Hi Everyone,

The weatherman said it was going to rain today - 60% chance but it rained during the night.
it was fine this morning and the roads and shoulders were dry by 9am but it was cloudy
 or overcast and chilly all morning.  i did not see the sun until noon.

The problem was a headwind all day.  It let up only when I had to climb a hill.

I am only one day (105 km) from Rimouski which is only 30km from Sainte Flavie  where I have to decide whether to do the entire north coast of the Gaspe  Peninsula or to do only the southern coast.

The only problem is the weatherman is predicting rain on Saturday and
Sunday but I take the weather one day at a time.


The Statistics:  62.49 miles and 702 feet of climbing.


Steve in Riviere du Loup, Quebec, Canada


Sent from the hotel pc because the wifi will not ask me for a password

Hi Everyone,

I am across from Quebec in Levis.  

This morning I left with the intention of riding on the Route Verte trail
as the terrain to Quebec was supposed to be fairly flat and I ended up 
riding almost the entire day on the Route Verte trail.  The exception 
was as I approached Levis the sign for the direct route disappeared and 
a policeman stopped me to ask if I needed help with navigation.  He said 
that the route 1 sign to the left (Levis via Quebec) went through the old
 town and that I continue on the street I was on Hwy 132 for another 5 km 
to go to downtown Levis.  I had already gone further than 2 km pass the 
Levis 2 km route 1 sign so I was thoroughly confused on what is actually
 Levis.  

I continued for several km on Hwy 132 and found another route 1 sign 
and turned to find a bike path which was great as I was tired of fighting
 the traffic.  Then I rode on the bike path for another 4 or 5 km and got
 to the ferry terminal.  Now I knew I was in the heart of Levis as I 
looked at the map the night before to find out how to get to Quebec to 
sightsee and Joe had mentioned the ferry as great for viewing the cliffs.

The problem was that the hotels are at the top of the cliffs on the 
Levis side as there are cliffs on both sides of the St Lawrence River.  

I don't know where all the traffic in Levis comes from or maybe I just
 ran into rush hour but the hotels are on Blvd Kennedy and I made better
 time riding on the sidewalks because the traffic is truly bumper to bumper.

You may get this email a bit late because I have a wifi connection but 
server problems.  Maybe I can send but not receive.


The Statistics:  75.91 miles and 659 feet of climb all in Levis.


Steve in Levis, Quebec, Canada across from Quebec City


Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

I am across from Quebec in Levis.  

This morning I left with the intention of riding on the Route Verte trail
as the terrain to Quebec was supposed to be fairly flat and I ended up 
riding almost the entire day on the Route Verte trail.  The exception 
was as I approached Levis the sign for the direct route disappeared and 
a policeman stopped me to ask if I needed help with navigation.  He said 
that the route 1 sign to the left (Levis via Quebec) went through the old
 town and that I continue on the street I was on Hwy 132 for another 5 km 
to go to downtown Levis.  I had already gone further than 2 km pass the 
Levis 2 km route 1 sign so I was thoroughly confused on what is actually
 Levis.  

I continued for several km on Hwy 132 and found another route 1 sign 
and turned to find a bike path which was great as I was tired of fighting
 the traffic.  Then I rode on the bike path for another 4 or 5 km and got
 to the ferry terminal.  Now I knew I was in the heart of Levis as I 
looked at the map the night before to find out how to get to Quebec to 
sightsee and Joe had mentioned the ferry as great for viewing the cliffs.

The problem was that the hotels are at the top of the cliffs on the 
Levis side as there are cliffs on both sides of the St Lawrence River.  

I don't know where all the traffic in Levis comes from or maybe I just
 ran into rush hour but the hotels are on Blvd Kennedy and I made better
 time riding on the sidewalks because the traffic is truly bumper to bumper.

You may get this email a bit late because I have a wifi connection but 
server problems.  Maybe I can send but not receive.


The Statistics:  75.91 miles and 659 feet of climb all in Levis.


Steve in Levis, Quebec, Canada across from Quebec City


Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

Today was a rough day.  Several Canadians have mentioned to me the 
hills of Quebec when I told them where I was going.  Well, today I 
found the hills.

It all started with a bike path along the river leaving Sherbrooke.  
Then the bike path went away from the river and onto a regular road 
that led into several hills.  I get up to 12% on a hill. Then I went
 down to another river and the trail went on the road.  No problem.  
A road next tom river means fairly flat road.  Then the road turns 
into dirt.  Then back to a bike path along a paved road and then the
 "fun" started.

