Quebec Day Three

Start: Granby
End: Drummondville
Mileage/cumulative: 50.91 / 170.01
Elevation Ascended/cumulative: 1,152’ / 3,314
Weather: Cloudy 62 degrees / Cloudy 71 degrees
Flat tires (entire group) day/cumulative: 0 / 0

On multi-day trips like this, when the only mode of transportation is a bicycle, everyone becomes obsessed with weather forecasts. No self-respecting cyclist has only one weather app on their phone and cyclists “in the know” will compare forecasts from various sources. Preparing for rain means having a rain coat, rain pants, shoe covers, and a helmet cover to keep everything dry. When the forecast for Day Three called for rain at some point during our ride, we packed for the worst. So, naturally, it didn’t rain until we reached our hotel. Whew. We got lucky!

The day’s route was 51 miles, all of it on bike paths and with no worries about cars. The vast majority of miles were on crushed gravel through forests and farmland. This region is part of the Great Appalachian Valley, a longitudinal chain of valley lowlands of the Appalachian mountain system that runs from Canada to Alabama. We are spending a few days riding in those lowlands and the scenery is spectacular. We saw our first hint of autumn and the much cooler temperatures in the upcoming days will only accelerate the transition from summer to fall. 

Our route included only a couple of small towns, each so small that we didn’t even stop for coffee and croissants. One thing that every town has in common right now is campaign posters for Quebec’s general election. Election campaigns here are completely different than in America. First, candidates are only allowed to campaign for a minimum of 36 days but no more than 50 days prior to the election. Second, negative television ads are completely frowned upon and essentially non-existent. Canadians are horrified by American campaign ads that they see on stations broadcasting from Vermont. We’ve assured them that we are equally horrified.

Some of our route was part of the Grand Trunk Railway System that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and in the United States through Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Our music trivia experts might also know that the American rock band Grand Funk Railroad’s name is a play on the Grand Trunk Railway system, which ran through their hometown of Flint, Michigan.

The day ended with a lunch stop at a great microbrewery in our destination town of Drummondville. A cold beer and nachos was a perfect way to end a ride and beat the rain.