Day 56 Quebec City (Rest Day)
Pointe-Du-Lac to Quebec City
Distance: 145 km
August 18, 2006

After closer inspection of the questionable bunks in the dorms, we decided to sleep in our wee tent on the beach; it was a beautiful night, with a sky jammed with twinkly-stars.

At approximately 4:00 a.m, which must be the witching hour for skunks, Lewis and I woke up to the overwhelming stench of the wretched creature once again-this time we had left our ‘fly’ cover off the tent, leaving us more exposed to the elements, skunks included.
We both lay there dead-still hoping not to anger the stinky bugger in any way, so that we would not have to suffer the same fate that the Aussies did.
After what seemed like an eternity, the fetid bouquet dissipated, and we could breathe once again-my heart was racing though, as I was terrified it had given our bare tent a wee squirt of the dreadful goo just for good measure.

Today’s ride was one of my favorite so far; the scenery in Quebec keeps getting better, and apparently as we move along the St. Lawrence, the scenery continues to impress.

What definitely adds to the enjoyment are the roads and wide shoulders for us to ride on-- not having to worry about getting creamed by a transport truck every few minutes, not surprisingly, increases the enjoyment factor of the ride considerably.
Quebec has however, had some of the best and worst roads; coming into and leaving Montreal had us riding through massive pot holes, on streets with more cracks on it than at a plumber’s convention.

The French definitely have got two things right; their attitude towards cyclists, with the wide shoulders and considerations given to riders, and in their food-some of the best bakeries and restaurants we’ve come across have been here.
We stopped off for lunch at a very typically French little restaurant-café that is only open in the summer.
When one walked into the place it was dripping with cutesey-French-European charm, right down to the toilet with was in a separate little chamber, with a pull cord for the light.
We had home made lemonade which came in a pretty glass with mint, and the most delicious veggie soup, and baguette with cheese- all really good.
It was so difficult to get back onto the bikes, in the heat, with a full belly in 30 degree heat, with another 75km to go-it took a while to convince our bodies to wake up and get back into the ride.
Coming into Quebec City had us descend some steep hills which gave us an incredible view of the river, and homes along it, followed by a leg-cracking hill on a road that was under construction.
This added to the ‘technical’ factor when climbing it (like having to sprint up the hill in front of impatient cars, over gravel-was pretty fun as I felt like I was playing some wacky video game.)

We’re staying at Laval University in residence, and since it’s now a rest day, a few of us ventured into the old city for some good ol’ drunken times last night, and boy did some of our crew do their party-due diligence, as some of them got home at 4:30 a.m, Lewis included, drunk, as they say, as a skunk.