Quebec Day 12

Start: Tadoussac
End: La Malbaie
Mileage/cumulative: 47.82 / 520 
Elevation Ascended/cumulative: 4,088 / 15,998
Weather: Start – Cloudy 55 degrees / Finish – Drizzle 55 degrees
Flat tires (entire group) day/cumulative: 0 / 4

With the experience this group has checking weather apps and tracking conditions over a wide area, we should all qualify as amateur meteorologists.  Yesterday, the forecast called for rain on our entire route today. Then it changed to rain for only a small part of the day. Then it changed again to rain most of the day. All of that within an hour. When we went to sleep last night, everyone had their rain gear (helmet cover, waterproof gloves, rain jacket, rain pants, waterproof shoe covers) out and ready to go. When we woke up and discovered that the rain had blown through overnight, it was a big relief. We could stow the rain gear again, at least for now. 

While we did get some light rain in the last mile leading to our hotel, it’s a good thing we didn’t have any on the rest of the route, which was loaded with steep climbs (many of them with a 10 – 15% gradient and a few at 20%) and equally steep descents. We’ve gone off of the Route Verte for a few days so that we can ride back to Quebec City through Baie St. Paul, our next destination. It’s a stretch of days that is not for the average recreational cyclist. We’re on main roads that go up and down like a rollercoaster with a similar feel to portions of the California coast along its rugged shoreline. The riding is challenging but this region is magnificent, with the St. Lawrence River to our left and fall foliage to our right.

Strong winds pushed us around for the last hour, with more of the same predicted for the next couple of days. There’s an adage among cyclists that wind and hills make you stronger. If that’s the case, we’ll be Olympic athletes (or at least Senior Olympic) by the time we finish this trip.