The Route Verte trail becomes a dirt trail and then it goes down and
 up. Hey this is a mountain bike trail!  Then it becomes more even 
and then more ups and downs.  Then it goes along a freeway and should
 be more even, but freeways are made more even by taking dirt from the 
tops of hills and filling in the gullies.  A bike path along a freeway
 goes the way the original terrain was.  Lots of ups and downs.

I get to a town and hey, all I have done is 30 km.  I'll never get to
 Victoriaville at this rate!  Then it is more bike path along a freeway
 and I get to Richmond which has a hotel and I can call it quits for the
 day, but there seems to be a wino sitting in the doorsteps of the hotel 
so maybe not this hotel.  There is no other hotel.  Then I take a good
 look at the map and Hwy 116 goes from the town to Victorville.  
Yesterday I took Hwy 112 and it was much better than the bike trail 
so I decided to take the highway.

The highway starts with a long, straight uphill to the top of a ridge.
 Well, the map shows a valley so I must be climbing to the top of a
 ridge and there will be a valley on the other side.  Besides, the
 bike trail is probably much worse.  I get to the top of the ridge 
and I see a big valley.  I get a great downhill and get to Danville 
and a tourist information office.  The young lady tries to talk me 
into taking the bike trail that just happens to be just behind the
 office but it isn't paved so I don't trust it and besides, the 
highway is fairly gentle and smooth and has a great shoulder.  
So I continue on the highway.

I finally get to Victoriaville and the shoulder disappears at the
 city limits.  With all the traffic lights, traffic gets bunched 
up and a shoulder is more needed than ever.  I stay at the first 
motel that I see and it is a Route Verte certified hotel and it 
doesn't offer any more than other motels than I have stayed in. 
 They do have a place to work on bikes and some supplies but I 
carry that stuff with me.


The Statistics:  68.66 miles and 2025 feet of climb.  15% max 
uphill and 14% max downhill.


There were times that I was thinking about cutting short the 
trip because I could never get the whole trip done in time if
 every day is like this.  But Hwy 116 saved everything.


Steve in Victoriaville, Quebec, Canada
  

Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

Today was a frustrating day, but alls well that ends well.

I started by crossing a bridge with a super wide bike path and then 
followed the directions from the Al Forkosh website and everything 
worked fine with some glitches.  The directions were correct but the 
highway wasn't.  The directions said to ride on the left side of the 
highway because the bike path would be on the left hand side across 
the bridge.  True, but the bike path was blocked off deliberately by
 concrete dividers and as I crossed the bridge on new pavement, I 
could see the bike next to me over the concrete dividers.  Then I 
had to exit on an entrance ramp, but there was a shoulder.  

The next part was ride along the lakeshore and there was no problem.
 There I saw numerous bike club riders and some wannabe racers (pelotons).
 I even found the bicycle shop that the local bicyclist told me about 
yesterday but they did not have the Route Verte book, but they did have 
it in the past.  I met a local bicyclist who was interested in my bike
 because he is thinking about buying a Co-Motion tandem.  He already 
has two tandems.  A Burley and a Santana. He said that he would have 
ridden with me to Montreal except that he has to ride to meet his son
 for a previous engagement.  

I then had to get on the Lachine canal bike path and I asked another
 bike shop (stopped to ask about maps) and he said that I was on it!  
That was frustration number one.  There were too many cyclists out today.
 It is Saturday, but there was too much of a variation in the abilities 
of the cyclists. And the bike path had turns and underpasses and crossovers
 from one side of the canal to the other and back.

Then I waited to enter the old port of Montreal and the bike path seemed 
to end on one side and everyone was crossing over so I followed them and 
suddenly I was at the old port. Now there were pedestrians and sightseers
 and rental four wheel bikes, etc.  Even the streets had horse drawn carriages.
 Frustration number two.

From the bike path map of Montreal that I got off the Internet, I knew that I
 had to ride along the old port for a while and then go on Rue Barrie and then
 the bike path would turn right and go along the Parc de Fontaine and the Velo
 Quebec place would be on the adjacent street Rachel.

