saxby]

Many thanks, Ron.  Nice B17 

If the Komoot files transfer readily,  a collection showing our route would be a good addition.

In due course, I'll add a few notes here & there, and a few photos too. At the moment, there's A Few Too Many Things happening at once -- most important being the arrival of our daughter and her family for a few days.

[Mike Ayling]

What a great ride!

[Andre Jute]

What a pair of great riders!

They musta done something right in their lives to be rewarded with such wonderful roads, smooth, wide, with decent runoffs -- and nary a car in sight!