I rode on Barrie where the bike path was a bike lane with both lanes on the 
left hand side with a low concrete separator to keep cars out.  I asked someone
 how to get to Parc de Fontaine and I was told to turn at Sherbrooke which was
 easy to remember as that is the town I wanted to go to see Arkel headquarters.
 I remembered from the map that Sherbrooke was a diagonal street and I never 
saw a diagonal street.  Then all the cyclist turned right at a street and I
 didn't know why except that the bike path ended.  I kept on going and asked 
someone where Sherbrooke was and he said back several streets but I wasn't 
going to turn around and I knew that if all else fails, I would bump into 
Rachel at the far end of the park.  

Finally I bumped into Rachel and a few blocks later I found the park and 
Maison Ciclists where Velo Quebec is.  I locked up my bike to a tree 
(panniers don't fit in bike racks) and went inside. There is a coffee 
shop up front and a bookstore in the middle and a travel agency in the
 back.  I bought the Route Verte book and the clerk told me how to get
 started on the way to Sherbrooke.  I came into Montreal by following 
Route Verte number 5 for several days and at the old port I started
 following route 5 and route 1.  Now to go to Sherbrooke, all I had to
 do was to follow route 1 all the way.  Simple.

While I was talking to the couple watching my bike (because I locked 
it to a tree next to their table (they were drinking coffee) a bike 
ran over my foot and the woman did not apologize.  It was the couple 
from Sequim, Washington that I met in Wisconsin (?).  She was on the 
first Woman Tour group from Anacortes to Fargo, ND.  They were going 
to take the northern route through Michigan and cross into Canada at 
Sault Ste Marie.

Well, they had a terrible time on highway 17 in Ontario out of Sault 
Ste Marie and tried to rent a car at Sudbury, Ontario and couldn't 
get a car and found out about drop off charges.  They were lucky to
 fine someone who offered to drive them to Toronto where they rode 
Hwy 2 and the Waterfront Trail like I did.

Now they were at Maison Ciclists to buy a map of Quebec and the Maritime
 Provinces.  I told them that I got mine from AAA but that all the gas 
stations and convenience stores sold maps but they would have to wait 
to get the Maritime Provinces.  They were also planning to save time 
by driving part of the trip such as renting a car in Prince Edward 
Island and exploring it by car.

I left them at Maison Ciclists and started on my journey to Sherbrooke. 
 Actually I did not expect to go far.  I just wanted to get across the 
St Lawrence River and stay at a motel away from the big city.  Plus I 
expected the costs woukd be cheaper outside of the city.

Simple, all I had to do was to backtrack a little ways as I had seen 
the route 1 signs on the in.  The route started across the street at 
the park and I followed them to the street where everyone had turned 
off from Barrie and the bike path ended.  Off course there were no 
signs on Barrie but now there were signs coming the other directions.

I lost the signs on the old port where all the pedestrians and sightseers
 were and asked an officer who told me to go down to where the path turns
 and go left.  It was confirmed by the Route Verte book.  I went back the
 way I came in and when the bike path did all kinds of crazy loops because
 of overpasses, etc, I looked at the Route Verte book and someone else 
looked at a bike path map and it confirmed to go under the overpass / 
elevated road.  The bike path ended with a detour and the detour ended 
up at the Port Champlain Bridge which is the bridge to the US.  frustration number three.

I turned around and saw a bicyclist go down toward dock warehouses and 
I didn't know where that when but assumed that it was a dead end. Big mistake.

I decided that I had enough of the pedestrians and rode on the road and 
saw the other bridge in front and way up.  I had to keep riding and then
 I realized that the bridge started climbing blocks away and that is where
 all the cars were going too.  I was half way back to Maison Ciclist when
 I found the on ramp to the bridge.  It had a good size pedestrian / bike
 path but the bridge was awfully high.  Frustration number four.  I have 
acrophobia and I had to ride on the outside (two way bike traffic) again
 and I had a horrible time on the Richard Bong Bridge in Duluth, MN.
 I made it up and over and then I realized that I was over an island.  
There was another bridge to go over. Frustration number five.

I got off the bridge and off Hwy 134 and looked at my map.  A local 
cyclist to turn left at the light and to go to Rue Elan and turn right.
 So I rode on that street and found the shopping mall district and ate 
a late lunch.  No one could help me on finding my way back to route 1
 and then a clerk at a gas station pulled out a local map and said that
 I had come too far.  So I turned around and saw a hotel.  I was ready 
to call it a day and to start fresh tomorrow.  

The hotel was full but another hotel by the Metro station had rooms 
earlier.  I went to the other hotel and it had rooms available and
 no wonder.  It wanted  two night stay and that would be $400.  Also
 all the other hotels nearby were full, according to the clerks.

I decided to go back, look for Rue Elan and head away from the river 
and toward Sherbrooke and hope to find a motel away from the exclusive area.

I got back to where I got off of Hwy 134 and had not found Rue Elan. 
 I decided to continue going away from the river.  There must another
 business area further out.  About a mile later I found a business 
district but no motels but there was a lot of traffic a couple of blocks
 away so I headed there.  Motels are where traffic is.  It was Hwy 134 
and there was an ESSO station there so I asked someone and was told that there
 was a motel a kilometer away at an interchange.  I then asked the clerk
 for confirmation and she pointed across the highway and said there was 
a motel there and I looked and saw a motel sign.

I decided to try that motel and then there was the one a kilometer away
 if the first didn't work out.  The first motel was ok but did not have 
wifi or Internet.  The clerk called the other motel for me it was a little
 more expensive and did not have Internet either.  She could have lied to
 me but I didn't want to ride down there to find out so I am here in Longueuil
at a motel without wifi or Internet.

The clerk could not help me with route 1 but said that there was a bike path
 just over the back fence, but she couldn't show me on the map where we were
 exactly. And without the Internet, I can't use my gps because I have to get
 map from the Internet.

After a Coke and a shower and time to relax, I studied the Route Verte map 
of this town and thought that the route was on the other side of the Hwy 134
and back to the front desk because  there were local maps on the wall there.
 There was a "how to find us" map there and it showed the exact location of 
the motel and I coiled find the exact match in the Route Verte map and I was
just a block away from route 1.  It was just over the back fence!

Now remember when I mentioned that a bicyclists had gone down a road along 
the pier warehouses and I didn't know where it went?  Well, that was the right
 way to go.  It leads to a bridge to an island and then a ride to the other 
end of the island leads to another bridge which crosses over to this side. 
 However one bridge is closed and I don't know which one that is so maybe 
that is the one that is closed.

The Statistics:  48.71 miles and 798 feet of climb


Steve from Longueuil, Quebec, Canada across the river from Montreal

Hi Everyone,

I have to say something that I keep forgetting to mention.  Several days, 
maybe a week, ago I did something that I had decided not to.  I looked 
at the map and tried to calculate how far I have to go to complete the 
trip as planned.  It is a daunting task and I didn't know if I had time 
to do the whole trip by Oct 1.  It is much easier to look ahead a couple 
of days at a time.

This morning I left Granby on the Route Verte trail.  It was all paved 
today to Waterloo.  At Waterloo, I lost track of the trail and asked a 
local cyclist (older gentleman) who pointed down the road I was on.  I 
went on it for a while and then met a younger, fast cyclist who gold me 
it was about 25 km to Magog on Hwy 112 and that he was going that way.  
It took him no time to drop me.

After 5 km, I saw the Route Verte sign where the Route Verte crossed Hwy 
112.  I knew that it crossed the highway eventually and I took the opportunity
 to ask the gas station attendant about the route.  The Route Verte map shows 
a 54 km distance from Waterloo to Magog and the road signs said 25 km.  Then I
 looked at the convoluted path that Route Verte uses to go through Mt Orford and 
decided to stay on Hwy 112.  Besides it is faster to ride on the road.

The road signs also said 44 km to Sherbrooke but I didn't know if that meant going
 on Hwy 10 which is a freeway that parallels Hwy 112.  Once I got to Magog, 
I checked the map for the Route Verte versus the highway signs.  Again, the 
highway signs were much shorter so I took Hwy 112 all the way into Sherbrooke.

I had studied the maps of Sherbrooke to find out where Arkel is so all I had 
to do was to find the Hwy 10 freeway bridge and then cross over on the next 
bridge.  I didn't realize how spread out Sherbrooke is.  It seemed more 
compact when I drove through in 2001.

I found Arkel and pushed the doorbell, but nobody answered and then somebody
 finally entered the sales showroom.  Then other employees walked in from a break.  
I then realized that the front door had not been locked and I could have just walked in.

I showed Yves, the person that I had communicated with by email, my pannier rain 
covers and how the rear ones did not fit properly.  He looked at the front ones 
also said that they weren't the proper ones either.  I admitted that they were at 
least 5 years old but that the rear ones had never been used until this trip.

He went to the back room (factory) and came out with two pairs of rain covers and 
showed me how they fit properly.  I asked him how much it would cost me and he said
 free.  That anyone who would ride a bike from Washington (state) to visit Arkel 
deserved to get them free.

I told him that I have a testimonial on the Co-Motion website and that I was going 
to send a new one to Co-Motion and I would make sure that Arkel got endorsed.

So I expected to get to Sherbrooke tomorrow and I got here today.  I expected 
nothing from Arkel (maybe a small discount on new rain covers) and I got free new ones. 


The Statistics:  62.22 miles and 1748 feet of climbing.


Steve in Sherbrooke, Quebec, Canada
 

Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

As you figured out already, I did not have Internet access yesterday.  
Today I have super high speed wifi - 21,616 kbps download and 939 Kbps 
upload.

After Montreal, I wasn't sure about the Route Verte signs but today, 
away from the city, it was much better.  I was able to navigate solely
 with the signs 90% of the time.  There were several instances where I
 had to look at the map but those usually occurred in towns when crossing streets.

Most of today was on unloved roads which means hard packed dirt covered
 with small gravel, almost what I call cinders.  I don't what that does
 to my tire life but it does slow me down a bit versus asphalt.

I also learned that the Route Verte tends to keep one on bike paths
 which means that food is available only in towns which are few and 
far between.  On the Canal de Chambly, the route was on the left side 
of the canal and the road was on the right side of the canal.  Stores 
were along the road so I could cross the canal and go onto the road if
I wanted food.

Another thing that occurs, the same as in Germany along the Danube, is
that it is hard to know to find out what town you are in when the bike
 path enters town and it is hard to know which way is the business district. 
 Looking at the Route Verte book is the solution, but it is hard to get the
 book out and then look at the maps.

The problem I had in Montreal could have been solved by using a gps 
with a built in map.  My iPad has the gps but I don't have my AT&T 3G 
access in Canada.  I should learn how to download maps in my MotionX 
gps application.  MotionX allows me to look at certain areas and 
download maps for those areas for use later.  It does not allow me to 
download maps for an entire state, let alone a country.


The Statistics:  66.05 miles and 318 feet of climb


Steve in Granby, Quebec, Canada on the way to Sherbrooke


Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

I entered Quebec Provinve today and as much as I would like say 
that I am just across the river from Montreal, I don't know where 
the Montreal city limits are but I can say that I am close to Montreal.  
I am in the town of Vandreuil - Dorion which is on one side of the bridge
 that connects to the island just west of Montreal.

First of all I want to give credit to Joe LaPointe and Al Forkosh for 
the help that they have given me. Joe gave me website URL and the 
street address of Velo Quebec where I may be able to buy a Route 
Verte book and Al Forkosh helped me with GoodReader to save and read
 PDF files and last night he found a website of a blog where someone 
did the Toronto to Montreal bike ride and wrote down details of his 
route.  I used it today to go from Morrisburg to Verdreuil - Dorion.  

Today was a day for bike paths.  I used Hwy 2 again to the end at the
 Ontario - Quebec line but I used bike paths in Cornwall because the 
traffic was bad and the bike path ran along the river and thus I could 
see exactly where I was going.  Also Cornwall is several miles in length 
so it was relaxing to get off the road. 

Later highway 2 ended at 401 which is the QEW (Queen Elizabeth Way freeway)
 and I was supposed to the service road.  I met a person studying my bike 
and it turns out that he is a local bicyclists and knew my route.  He gave 
me something like 20 instructions on how to get to Vandreuil - Dorion turn 
by turn with street names.  Of course there no way that I could remember all 
that information, but it was the same as the blog on the web. He also gave me
 the name of a bicycle shop on the route tomorrow that should have the bike 
route map of Montreal and may have the Route Verte book.

At the Ontario - Quebec border I met the couple that I met first several 
days ago between Port Hope and Belleville.  Then I followed two local 
cyclists and saw when they rode on the left side of the road.  That was 
the Route Verte #5 that was on the left side of the road.  I talked to 
the two local cyclists and they are from Montreal and drive over to drive
 in this area.

The Route Verte bike path is easy to follow and is well marked.  I was 
confident on the bike path.  It was like Germany where there is little 
confusion of where to go.  Even easier was the Soulanges bike path which 
follows the Soulanges Canal.  

I did find a problem at the of Soulanges bike path.  Going through the town
 and connecting to Hwy 338 was hard because the bridge was out.  Construction 
again!  However a bicycle and pedestrian temporary bridge was available and to 
save costs on the bridge, it was built down in the valley just barely over the
 water.  Would you believe a gravel path down 24% and up 30%. It was hard 
pushing/pulling my bike up that gravel path!

The funny thing about Vandreuil is that all the locals think that I am 
French because they all speak French to me!  

The Statistics:  83.25 miles and 314 feet of climbing.


Steve in Vandreuil - Dorion, Quebec, Canada


Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday the weather forecast was for 40% chance of isolated showers 
and this morning it was reduced to 30%.  It looked promising when I
 left the motel.  I had rain covers only on the rear panniers because
 they are the hardest to put on.

By the time I got to Brockville, the sun had come out and I thought
 that it would not rain in my area.  A few miles from Brockville, I
 saw wet pavement.  I should have been forewarned, but I just thought
 that it had rained there earlier.  It was odd that the wet pavement
 was only a half mile to a mile long.

I kept on going and several miles later there were a few raindrops but
 not enough to worry about but I was out in the middle of nowhere so 
there was town to take shelter in.  Then I saw a park like place but 
the driveway said Private.  I went in the driveway anyway and got
 under a shelter with several picnic tables.  By now it was light 
rain.  There I found two bicyclists who had passed me in Brockville. 
 One was from Ottawa and one was from Brockville.  Then several pickup 
trucks showed up and parked.  It seems that employees from the 
petrochemical plant across the road come to the private park to
 smoke during lunch because smoking is not allowed on the company
 premises.  No wonder!  

After 15 minutes or so, the rain became drips and the two cyclists left. 
 I waited a little bit longer to make sure that it was really over. 
 Then I took off also and a hundred yards later it started pouring!  
I quickly turned around and headed back to the shelter.  

I waited over 30 minutes and then the sun sun came out.  I still waited
 because the trucks were really kicking up road spray and since there 
was no shoulder there, I would be drenched from the road spray.  It
 took at while for the trucks and cars to displace the water on the
 road and the sun was still out to help dry out the road.

It was about 1 pm when I got back on the road and the road was 
reasonable and the drivers were courteous by slowing down when 
they passed me.  By the time I got to Prescott, there was no 
evidence that it had rained and this was only a couple of miles away.
  
I cleaned up my rims with paper towels from the gas station and 
left in the sunshine.  I saw the bridge at Johnstown which is the 
first place to cross over to the US.  Just as I passed the bridge, 
it started dripping again.  Then after a few minutes it stopped again. 
 I started thinking that this may go on over and over again so I had 
to remember where the next town with a motel was.  It was Iroquois 
but that was almost to Morrisburg where I had planned to stop.  

I kept on going and no more rain.  Then I got to Iroquois and it was
 a new strip shopping center.  I could not see any old buildings there. 
 I saw the motel and kept on riding.  Morrisburg was only 13 km away 
according to the McIntosh Inn billboard.

While I was drinking a Coke in Iroquois, I noticed a dark cloud ahead. 
 By the time I had finished drinking the Coke, the dark cloud had gone 
passed the road.  The winds must have been howling at the cloud level.

Several miles down the road, the road was wet.  The dark cloud must 
have been a rain cloud.  This time the bad driver was a truck on the
 other side of the road.  It was a dump truck with open wheels and it
 kicked up enough spray to come over to my side.  Luckily the other 
drivers were more courteous. As before, the wet roads dried up and it
 was dry in Morrisburg.

There were supposed to be three motels in Morrisburg.  I passed one
 with a faded sign half hidden by trees and there were quite a few 
cars there.  The second one had one car and a big parking lot.  
No wifi!  On tonthe third motel - the McIntosh Inn.  

The McIntosh Inn is named after the apple I assume and not Apple 
computers.  The wifi here screams!  10,043 Kbps download and 1,333
 Kbps upload.

Tomorrow I should be arriving into Quebec Province.  The weather 
forecast is for several sunny days.  The problem is to decide
 whether or not to go to Montreal and then Sherbrooke home of 
Aarkel or go directly to Sherbrooke / Arkel.  My main problem 
is that I left my Route Verte book at home and I don't know how 
to get into Montreal.  The AAA map is not helpful so I may have
 to buy a Montreal map or hope for a Quebec tourist office at
 the border.   

The Statistics:  68.28 miles and 1259 feet of climbing.


Steve in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada
   

Sent from my iPad

Hi Everyone,

Yesterday the weather forecast was for 40% chance of isolated showers 
and this morning it was reduced to 30%.  It looked promising when I
 left the motel.  I had rain covers only on the rear panniers because
 they are the hardest to put on.

By the time I got to Brockville, the sun had come out and I thought
 that it would not rain in my area.  A few miles from Brockville, I
 saw wet pavement.  I should have been forewarned, but I just thought
 that it had rained there earlier.  It was odd that the wet pavement
 was only a half mile to a mile long.

I kept on going and several miles later there were a few raindrops but
 not enough to worry about but I was out in the middle of nowhere so 
there was town to take shelter in.  Then I saw a park like place but 
the driveway said Private.  I went in the driveway anyway and got
 under a shelter with several picnic tables.  By now it was light 
rain.  There I found two bicyclists who had passed me in Brockville. 
 One was from Ottawa and one was from Brockville.  Then several pickup 
trucks showed up and parked.  It seems that employees from the 
petrochemical plant across the road come to the private park to
 smoke during lunch because smoking is not allowed on the company
 premises.  No wonder!  

After 15 minutes or so, the rain became drips and the two cyclists left. 
 I waited a little bit longer to make sure that it was really over. 
 Then I took off also and a hundred yards later it started pouring!  
I quickly turned around and headed back to the shelter.  

I waited over 30 minutes and then the sun sun came out.  I still waited
 because the trucks were really kicking up road spray and since there 
was no shoulder there, I would be drenched from the road spray.  It
 took at while for the trucks and cars to displace the water on the
 road and the sun was still out to help dry out the road.

It was about 1 pm when I got back on the road and the road was 
reasonable and the drivers were courteous by slowing down when 
they passed me.  By the time I got to Prescott, there was no 
evidence that it had rained and this was only a couple of miles away.
  
I cleaned up my rims with paper towels from the gas station and 
left in the sunshine.  I saw the bridge at Johnstown which is the 
first place to cross over to the US.  Just as I passed the bridge, 
it started dripping again.  Then after a few minutes it stopped again. 
 I started thinking that this may go on over and over again so I had 
to remember where the next town with a motel was.  It was Iroquois 
but that was almost to Morrisburg where I had planned to stop.  

I kept on going and no more rain.  Then I got to Iroquois and it was
 a new strip shopping center.  I could not see any old buildings there. 
 I saw the motel and kept on riding.  Morrisburg was only 13 km away 
according to the McIntosh Inn billboard.

While I was drinking a Coke in Iroquois, I noticed a dark cloud ahead. 
 By the time I had finished drinking the Coke, the dark cloud had gone 
passed the road.  The winds must have been howling at the cloud level.

Several miles down the road, the road was wet.  The dark cloud must 
have been a rain cloud.  This time the bad driver was a truck on the
 other side of the road.  It was a dump truck with open wheels and it
 kicked up enough spray to come over to my side.  Luckily the other 
drivers were more courteous. As before, the wet roads dried up and it
 was dry in Morrisburg.

There were supposed to be three motels in Morrisburg.  I passed one
 with a faded sign half hidden by trees and there were quite a few 
cars there.  The second one had one car and a big parking lot.  
No wifi!  On tonthe third motel - the McIntosh Inn.  

The McIntosh Inn is named after the apple I assume and not Apple 
computers.  The wifi here screams!  10,043 Kbps download and 1,333
 Kbps upload.

Tomorrow I should be arriving into Quebec Province.  The weather 
forecast is for several sunny days.  The problem is to decide
 whether or not to go to Montreal and then Sherbrooke home of 
Aarkel or go directly to Sherbrooke / Arkel.  My main problem 
is that I left my Route Verte book at home and I don't know how 
to get into Montreal.  The AAA map is not helpful so I may have
 to buy a Montreal map or hope for a Quebec tourist office at
 the border.   

The Statistics:  68.28 miles and 1259 feet of climbing.


Steve in Morrisburg, Ontario, Canada
   

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